ABBAYE DE ROYAUMONT

FANTAISIES

From Chicago to Paris through London or Berlin

SATURDAY, JUNE 17 2023 - 17.30

Shuichi Okada, violin
Alexandre Pascal, violin
Léa Hennino, viola
Héloïse Luzzati, cello
Célia Oneto Bensaid, piano

Musical theory defines the fantasy as the form of freedom : a structure free of all constraints, a character close to improvisation, and a free use of themes – a fantasy can emerge from a single theme or, on the contrary, explore a multitude of them. Germaine Tailleferre used this freedom to explore around a theme of Georges Caussade, her counterpoint teacher; Florence Price to build a virtuoso piece around evocations of negro spirituals. Rita Strohl and Alice Verne-Bredt used it to free themselves from the canons of quintet and trio, the former by ending her piece with a monumental fifteen-minute suite of variations on a single theme, the latter by condensing a passionate work into a single movement. Finally, Hélène Fleury-Roy and Fanny Mendelssohn wrote short character pieces in the form of fantasias, the former for viola, the latter for cello, whose many atmosphere changes allow to explore every aspect of the instrument.

PROGRAMME

Fantaisies

FANTAISIES

From Chicago to Paris through

London or Berlin

 

ALICE VERNE-BREDT (1864-1958)
Phantasie Trio
for violin, cello and piano

FLORENCE PRICE (1887 – 1953)
Fantaisie n°1 en sol mineur
for violin and piano

FANNY MENDELSSOHN (1805 – 1847)
Fantasia en sol mineur
for cello and piano

HELENE FLEURY-ROY (1876 – 1957)
Fantaisie, op. 18
for viola and piano

GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE (1892 – 1983)
Fantaisie
for string quartet and piano

RITA STROHL (1865 – 1941)
Grande Fantaisie-Quintette
Maestoso
Scherzo
Intermezzo
Thème et variations
for string quartet and piano
Scores : Palazzetto Bru Zane

 

ARTISTS

SHUICHI OKADA, violin

ALEXANDRE PASCAL, violin

LÉA HENNINO, viola

HÉLOÏSE LUZZATI, cello

CÉLIA ONETO BENSAID, piano

Shuichi Okada

SHUICHI OKADA

Born in 1995 in Bordeaux, Shuichi Okada studied at the CNSM in Paris, at the Barenboim Said Academy in Berlin and at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel. He won the 1st prize at the Ginette Neveu International Competition.
He has performed with orchestras such as the Orchestre Symphonique de Nancy, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Normandie, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Toulon, the Orchestre Pasdeloup…
He is regularly invited to take part in festivals such as the Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron, the Folles Journées de Nantes and Tokyo or the Festival de Radio-France Occitanie-Montpellier, where he performs with artists such as Raphaël Pidoux, Philippe Jaroussky, Antoine Tamestit, Claire Désert, Gérard Caussé, Pierre Fouchenneret, Augustin Dumay, Gary Hoffman… He has also had the opportunity to play in large concert halls as a soloist or in chamber music groups: Salle Pleyel, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Vienna Konzerthaus, Philharmonie de Paris, Bozar in Brussels…
Shuichi Okada is a member of the Arnold Trio, residents of  the Singer-Polignac Foundation, whose first CD, released by Mirare, was awarded a Diapason d’or. He has also released a Brahms/Schumann CD with pianist Clément Lefebvre on the Mirare label, and is participating in the complete chamber music of Brahms for the B-records label, and the complete chamber music of Franck for the Fuga Libéra label. For the Alpha label, he recorded French melodies with the singer Veronique Gens – a recording that was awarded a Choc de Classica and a Diapason d’or.
He has received the support of the Safran, Or du Rhin and Banque Populaire Foundations. He plays on a 1710 violin by Carlo Tononi, on loan from the Belgian royal family and the Queen Elisabeth Chapel.

Alexandre Pascal

ALEXANDRE PASCAL

Born in Paris into a family of musicians, the young violinist Alexandre Pascal studied violin with Suzanne Gessner at the CRR of Paris and then with Olivier Charlier at the CNSMDP where he brilliantly obtained his master’s degree with the unanimous approval of the jury. Alexandre Pascal has an intense activity as a soloist and chamber music player. He has performed in prestigious international festivals such as the “Festival Berlioz” in La Côte Saint-André, “Musique à l’Emperi”, Schiermonnikoog in the Netherlands, Saint-Yrieix, the “Flâneries de Reims”, the “Festival de La Prée”, the “Festival de L’Epau”, the “Festival de Cordes-sur-ciel”, the “Tons voisins” in Albi, Tanglewood Music Festival in the United States, and also in prestigious venues such as the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, accompanied by the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Grand Théâtre d’Aix en Provence, the Seine Musicale in Paris, the Nouveaux Siècles in Lille, NCPA in Mumbai and the Philharmonie de Paris. He shares the stage with prestigious soloists such as Daishin Kashimoto, Eric Le Sage, Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Zvi Plesser, Romain Descharmes, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Pierre Fouchenneret, Marie Chilemme, Lise Berthaud, Lorenzo Gatto, Victor Julien-Laferrière, and of course Aurélien Pascal, Denis Pascal and Marie-Paule Milone. Alexandre has a degree in musicology and studied conducting at the CNSMDP. He has also participated in the Seiji Ozawa Academy for several years. Nominated “Révélation Classique” by the Adami in 2018, Alexandre plays on a Jean- Baptiste Vuillaume violin from 1852.

Léa Hennino

LÉA HENNINO

Born in 1991, Léa Hennino obtained in 2008 a DEM with the congratulations of the jury in Carole Dauphin’s class. In 2013, she graduated from the CNSMD in Paris where she studied with Sabine Toutain and Christophe Gaugué. She also worked for a year with the Japanese violist Nobuko Imai in Geneva. She perfected her skills with the English violist Lawrence Power in Zurich for two years. Recognized as one of the most promising violists of her generation, Léa Hennino has performed on major international stages with renowned artists such as Renaud Capucon, Alina Ibragimova, Hanna Weinmeister, Gérard Caussé and Clemens Hagen. Léa is a regular guest of several ensembles such as Les Dissonnances, I Giardini, or the Aurora Orchestra in England. As a soloist, she has performed Martinü’s concerto with the Hradec Kralové Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic as well as Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante with the Orchestre de chambre de Toulouse. Selected to participate in international academies in Poland, Germany, USA, Switzerland, England, Sweden, Spain, she performs in various formations during concerts and master classes with great masters. Léa has won numerous prizes in national and international competitions and is a laureate of several foundations.

Héloïse Luzzati

HÉLOÏSE LUZZATI

Héloïse Luzzati has been involved for several years in the discovery and recognition of women’s musical heritage.
In 2020, she founded Elles women composers, a project based on the research of manuscripts and scores that are the subject of daily readings.
She is also the founder of the Festival Un Temps pour Elles and of La Boîte à Pépites for which she works in close collaboration with the designer Lorène Gaydon, the director Alexis Lardilleux and the sound engineer Mireille Faure.
She is the author of most of the documentaries produced for the Boîte à Pépites.
Thanks to Elles Women Composers, Héloïse Luzzati collaborates with numerous cultural structures such as the Orchestre National Avignon Provence, the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, the Abbaye de Royaumont, the Abbaye de Maubuisson or the Palazzeto BruZane and hopes to spread the research and reading work of the collective as widely as possible.
Passionate about chamber music, Héloïse Luzzati graduated from the CNSMDP in the class of Roland Pidoux and Xavier Phillips. During her studies, she also benefited from the advice of Philippe Muller, Marc Coppey, Hatto Beyerle, Alain Planès and members of the Ysaÿe Quartet. She has performed with artists such as Xavier Phillips, Célia Oneto Bensaid, Dana Ciocarlie, Marie-Josèphe Jude, Léa Hennino, Alexandre Pascal….

Célia Oneto Bensaid

CÉLIA ONETO BENSAID

Célia Oneto Bensaid expresses herself on the piano, an instrument with a rich repertoire. She won five prizes with the highest distinctions at the CNSMD in Paris and continued her studies with Rena Shereshevskaya at the École Normale A. Cortot from which she graduated with a “Diplôme supérieur de concertiste”. A singular and committed personality, Celia carefully chooses the repertoires that she defends on stage and that she willingly presents in order to make it accessible to everyone: that is why the repertory of American music (with notably her own transcriptions), French music, contemporary music, and female composers’ music hold an important place in her programmes.
A YAMAHA artist, laureate of many international competitions – including Piano Campus, Fondation Banque Populaire, Cziffra etc… – she performs throughout Europe but also in the United States, Canada, Russia, China, and Japan. Celia was awarded the André Boisseaux Prize, which allowed her to record for the Soupir label a first solo disc: “American Touches”, released in 2018 . She premiered several works by Camille Pépin, whose chamber music she recorded in a disc widely rewarded by the press in 2019 for NoMadMusic. During the 21/22 season, Célia made her debut at the Auditorium de l’Opéra de Bordeaux, and at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, but also at the “Nouveaux Horizons” festival in Aix-en Provence.

ABBAYE DE ROYAUMONT

Address: Fondation Royaumont, F-95270 Asnières sur Oise

WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

From the train station in Luzarches (line H), shuttles allow to reach the Abbaye in 8 minutes, which means the ride from the Gare du Nord is less than an hour long.

More about the shuttles on the Abbaye de Royaumont website :

Accès

DRIVE FROM PARIS

Take the A3A1 and N104 to D316 in Mareil-en-France. Take the exit no. 94b and then leave the N104. Continue on D316. Take the D922 to the D909E in Asnières-sur-Oise. 

EN VÉLO

Royaumont has received the certification « Accueil vélo ».

This certification states that a space reserved for bicycle parking has been set up in the parking lot, that there is a drinking water point for cyclists, sanitary facilities, a repair kit for minor damage (flat tire, derailment) and even a charging spot for electrically assisted bicycles…

The ride from the train station in Viarmes takes about 10 minutes.

Château_de_La_Roche-Guyon,_entrée

DO YOU KNOW

GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE ?

GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE

Germaine Tailleferre (1892 – 1983)
Fantaisie sur un thème donné de Georges Caussade
Shuichi Okada, violon
Alexandre Pascal, violon
Léa Hennino, alto
Héloïse Luzzati, violoncelle
Célia Oneto Bensaid, piano