Aix en Provence Festival, July 2026

10 July:

I'm very pleased to report that my Adelaide to Aix-en-Provence odyssey, albeit 40 hours long, went to plan and I've had a day to rest and get used to the fact that it's summer. Our Hayllar Music Tours itinerary starts tonight (Friday) with dinner.

It's hot, just like an Adelaide summer, and it's going to be mid- to high-30s every day we're here.

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12 July:

Saturday was our first full day here in Aix-en-Provence for Hayllar Music Tours. We started with a morning guided tour of the old city (on the edge of which our lovely hotel is located). It was a busy morning; a few pics are appended here.

The weather is hot but seems no hotter than it was when I was here at exactly the same time of year last year and the year before.

After a free afternoon we met in the hotel for my first talk (of seven) for our guests. We then walked to the magnificent Grand Théâtre de Provence for the first performance (of seven) on this tour.

This was a concert performance of Bartók's only opera, Bluebeard's Castle, and it was stunning. Gerald Finley sang Bluebeard, while Irene Roberts sang Judith. Both were in glorious voice with Roberts in particular capturing the complexities of Judith's dilemma beautifully.

The Orchestre de Paris, under the batonless direction of their superstar maestro Klaus Mäkelä (now getting on a bit - he's 30), was magnificent. Bartók's powerful, colourful score sparkled and growled as Judith opened the seven doors. It was testament to the fact that this one-hour masterpiece, with just two singers, works as brilliantly in concert as it does when fully staged.

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13 July:

Sunday on our southern French sojourn saw us spend a few hours in Arles, about an hour by road from Aix-en-Provence. Famed for its Roman amphitheatre and van Gogh connections, Arles is a beautiful, UNESCO-protected town which we visit each year as part of this tour.

Our excellent guide, Thomas, took us around the old town, after which we had free time for lunch and individual exploration. The heat was challenging but we made the most of our time there.

After a few free hours I gave my next talk before we attended a late-night performance in the open-air Théâtre de l'Archevêché. This was Mozart's Requiem in the theatrical version devised by Romeo Castellucci and Raphaël Pichon. This premiered here in 2019 and was given at the 2020 Adelaide Festival (on which occasion I saw it).

Musically this was a glorious achievement, with Pichon conducting his ensemble Pygmalion on stage and in the pit in a stunning, polished performance. As for what happens on stage, my opinion remains unchanged from 2020: it was all very interesting but - to my mind - irrelevant and completely disconnected with the texts being sung. Happily this didn't detract from my admiration for the performers, who despite the sometimes enormous obstacles placed in their way, gave us a ravishing performance of the Mozart/Süssmayr score.

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14 July:

Our Hayllar Music Tours visit to Aix-en-Provence started on Monday at the Caumont Centre d'Art, housed in a glorious city mansion dating from the 18th century.

We had a guided tour of the current temporary exhibition, which features works by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. This included not only many of his famous cabaret posters but also a large number of his paintings. (I had been unaware until then that Toulouse-Lautrec had made any sizable contribution to painting.)

We then had lunch together before a free afternoon. Then, in the evening, I gave my talk to our guests before we went once more to the Théâtre de l'Archevêché for more Mozart.

This was a new production of The Magic Flute (or, as it was given in the original German, I should say, Die Zauberflöte). Cappella Mediterranea, on period instruments, were in the pit, conducted by their director, Leonardo García-Alarcón.

The cast included Ying Fang (Pamina), Mauro Peter (Tamino), Sean Michael Plumb (Papageno) and Sabine Devieilhe (Queen of the Night); every role was wonderfully sung.

My "jury" is still out with regards to Clément Cogitore's production, which I found interesting in parts and downright annoying in others. In any case it was a joy, as usual at this festival, to hear such superlative performances.

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15 July:

Tuesday in Aix-en-Provence saw us head out of town in the morning to Château La Coste, an extraordinary establishment comprising a winery, restaurants, accommodation and - more pertinent to our visit - a massive sculpture park.

We saw just a few of the amazing sculpture installations dotted around this gorgeous property. I've posted many pics [on Facebook] from this place on my previous two visits so didn't take many this time around. Check out their website: https://chateau-la-coste.com/en/

We then moved on to another breathtakingly beautiful location, the 18th century Château de Fonscolombe, for lunch under the trees. It was spectacular.

In the early evening I gave my fourth talk to our guests before we went to the Grand Théâtre de Provence for a concert. This featured Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva with members of Cappella Mediterranea, under the direction of Leonardo García-Alarcón. The program, based on their 2021 CD Rebirth, comprised songs and dances mostly from the early Baroque.

I thought the instrumentalists were spectacular, giving brilliant and exciting performances. I was not a fan of the singing at all so will decline to comment further.

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16 July:

I take it all back. The heat here in Aix-en-Provence has in my experience always been very dry, just like summer in Adelaide, but since yesterday it's been incredibly humid. In mid- to high-30s that's not fun, given all the walking we do!

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Thursday on our Hayllar Music Tours visit to Aix-en-Provence started with a visit to the Musée Granet, a beautiful small gallery with some significant collections. We had a guided tour of their collection of [mostly early] Cézannes. Aix was Cézanne's home and the city is proud of the connection.

Then after a free afternoon I gave my fifth talk to our guests before we headed yet again to the Grand Théâtre de Provence for what promised to be - and what we hoped might be - the musical highlight of our itinerary.

Richard Strauss's "last romantic opera" - Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow) - is huge. Its more than three hours of music requires big voices and a big orchestra. It was receiving a new production at the Aix-en-Provence festival, directed by Barrie Kosky.

I had no doubt it would be well cast, but I have seen a number of Kosky's productions in recent years and disliked them all. I was worried.

But I needn't have been. This was a spectacular triumph on every level, most likely the musical highlight of the tour we hoped it would be. The production was clear and powerful and musically beyond reproach.

The five central roles require extraordinary voices and deep dramatic instincts, and all were cast with great artists: Michael Spyres (Emperor), Vida Miknevičiūtė (Empress), Nina Stemme (Nurse), Brian Mulligan (Barak), and Ambur Braid (Barak's wife).

And in the pit was the Orchestre de Paris and Klaus Mäkelä. It really was one of those nights where it all came together without one weak link in evidence. Such a privilege to witness.

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17 July:

Our Aix-en-Provence sojourn continued on Thursday with a morning excursion out of town. Visiting the Luberon Plateau, about an hour an a half out of Aix, immersed us in the countryside of this part of France.

We visited two beautiful hilltop villages. The first was Rousillon, which is located in the ochre-producing region of the plateau. It's maintained a rustic beauty and I explored parts of the town that I hadn't seen on my previous tours here.

We then went on to Gordes, described by some as the most beautiful village in the world, an assertion with which it is hard to argue. This place seems to be made entirely of dry stone construction and it really is gorgeous. I explored it at length last year; this year I was content to leave the exploration to others after our wonderful group lunch.

After returning to Aix I gave my penultimate talk of the tour before we went for the last time to the Grand Théâtre de Provence. On offer from the festival on this occasion was a true rarity, a concert performance of the original 1855 French version of Verdi's Les vêpres Siciliennes (The Sicilian Vespers).

The chorus and orchestra of the Lyon Opera were energetically and enthusiastically (but also very effectively) conducted by Daniele Rustioni. The large cast comprised mostly French or France-based singers.

This work is one you read about but I'd never heard it. It was written immediately after Verdi's middle period masterpieces (Rigoletto, Trovatore and Traviata) but it's very different to them. It was written for Paris and is cast in the five-act grand opera style beloved of French audiences in the 19th century. Consequently I wasn't sure what to expect.

Simply, it was magnificent. It was a long night - more than three and a half hours - but one couldn't have hoped for better advocates for this powerful piece than were assembled on this occasion.

Karine Deshayes (Hélène), John Osborn (Henri), Michele Pertusi (Procida), and Insik Choi (Guy de Montfort) led the cast. Utterly incredible singing of hugely demanding music with power and beauty in equal measure. They all made it sound easy, which it most decidedly is not!

The orchestra and chorus were also wonderful and clearly having the best time. As is often the way with concert performances of rarely-heard works like this, it was a revelation. We'll probably never see it staged in Australia (has it been done since the Australian premiere in Sydney in 1870?) so hearing it under these circumstances was a real privilege.

It's also a very different Verdi to the one I'm used to. (I conducted staged productions of four Verdi operas in my career.) The orchestration was more glittering, incredibly virtuosic, and generally lighter overall than I expected. I loved it.

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18 July:

After some very busy days and long (but wonderful) performances on this Hayllar Music Tours visit to Aix-en-Provence, our Friday was very relaxed.

The morning and afternoon were free so people used the time as they wished, to see or do other things or just to relax. Given the unrelenting heat I did the latter.

I gave my seventh and final talk in the late afternoon before we headed to a new venue, the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud, for our final performance, a vocal recital.

The original artist, soprano Ailyn Pérez, sadly had to withdraw. Her place was taken by mezzo Beth Taylor, whom we heard as the alto soloist in the staged Mozart Requiem earlier.

Taylor's program only retained one work from the original - Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben cycle - but pianist Julius Drake (one of the best in the business) played the new program with apparent ease and calm panache. (And even then, the Schumann would have been in the lower keys for this revised program...)

Taylor seemed to take a little time to warm up through the opening songs by Reynaldo Hahn and Hedwige Chrétien. But by the time she sang Elgar's Sea Pictures she was in excellent voice.

The Schumann came after interval - I loved it - and the program finished with songs by Germaine Tailleferre and Augusta Holmès, plus a brilliant encore. The whole thing was a delight and a lovely way to end the performances on this tour.

Saturday we cruise the Mediterranean. As you do.

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19 July:

Saturday was the final day of this wonderful Hayllar Music Tours visit to the Aix-en-Provence festival and it was one devoid of performances (or talks from me) but full of rich experiences.

In the morning we headed by coach to the beautiful town of Cassis, on the Mediterranean coast, for a 90 minute cruise. Because the boat on which we'd originally been booked was undergoing repairs our tour group was split in two across two smaller vessels. But it was a brilliantly sunny day and perfect for marvelling at the scenic coastline, and especially the massive limestone cliffs.

After this we had free time to find some lunch (SO many restaurants to choose from!) before we headed back to Aix for a few hours' rest.

Then in the evening it was time for our farewell dinner at Côté Cour in the Cours Mirabeau. We'd had wonderful lunches there last year and the year before; dinner was magnificent.

I got the giggles as we were walking to the restaurant when I spied the sign above an oddly-named Vietnamese restaurant (see below). People familiar with Australian politics will know why.