Festival Agapé, a festival of the sacred and of sharing6 reading minutes

Le Regard Libre N° 52 - Bernard Frossard

The festival of sacred and baroque music lives up to its name: Agapé, in Greek, means transcendent love, but also sharing. It's these two virtues that you feel most strongly when you attend one of his concerts. It's easy to see how much the artists enjoy being there, and that they're not there so much to perform as to offer us the very best of their art and interpretation. The event was graced by the presence of such notable early music artists as Jordi Savall, Bernard Héritier, Jean Tubéry with his ensemble La Fenice, Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique, La maîtrise de Colmar conducted by Arlette Steyer, James Bowman and so many others that it would take a long time to list them all.

On Friday May 31st, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Lessons of Darkness by Michel-Richard de Lalande, interspersed with motets by François Couperin, magnificently performed by the Il Carravaggio ensemble, featuring Anna Reinhold and Amel Brahim Djelloul, and directed by harpsichordist Camille Delaforge. The echo of the church brought these 18th-century compositions back to life.^th century their spiritual character and strength.

The concert begins in near-complete darkness under the imposing vaulted ceiling of the Sainte-Croix church in Carouge (canton of Geneva), the audience extremely silent, in this darkness, the melody develops with the gradual appearance of light. As the pieces progress, candles are lit in front of the stage steps, recalling the lucernaire of Holy Week in Catholic liturgy. This staging is a powerful breath of air that lifts us into contemplation of higher realities.

Read also: Music: from silence to mysticism

At the festival, joy and grace came to rest under the masterly hand of Leonardo Garcia Alarcón and his unique interpretation of’Il diluvio universale by Falvetti. In this concert, I could almost say this show, Alarcón conducts this piece by living the music carnally, expressing it and his soloists with great transport and taking us with him under the heat of the Sicilian sun of the 17th century.^th century.

I can't recommend this event highly enough, especially Alarcón. The artists express themselves generously, playing roles such as Divine Justice, Death - beautifully made-up! -Noah and Rad - the couple who survived the Deluge - and where the artists express themselves enormously. At the end of the show, there's a chance for the audience to meet the performers, as in the case of our guest Ariane Schwizgebel, artistic director of the festival.

Le Regard Libre: Can you tell us a bit about the history of this festival?

Ariane Schwizgebel: This festival was founded in 1992 on the intuition of a religious friend and my own questioning of the place of artists and early music. We felt that this music was being played in places that were too anonymous, and that it needed to return to its milieu, a milieu of friends, a place of friendship that wasn't offered only to an elite or connoisseurs. The first festival was subsidized by a friend who shared this vision of a festival that was first and foremost a meeting place for artists. It was like a sign that we had to continue this crazy adventure! In fact, since its inception, the festival has always attracted the interest of radio. In terms of our relationship with the artists over so many years, it's fair to say that even the little misfires - and there have been some! - have always been part of the strong, trusting relationship with the artists! Every opportunity we've had has only made it grow and bear fruit.

What makes it so special on the classical scene?

It's very important to us to have concerts that establish a dialogue between different cultures. Jordi Savall, who has been our guest on numerous occasions, has taught us to master this rich and interesting dialogue between different cultures. With the culture of his country and The Sibylline songs are a dialogue, a revealed word! With the Slave routes, it was African music that came to life, with the Route de l'Orient and the epic of St. Francis Xavier, the world of Asia came to the fore, with the nobility and shimmer of its musicians, particularly from Japan. We're very fond of musicians who manage to breathe new life into older, often forgotten music. These musicians are the likes of Jordi Savall, Marcel Pérès... They bring these works to life, although they are currently played in a dead manner. You get the impression that they're coming back to life, and that this is the most contemporary of music. It's a heritage that's being given back to us, that's being given pride of place.

Like Alarcón's piece?

Yes, but that's also the case for Lalande's music, which isn't often performed except at the Centre de Versailles, by top-quality masterclasses that know how to perform this music. Otherwise, it has to be admitted that this music is not a priority. Early music in general is still in a bit of a deficit, for example in Geneva. Here, it's more symphonic music, it's opera; the Geneva Chamber Orchestra has a lot of repertoire from the XIXth century.^th century; for us, it's very clearly Bach and what came before. Otherwise, we've always offered complete shows with music, theater, poetry and even dance. Unfortunately, dance was much criticized. The festival also featured the jazz repertoire in a concert with Christina Pluhar, the Arpeggiata ensemble and initiated by Philippe Jaroussky, mixing jazz pieces with works by Purcell. A concept that worked wonderfully well.

What feedback have you had from the artists?

Artists tell us that they feel loved and cared for. Recently, Leonardo Alarcón's wife Mariana told us: «We feel at home». It's a remark we've often heard elsewhere. Jean Davy, a great French actor, once told us: «Agape is my family». I also remember Gabriel Garrido, who did a lot for early music in Geneva and who told me: «At your place, it's a party, it's like being in Naples or Latin America. In Geneva, we don't have much of a sense of festivity, but with you, everyone's happy and we have a great time.»

This festival has a spiritual dimension. Can you tell us more about it?

Already in terms of the repertoire we choose, since most of our concerts are religious or sacred music, the music itself is spiritual. For us, art is sacred if it touches the heart of man and of all mankind. Art is a particular vector of spirituality, but one that is less honored today. In churches, we hear musical horrors, and we don't welcome these artists in our churches. We're cutting ourselves off from our spiritual heritage, and we want to give it back a central place, like a church in the middle of the village.

Does it really matter that you do this in churches?

We've had experience elsewhere, such as at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, but it's really a question of acoustics. When Jean Tubéry performed Monteverdi's Les Vêpres de la Vierge, the acousticians had to soundproof the venue, because it didn't sound at all, and this was a considerable hindrance to the artists. Concert halls are not suitable for religious music, and this music belongs in a church because that was its original purpose.

Write to the author: bernard_frossard@hotmail.ch