The 2025 Festival's Theme
A sacred world!
From the Middle Ages to contemporary music, from the ensemble Obsidienne to Gesualdo Six (who will be stopping off at Valloire as part of their European tour), the so-called sacred world imposes its presence on mankind. Whether religious in essence, as the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles and the ensemble Clematis will demonstrate, each with a Stabat Mater, or simply meditative, as when the duet Dulces Exuviae ponders the profound meaning of human existence, some of whose evocative themes I now share with you: twilight, dreams, moonlight, dawn, “in te Domine speravi”, this sacred world, whose perception far exceeds the limited scope of man’s vision, has inspired some of the most sublime musical works such as Couperin’s Les Leçons de Ténèbres, with Ophélie Gaillard’s ensemble Pulcinella, together with Sandrine Piau and Emmanuelle de Negri, or Carlo Gesualdo’s “eruptive” polyphony, which Stravinsky later took up at a time when Early music was no longer sung.
The sacred world is made visible through the contemplation of Mary before Jesus, as well as through a reversal of conventional values, as in the medieval festival of the “donkey mass” in which lay people lead the donkey carrying Mary into the church and make him sing “Heehaw!” in front of the altar, a now hardly permissible pantomime which the ensemble Obsidienne will deftly recall.
More tangibly, building on last year’s success, Mathilde Horcholle will this time create a bridge between hip-hop and Johann-Sebastian Bach!
Gaël de Kerret, Artistic Director
Gaël de Kerret has roamed Europe for about fifteen years, from one festival or radio station to another, all the while releasing a good twenty recordings of Early music (A Sei Voci, Clemencic Consort) as well as contemporary works (2E2M, TM+, Groupe Vocal de France, Orchestre Philarmonique de Radio-France…). He sings at La Fenice in Venice, at the Musikverein in Vienna, at the Utrecht festival, the Montpellier festival, at Radio-France, at IRCAM, or other prestigious venues, or again within the Union européenne des Radios, with such renowned conductors as Philippe Herreweghe, Jean-Claude Pennetier or Jean-Claude Malgoire. In 1997, he directs the Children’s Choir of the Paris National Opera House for a series of ten concerts and a recording. He is Director of Les Cours Européennes, a Baroque ensemble, and now also, Artistic Director of the Festival Valloire baroque, ever since its creation. A passionate pedagogue, he is Senior Professor and teaches singers on their way to professional careers at the Versailles Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional.
