Festival de Sablé

du 19 août au 23 août 2008

La vie du festival


The History of the Festival of Sablé

August 1979. In the choir of the modest Gastines church in Sablé, the Uruguayan guitarist Betho Davezac presents a new interpretation of a work by Jean-Sébastien Bach as a result of some recent musicological research. The audience is won over.

It is the birth of the Festival of Sablé. Begun by its current director, Jean-Bernard Meunier, the festival gradually builds its reputation through successive events. The most important was in 1980 when the the choreographer and academic Francine Lancelot, director of the baroque dance company "Ris et Danceries", suggests inviting the choreographer André Francalanci, a specialist in Italian renaissance dance. The International Academy of Sablé begins to take shape with its unique teaching.

Torn between contemporary creations for the guitar and an aesthetic revolution of the musical heritage, the Festival of Sablé searches for its own identity.

International composition and performance competitions, as well as commissions and creations of works for the classical guitar are presented side by side with more traditional baroque works. They are not that different. In just a few years, ancient music and dance dominate: the Festival de Sablé will be baroque.

New works by young artists fill the program.

Embracing both the sacred and profane repertories and giving more importance to the quality of the work than its school of thought, the Festival is particularly interested in the performing arts: ballets, comedy ballets, theater. « L’Amante invisible » by the company "Ris et Danceries" is followed by « La Méprise » and « le Carnaval amoureux » of Marivaux or « le Baiser d’Amour » from the "Comédie Italienne".

For the music, Anner Bylsma and Blandine Verlet, Jean-Claude Malgoire and the Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Marianne Muller and the Nièces de Rameau take over the living rooms of the châteaux as well as village churches. The music becomes part of the architectural heritage in the settings for which is was written. It is a regional festival that brings music to many different towns and villages in the former provinces of Maine and Anjou.

It is difficult to list all of the performers, musicians, and dancers. Yesterday, Marc Minkowski and the Musiciens du Louvre, Collegium Instrumental de Bruges, Jordi Savall and the Concert des Nations, Pierre Hantaï or Musica Antiqua Praha ; today, the Chapelle Rhénane, Collegium 1704,  the Arpeggiata, Amandine Beyer.
These musicians are the soul of the festival. Manuscripts are the guide books, and the heart of the festival beats for the loyal and curious audiences.

Today the Festival of Sablé exports to Prague and Bucharest its creations, its concerts, and its academies. It is multiplying the exchanges with other European countries, determined to participate in the construction of a cultural Europe.

That is the new challenge for the coming years.


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