France in the summer is truly the land of classical music festivals: indeed, there are so many it can be hard to pick the right one. Sometimes one has to go by sheer location, and the medieval city of Reims, on the edge of Champagne country and famed for its magnificent gothic Cathedral – the favoured coronation venue for the Kings of France – might be just the place.
From 12th June to 5th July, Coronation City sees the return of Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims, the ideal summery mix of light classics with the occasional main-course thrown in for good measure. This year the theme seems to be the continuing French love for everything English, and the festival opens with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic at the Basilique Saint-Remi, with Andrew Manze conducting Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet joins for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G too, another work with Anglophilic characteristics.
The next day, Thursday 13th June, Reims welcomes the King’s Singers, with a quintessentially English programme of Byrd, Weelkes and Vaughan Williams (as well as Ligeti’s Nonsense Madrigals and some Joe Hisaishi in case things get too frighteningly Anglo-Saxon). British pianist Ben Grosvenor also makes an appearance at Reims on June 19th (Chopin–Liszt, plus Brahms). And British trumpeter Matilda Lloyd appears on June 26th with the Orchestre National de Lille for Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto (plus Brahms 1). Quatuor Debussy arrive on June 27th for a programme of Beatles arrangements. The English are alive and well and breathing in Champagne.
The Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes also explores the French interest in all things steak-and-kidney in their programme on June 22nd, exploring the interwar Parisian fascination for “English chic”: Eric Coates, Youmans and Caesar, Haydn Wood and Jerome Kern all make appearances. Soprano Sheva Tehoval and baritone Philippe Brocard join for this perfectly idiomatic summer programme.
Still, it’s by no means all Anglomania. The Orchestre des Pays de Savoie appear in string orchestra formation on June 29th with a programme including the Belle Époque composer Charlotte Sohy’s Sentimental Story. And on July 5th Baroque orchestra Le Poème Harmonique performs in the festival’s closing concert with a sumptuous programme of Neapolitan classics of the Galant style – including Pergolesi’s famously heart-wrenching Stabat Mater.
Reims features several big-name soloists and chamber ensembles too. Nikolai Lugansky appears on June 15th in a marathon programme of Mendelssohn’s Romances, Chopin’s Ballades and Lugansky’s own Wagner transcriptions. And Renaud Capuçon appears the next day with pianist Guillaume Bellom for a programme of Strauss, Elgar and Fauré (who died a century ago this year).
Major chamber ensembles performing at Reims include the Modigliani Quartet on June 14th, in a programme including Wolf’s Italian Serenade and Beethoven’s Razumovsky quartet. Julia Fischer makes an appearance on July 2nd, with her piano trio comprising herself, cellist Daniel Müller-Schott and pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, to perform trios by Dvořák and Smetana. And on June 18th will be an unmissable opportunity to hear Xenakis’ earth-shattering percussion work Pléïades, with the appearance of Les Percussions de Strasbourg.
The intensity of Xenakis is contrasted with a recital by harpist Anaëlle Tourret on June 17th, with a programme including highlights from French harp repertoire by Caplet, Fauré and Renié. Award-winning French bassoonist Lola Descours appears soon after, together with pianist Paloma Kouider, for a rare chance to hear bassoon-and-piano works by Lili Boulanger, Saint-Saëns and Rachmaninov.
Baroque music is relatively infrequent this festival, but two performances that might be of interest to Baroque fans are on June 24th and 25th, with the appearance of British vocal consort Apollo5, with a programme including Byrd, Gibbons and Hildegard von Bingen (as well as other more recent fare). June 25th sees a performance by French Baroque ensemble The Curious Bards, instrumentation including viola da gamba and cittern (a Renaissance instrument roughly halfway between a guitar and lute). Their programme explores traditional Irish and Scottish repertoire of the Baroque period, including strathspeys, slip jigs and hornpipes.
The Flâneries Musicales always features free concerts – The Curious Bards’ appearance on June 25th is one such occasion. Other free concerts this festival include cellist François Salque and accordionist Vincent Peirani’s programme of Piazzolla and Stéphane Grappelli arrangements on June 20th, and a rooftop programme of mostly French chamber brass repertoire from the Local Brass Quintet on June 21st. Young artists are also well represented this season, with July 3rd–4th, toward the end of the festival, seeing appearances from several young soloists at the Reims Conservatoire.
Morning concerts for children and parents are also included in the Flâneries Musicales programme too – and children under 12 go free at the Flâneries Concert pique-nique in the Parc de Champagne on July 6th, which this year features a suitably Anglomaniacal programme including Walton, Britten, Holst and Parry’s Rule Britannia.
Check the full Flâneries Musicales de Reims 2024 programme.
This preview was sponsored by Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims.
