CONCERTS
Every year, the Association of the Friends of the Château de Bournazel organises a rich cultural season in order to revive this jewel. The château hosts musical and theatrical events, university symposiums, artists’ residences, all of which highlight the extraordinary diversity of the European Renaissance.
PROGRAMME 2021
Saturday, October 9, 8 pm, Bournazel Church
La Flor en Paradis - Music of nobility in the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, 1300-1400
Tasto Solo
The flower, synonymous with beauty, evocation of purity and allegory of God, is the thread running through a musical journey that begins in the royal monastery of Las Huelgas and takes us to the sumptuous palaces of the monarchs of Aragon and Catalonia. The Codex de Las Huelgas (Castile and Leon) bears witness to the extraordinary musical practice of the nuns during the various royal ceremonies of the early 14th century. The Catalan-Aragonese court is full of polyphonic manuscripts to the glory of the monarchs and their lineage. Its royal chapel, composed of French, Flemish, but also Castellan and Catalan musicians, became one of the most flourishing institutions in all of Europe, to such an extent that Pope Benedict XIII asked to «borrow» his singers and instrumentalists, for the celebration of the Council of Perpignan in 1408.
The Renaissance music ensemble Tasto Solo is in residence at the Château de Bournazel.
Monday, August 2, 8 pm
Music by John Dowland
Bor Zuljan, Renaissance lute
The figure of John Dowland is one of the most intense embodiments of the melancholy that ran through England in the second half of the 16th century, both a pathology and a sign of refinement and intelligence. An exceptional lutenist, he left many pieces, masterpieces of counterpoint and rhetoric, architecture and virtuosity, which make this aristocratic instrument sound like never before.
Bor Zuljan’s recording of these pieces has received unanimous acclaim from international music critics.
The concert will be preceded by a presentation lecture by Bor Zuljan.
Tuesday, August 3, 8 pm
The Song of the Eschiquier
Tasto Solo
The Eschiquier is the name given to stringed keyboard instruments in the 15th century. The concert programme designed around it presents a selection of the most extraordinary ballads and rondeaux by Gilles Binchois and Guillaume Dufay, with compositions by Johannes Ciconia and John Dunstable, the two great precursors of the so-called Franco-Flemish style. A universe of sound where struck, rubbed and plucked strings mingle with the timbres of the organetto and the voice.
The Renaissance music ensemble Tasto Solo is in residence at Bournazel Castle.
The concert will be preceded by a presentation lecture by Guillermo Perez.
Wednesday, August 4, 8 pm
JS Bach, Goldberg Variations
Benjamin Alard, harpsichord
In 1741, Bach published in Leipzig a collection containing one Aria followed by thirty Variations, known today as the Goldberg Variations, in reference to the harpsichordist who would have been the first to play them, to soothe the insomnia of his master, Count Keyserlingk. This monumental ensemble, a veritable summit of Western music, combines virtuoso moments requiring infallible technique with the most daring inventions of writing. As always, Bach stands at the junction between the culmination of an ancestral heritage and the point of departure towards a new modernity.
The concert will be preceded by a presentation by Jean-Paul Combet.
Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 July, 8 pm
French Song Celebration
Le Cabaret Décousu
This performance honours the art of French song. Directed by Philippe Meyer with musicians, singers and actors Noëmie Zurletti, Benoit Carré, Emmanuel Noblet, Jean-Claude Laudat and Pascal Sangla.
‘One vowel can hide another, and if it is a song that resembles us, it is also, and even more so, a song that brings us together. A song that we sing or one that we listen to. A hit that doesn’t go out of our heads (our ancestors used to say ‘a saw’) or a tune that we keep warm, just for ourselves. The song is used to unite groups and to walk at a steady pace while allowing you to dream. The song gives memories to those who don’t have any. It lightens our heartaches or it makes us share for 3 minutes a torrid passion or an inconsolable sorrow. The song celebrates the homeland, it makes the rulers’ head spin, it celebrates travels and it invents destinations, it mocks or moans, it raises its fist or makes heavy feet dance, there is no subject that is foreign to it and it has dealt with them all. It is this song, our common heritage, that we want to celebrate in this cabaret that draws from all genres. I would add that a song is a little play, and it is no coincidence that it is actors with whom I wanted to share the programme of this rambling cabaret’. – Philippe Meyer
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Information & reservations
French Song Celebration, Tuesday 13 & Wednesday 14 July
Ticket Price: 20 €
Concerts, Monday 2, Tuesday 3 & Wednesday 4 August
Ticket Prices :
– one concert : 25 €
– all three concerts : 60 €
Under 25s :
– one concert : 20 €
– all three concerts : 50 €
Concert, ‘La Flor en Paradis’, Saturday 9 October
Ticket price: 25 €
Under 25s: 20 €
E-mail : chateau.de.bournazel@gmail.com
Previous Performances
2020 - Ensemble Tasto Solo - « Virtuosity and Refinement at the turn of the Renaissance »
Three concerts by an ensemble now central to the European cultural landscape, featuring repertoires from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
2019 - Ensemble Tasto Solo - Anna Inglese
Concert dedicated to Anna Inglese, one of the few professional singers working in Italy in the 15th century, whose “soft and subtle voice, not human but divine” had been noted in 1455.
2019 - Carte blanche to the La Lyra ensemble
Three concerts devoted to the extraordinary evolution of keyboard instruments during the Renaissance, through three original and rare approaches.
2018 - Keyboards in the Renaissance
Ensemble TASTO SOLO (Guillermo Perèz, organetto, David Catalunya, clavisimbalum and Angélique Mauillon, renaissance harp) Enea Sorini, tenor and Corina Marti, Renaissance harpsichord Pierre Hantaï, harpsichord
2017 - Ensemble Doulce Mémoire
Made up of a team of faithful and close-knit musicians and singers, the Doulce Mémoire ensemble has been involved for more than twenty-five years in artistic adventures that are always innovative, with the regular participation of actors and dancers.
Crédit photographique : Robin .H. Davies
The Association of the Friends of Château de Bournazel was created in January 2012 with the aim of promoting this exceptional Historic Monument by organising cultural events contributing to the enhancement of the artistic heritage of the Renaissance. The Association, through its actions, aims to encourage the reception of the public but also of researchers specialising in the period. In the same way, the association provides human, material and financial support for the conservation, restoration, protection and accessibility of the Château.
To support the Association and participate in the development of Château de Bournazel, become a member.
