2023-08-16 10:00:00
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CHRONIC. The French pianist closed the 74th edition of the festival with Beethoven’s “Concerto No. 4”. When Orpheus visits a small paradise.
By Olivier Bellamy Pianist Alexandre Kantorow at the 74th music festival in Menton (Alpes-Maritimes). © OB Published on 08/16/2023 at 10:00
It’s a shock of a kind you don’t get used to. Nestled in the heights of old Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), between sky and sea, the forecourt of the Saint-Michel basilica is a place blessed by the gods. Moreover, Michael (patron of the city) means “who is like God” in Hebrew. All that was missing was the music.
In August 1949, the Hungarian journalist André Böröcz climbed there. From a window, a transistor spits out a Bach partita by Heifetz. The following year, a festival was born from this epiphany. The greatest virtuosos will succumb to the charm of this little corner of paradise described by the pianist Sviatoslav Richter as “one of the seven wonders of the world”. On a piece of wall, a plaque gives thanks to the founder, who died in 1998.
A chaotic period ensued until the day the…
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