2023-09-01 08:56:02
Soprano Anaïs Constans performs compositions by Adèle Hugo, Tuesday August 29 at La Côte-Saint-André (Isère). BRUNO MOUSSIER/AIDA
The Berlioz Festival, which takes place in La Côte-Saint-André (Isère), invites us to consider the dimension of the myth, dear to the French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), a native of the place, in a program that mixes very broadly ( eras, genres, numbers) to accommodate everything related to the notion of legend. Every rule has an exception, however, and the first of the two concerts on the bill, Tuesday August 29, seemed a priori to justify its presence: no myth in sight in the works – three major cycles of the 19th century – proposed by Vanessa Wagner at 17 hours in the Saint-André church.
Read also the review: “Les Troyens”: a Berlioz masterpiece with modern comforts
The pianist began her recital with a page taken from the cycle of pieces Poetic and religious harmonies (1853) by Franz Liszt, which she interprets with a quality of deployment, telluric then radiant, conforming to the ideal of the demiurge musician. After mesmerizing the audience with this Invocation to a Michelangelo god, Vanessa Wagner delighted him with the exquisite rendition of three pieces from romance without words (1830-1845), by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). If the universe has changed, the pianist still displays an astonishing assurance: whether she is confronted with the interstellar storms of Liszt or the very localized storms of Mendelssohn, the soloist has perfectly mastered the art of climate change.
The next work, the big piece of his program, will allow him to excel in this area. Seasons (1875-1876) by Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) constitute a sensory and pictorial journey through the year, month by month. The title given to this set of twelve miniatures is somewhat surprising, as the seasonal tendencies are hardly perceptible, except perhaps in the case of summer, whose very active orientation Vanessa Wagner suggests (July – Song of the reapers, August – The Harvest, September – The Hunt) by linking the three phases. The dreamlike calendar offers great latitude in the personalized illumination of the months.
sensuality of color
The pianist proves it, straight away, with a January – Fireside of a very Schumannian fantasy. Freedom – abandonment, even, for a March – Song of the Lark with folkloric inflections evoking the composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) – then becomes a force of seduction, sublimated in May nights with a caressing breath and passionate impulses. Authentically inspired by each vignette (irresistible Barcarolle of June), Vanessa Wagner combines firmness of line and sensuality of color.
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