Curiosity, sophistication, music for everyone: this is the logical thread of “Cello Passion,” seven concerts from Sept. 21 to Oct. 24 telling us about an instrument and its secrets.
For the first time, Palazzetto Bru Zane produced a festival that is dedicated to an instrument – the cello – rather than to a specific composer. Why did you make this choice? And what is special about the cello?
Actually, this is not the first time! In 2010, we dedicated a programme to French Romantic piano, which is a whole universe in itself. The programme comprised concerts, piano quintets, recitals, and four-hand piano performances. We will follow the same guidelines for the cello, whose sound and range make it one of the most iconic instruments of romantic melancholy and introspection. We considered dozens of meditations, élégies, and lamentos: we had a hard time setting our minds on each. Our programme touches four genres: orchestra pieces (which obviously we cannot host at Palazzetto Bru Zane), string quintets with two cellos, sonatas for cello and piano duo, and ensembles of two, three, or four cellos. The cello can sing and accompany, sound off with fury or sweetness, touch our souls in their deepest, or entertain with lighter tunes. Romantic composers understood its virtues and also benefited from the Composition classes that were given at the time at the Paris Conservatory.
The programme at Palazzetto Bru Zane includes known composers and hidden gems of the French and international romantic music repertoire. What is peculiar about each concert in the programme?
The main feature is, certainly, the rarity of our picks, and they were hard picks: the amount of music that lay abandoned for 200 years is absolutely vast. It is easy to listen to, though, for it speaks to the soul, and is rarely conceptual or uncomfortably lengthy. We want to reassure the audience that approaches classical music for the first time, or those who believe it to be an intellectual, elitist affair, that our festival will put those notions to rest. We will be graced by the participation of an international array of cellists, many of them very young, who just got their degree from the best music academies in Lausanne, Paris, Lyon. The enthusiasm and the high standards of this generation of performers will bring fresh air and generosity to our autumn festivals. We can’t wait to listen to audiot, Gouvy, Onslow, Dumas, Schmitt, Battanchon, Lecocq, Huré, and others. I am sure you feel the same.
Your conference on October 10, which you hold together with Fondazione Querini Stampalia, is a key event in the programme. What role for Palazzetto Bru Zane in the cultural world, both in Venice and internationally?
Our strength lies in our ability to work on different levels of propagation at the same time: in Venice, where we keep our main office, and in several theatres around Europe, in Canada, and starting this year, Hong Kong. As a private foundation, we can be as flexible as needed in who we partner with. This freedom means we must be responsible with how we invest our time and our money: if anything is possible, we must choose what is best. This year, for example, we will produce a theatre show in Asia and release our first DVD (Carmen ‘1875’) via our Bru Zane Label. We are looking at limitless opportunities. A conference in Venice, by the way, deserves the same care a big opera production in America does.
Fifteen years ago, in 2009, Palazzetto Bru Zane opened its office in Venice. Over the years, it became one of the main players in the Venetian music scene: concerts, recordings, educational activities, archives, digitization work, your web radio, a recording label… you do excellent work. What projects do you find most stimulating? And what are you looking forward to?
I believe all our team remembers fondly our big theatre productions: La Vie Parisienne by Offenbach, Mam’zelle Nitouche by Hervé, or, more recently, our staging of the 1875 Carmen. These project involved all departments at Palazzetto Bru Zane and show the best of our teamwork. They are also complex, involved projects, which makes them all the more beautiful, and a true representation of professional excellence. We are also very proud of our book and record releases, with over fifty titles in our catalogue. This rich collection reflects the research work we have been funding all these years. Some of our titles became cornerstones in the industry, like the ‘first version’ of Gounod’s Faust, the much anticipated Ariane by Messenet, and rare pieces like Halévy’s La Reine de Chypre or Godard’s Dante, not to mention the first piece by a female composer: Fausto by Louise Bertin! I cannot predict any radical change for the future, if not wondering what is lacking in our portfolio: maybe an academy? An orchestra and choir? Continuing education for teachers? Why not?
