AUVERS OPUS 26 – ORGAN OPUS

“……….Of all the arts, only music could now make this pure nave vibrate. How the old stones would like to be caressed by the breath of the organ which would make its voice heard, because they can no longer bear this silence…” Thus expressed Father Michel Demissy, co-founder with Pascal Escande of the association which would give birth to the Auvers-sur-Oise Festival. A great human adventure and an ambitious cultural challenge with objectives that some considered unachievable at the time: the creation of a musical season and the construction of an organ.

Through hard work, tenacity and above all passion, the musical season transformed into a Festival in 1981 and the long-awaited organ was inaugurated at the opening of Opus 26, on Sunday May 14, 2006! It was a great event, not only for the festival-goers, loyal from the start, the partners who have placed their trust in the Festival, but also for all the artists who have come to Auvers-sur-Oise since its foundation. And to name just a few, Georges Cziffra, Sviatoslav Richter, Nikita Magaloff, Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Radu Lupu, Maurice André, Jean Pierre Rampal, Barbara Hendricks, Teresa Berganza, Mstislav Rostropovich, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Hélène Grimaud, Patricia Petibon, François René Duchâble, Sviatoslav Richter, Ivo Pogorelich, Michel Beroff, Yuri Bashmet, Maria Joao Pires, Maxim Vengerov, Brigitte Engerer, Natalie Dessay, Evgueny Kissin, Cecilia Bartoli, Fazil Say and Renée Flemming have strongly marked the history of Auvers-sur-Oise through their talent and charisma. Opus 26 therefore took on a particular shine with the noble colors of wood, pewter and ivory! A precious alloy making it possible to forge an expressive language like the music of Philippe Hersant, the common thread composer of the 2006 edition, who was one of the first of his generation to situate himself, once again, in the tonal and modal space. An alloy which also corresponded to the plastic approach of Pierre Marie Lejeune, the guest sculptor of this “Opus Organ”, having virtuosically declined the theme of metamorphosis and transfiguration through his work on steel, glass, wood and light. From the inaugural concert with Thierry Escaich, godfather of construction, to the “Nuits de l’Opus 26”, the Festival continues its journey while remaining faithful to its identity: an alliance of great performers and young talents and variations in music of the spirit which was, in painting, that of the Impressionists: variety, liveliness, curiosity, freedom. Baroque Auvers, classic Auvers, romantic Auvers, lyrical or contemporary Auvers… so many different temperaments interpreted in places steeped in history. This Opus 26 was therefore fiery and you will be happy to find around Thierry Escaich and his lively interpretations and improvisations, the Wanderer Trio, Vincent Coq, Raphaël Pidoux, Jean-Marc Phillips Varjabédian, the violist Arnaud Thorette, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Nemanja Radulovic, Laure Favre-Kahn, the Les Solistes Français orchestra and the guitarist Emmanuel Rossfelder. A “Souvenir” disc with part of the Festival’s family of artists and the sounds of some eighteen hundred pipes from the Bernard Hurvy organ of the Notre Dame church in Auvers-sur-Oise.