Annecy classic festival 2012
Artistic direction : Denis Matsuev and Pascal Escande

A starry festival…

The story of annecy classic festival started forty-three years ago with the great pianist Eliane Richepin, in the company of her friends Joseph Calvet, Roger Bourdin and Reine Flachot amongst others. In just a few years, the Annecy Classic Festival has become a meeting place for international symphonic, chamber music and recital artists – the « Venice of the Alps » - offering a distinguished programme encompassing established celebrities and the rising generation of musicians.

Following the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in residence and the Mariinsky Orchestra last year, it is now the turn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit, to visit the banks of the « Blue Lake », ornament of the Haute-Savoie and pride of Annecy, city of St Francis of Sales and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

The 2012 season promises some magnificent concerts, with works by Berlioz, Kodaly, Puccini, Dvorak, Grieg, Wagner, Prokofiev, Escaich and others, giving us the opportunity to experience and enjoy the varied styles of composition that make up the musical foundations of Europe. The festivities are led by brilliant soloist Denis Matsuev, heart and soul of the festival, followed by his friend Nikolaï Lugansky, by Henri Demarquette, Sergio Tiempo, Karen Vourc’h, Jacques Rouvier, Stephen Genz, Claire-Marie Le Guay, Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Hisako Kawamura, Bertrand Chamayou and Brigitte Fossey, to name but a few among the talented artists gathered here in an atmosphere of mutual respect, understanding and cooperation.

And, because the public at Annecy is not only eager for music but also open to discovery, for the finale of this third season we present one of the greatest musical frescoes of the twentieth century, Prokofiev’s programme music for the film « Alexander Nevsky », performed by the choir of the Santa Cecilia Academy of Rome with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, under the inspired baton of - henceforward adoptive Annecian - Yuri Temirkanov!

A rare musical event for all to share.

Pascal Escande
President