Journées Musicales de Dieulefit - Beethoven & Brahms - 07/17/26

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Opus 97 (Archduke Trio) 

Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Opus 87 

François Daudet: Piano 

Florimond dal Zotto: Cello 

Rachel Koblyakov: Violin 

As time goes by, I have happily become reacquainted with one of my favorite summer musical treats in Dieulefit, namely the “Journées Musicales de Dieulefit” (Musical Days of Dieulefit), which the Chemins de Pierre association has been dutifully organizing for over two decades already. According to tradition, around Bastille Day, the festival’s tireless musical director and eminent pianist François Daudet invites some of his closest musician friends to take over the small Église Saint-Pierre for a couple of days of appealingly eclectic programming. 

This year, the new ticketing system was still hopelessly old-fashioned (Only phone calls please) and not always efficient (My mom and I got inexplicably moved two rows up from our requested and confirmed seats), the chairs are as tightly packed as ever and there is of course no AC, but then again, the quality level is consistently high and the atmosphere always pleasantly informal, not to mention that we always end up bumping into friends, so it all works out at the end. And let’s face it, it is wonderful to be able to attend exciting cultural events right in town too, even when they start at the ungodly hour of 9:00 PM. 

Last Friday evening, the Trio Arborescence, which includes François Daudet at the piano, Rachel Koblyakov at the violin and Florimond dal Zotto at the cello, started their unimpeachable classical music program with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Trio No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Opus 97, AKA the "Archduke Trio", which the man dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II’s twelve children, who was a passionate pianist as well as a patron, a friend, and a composition student of Beethoven’s. Incidentally, during his relatively short life (He died at 43), he would be Beethoven’s dedicatee no fewer than 14 times, including for major works such as Missa Solemnis, the Hammerklavier and the Grosse Fugue. 

The "Archduke Trio" stands out without a doubt as one of the many peaks of the composer’s extensive career. Displaying both good-natured humor and a solid dose of sweeping grandeur, it also enchants with its unabashed lyricism and challenges with its ambitious complexity, all while remaining readily accessible. When it is performed by a virtuosic ensemble such as the Trio Arborescence in such an acoustically blessed space as the Église Sant-Pierre, the result is simply extraordinary. And it certainly was last Friday. 

After the original short pause that turned into an unscheduled longer intermission was over (In the end, the people who had rushed outside to get a breath of fresh air quickly realized that there was none to be found and got back in just as quickly), we all turned our undivided attention to Johannes Brahms’ sprawling, occasionally Hungarian-flavored Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Opus 87, in which, among other fun happenstances, the mischievous violin and cello repeatedly gang up while the cast-out piano carries on unperturbed. 

Finding the perfect balance between formal structure and Romantic élan, the composition keeps all three instruments busy with technical and emotional feats in an ever-growing web of invention. So many themes, so little time! Clara Schumann was a fan, and even Brahms himself was uncharacteristically pleased with this piece, so it has been validated times and times over, including by the captivated audience last Friday night, after the three musicians had flawlessly delivered a thrilling performance of it. 

After the trio had received a well-deserved ecstatic ovation, they came back with a very special gift in the achingly beautiful slow movement of the Piano Trio No. 2 by… Felix Mendelssohn, of all people. As I was listening to the delicate lullaby, I could not stop thinking that German composers will never cease to amaze me, and neither will French players.

Pradel Association - Barroco-Tango - 07/15/26

Marin Marais: La folia 

Carlo Gardel: Por una cabeza 

Antonio Vivaldi: Cello Sonata in A minor, RV 43 (Largo and Allegro) 

Astor Piazzolla: Tango Remembrances 

Astor Piazzolla: Ave Maria 

Gerardo Matos Rodriguez: La cumparsita 

Astor Piazzolla: Café 1930 

Astor Piazzolla: Le grand tango 

Guillaume Hodeau: Bandoneon 

David Louwerse: Cello 

Things have been seriously heating up on all fronts in Drôme Provençale lately, so, when a series of big bad storms started to hit Dieulefit last Wednesday afternoon for the first time in a couple of months, they were understandably greeted with much relief at first. However, as time went on and they showed no sign of abating, my heart started to sink. The Pradel Association had organized an outdoor cello and bandoneon concert intriguingly entitled “Barroco-Tango” in the beautiful little amphitheater in Le Poët-Laval, and that exciting endeavor was slowly but surely becoming, quite literally, a washout. 

But not to worry. Resolutely undeterred and endlessly resourceful, Pradel Association’s leader Pascaline Dallemagne quickly invited everybody over to her nearby large stone house, where a wide range of masterclasses and concerts occasionally take place. And that’s how my mom, a few other hardy souls and I braved the elements and showed up wet, but hopeful, to hear the heavenly duo constituted by cellist David Louwerse, a long-time regular, and bandoneonist Guillaume Hodeau, a less frequent but most welcome guest, in what eventually felt like an ultra-exclusive soirée in a rustic Parisian salon. 

The concert program, which was essentially a live version of the CD the two musicians have just released, started with “La Folia”, a deliciously spicy adaptation of a work by Marin Marais, a not so well-known French Baroque composer and viol player who got his 15 minutes of fame in 1991 thanks to the magnificent French film Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World). And while the bandoneon may not sound like an obvious choice to express this type of old-fashioned refinement, Hodeau rightfully pointed out that the instrument first appeared in churches, among other places. So there. 

The engaging opener was followed by an uplifting take of the earworm that is “Por una cabeza” by early 20th-century French-born Argentine singer, composer, actor, and tango superstar Carlo Gardel. Although I know next to nothing about tango, the melody rang a bell to me, which can only mean one thing: This song had achieved some kind of fame at some point. 

Back to the Baroque era, we were transported to Italy this time, where we became acquainted with delightfully vivacious versions of the Largo and the Allegro from the Cello Sonata in A Minor, RV 43 by prodigious composer, impresario, and virtuoso violinist Antonio Vivaldi. His adapted music was as thrilling as he could have hoped for. 

And then we finally moved on to a mini-festival of the boldly ground-breaking and immensely popular 20th-century Argentine tango composer and bandoneon virtuoso Astor Piazolla, with first an interesting experience by famously eclectic cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who in 1997 decided to record himself in duo with Piazolla’s old tracks. And so was born the vibrant “Tango Remembrances”, which Louwerse and Hodeau blazed through with devilish glee. 

Another wonderful surprise was Astor Piazolla’s “Ave Maria”, which was a winning combination of tenderness and spirituality for a simple and yet truly inspired ode to the Virgin Mary. 

“La cumparsita” by Uruguayan musician Gerardo Matos Rodriguez was first introduced to us by the two musicians as a huge hit that everybody knew and that therefore did not need any introduction. Once their performance was over and upon seeing our puzzled faces, the musicians charitably let us know what this sad but catchy little song was, which was much needed and much appreciated. 

Back to Piazzolla, “Café 1930” proved to be more complex in composition and more romantic in mood than traditional tango fare. In fact, this new brand of tango is astonishingly enough meant to be listened to instead of danced to. But in the end, its power of attraction was just as formidable as its more conventional form. 

The official program closed with Piazzolla’s “Le grand tango”, which Louwerse deemed “more serious” and “more cerebral”, to which Hodeau laconically replied that it was “longer”. Composed in 1982 for prominent Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the three continuous movements adroitly mix traditional tango rhythms and jazz-flavored syncopation in one swell swoop. 

Last, but not least, the encore was a cool tribute to French singer-songwriter and poet as well as hard-core jazz afficionado Claude Nougaro and French accordionist, bandoneonist, and composer Richard Galliano, who became his friend, his accordionist, and eventually his band leader. And that’s how our musical evening came to an end, right before the sky finally cleared up and everybody shared improvised drinks to celebrate a masterfully accomplished mission.

Petit Palais de Chaillot - Boris Borgolotto & Clara Saussac - Westhoff, Handel, Brahms, Pergolesi, Schubert, Rachmaninoff & Bartok - 07/09/26

Johann Paul von Westhoff: Imitazione delle campane from Sonata No. 3 in D Minor 

George Friedrich Handel: Prayer from Dettinger Te Deum in D Major HWV 283 (arranged by Carl Flesch) 

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Opus 108 

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Sicilienne in E Minor 

Franz Schubert: Sonatina in D Major, Opus 137, No. 1 

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise 

Bela Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56

Boris Borgolotto: Violin 

Clara Saussac: Piano 

Concert season has finally started in earnest in and around Dieulefit, and while I have been pickier than my mom, who does not hesitate to drive way out of town three nights in a row to get her cultural fix while the cat and I dutifully hold the fort, there was no way I was going to miss another enchanted musical evening in Rebecca Chaillot’s “petit palais de Chaillot” in Colonzelle, even on a school night. 

Indeed, that’s where, last Thursday evening, the young globe-trotting violinist Boris Borgolotto would join his former study buddy and regular recital partner, local pianist Clara Saussac, for another ambitious and engaging program that included a healthy mix of composers, from the unknown to me Johann Paul von Westhoff to my beloved Johannes Brahms, and that would thankfully start at the totally civilized time of 7:00 PM. 

Even better, once we had arrived in the courtyard of the “little palace of Chaillot”, we realized that the performance was going to take place in the large room upstairs, so I finally had the opportunity to check it out. Knowing the impeccable taste of the lady of the house, I was not surprised to find myself in a welcoming art-filled space anchored by a majestic piano impassibly waiting for some action under a high vaulted ceiling with wooden beams. Even the absence of AC had been addressed with the semi-controversial presence of a fan, which would eventually be turned off as it started getting loud but, hey, that’s the thought that counts, and strategically opened doors. 

Once everybody had settled down and the bells from the church next door had let us know that it was 7:00 PM, the musicians kicked off the concert with Imitazione delle campane from Sonata No. 3 in D Minor by German Baroque composer, and noted violin virtuoso, Johann Paul von Westhoff. A short but rewarding—and particularity timely too—opener, that “imitation of church bells” spontaneously reminded of Arvo Pärt’s “Fratres”, of all things, due to its thrilling inventiveness and irresistible hypnotic power, which needless to say is a mighty compliment. 

It was followed by the Carl Flesch’s equally short and equally rewarding arrangement of George Friedrich Handel’s soulful Prayer from Dettinger Te Deum in D Major HWV 283, which pianist and violinist handled beautifully. 

Predictably enough, the highlight of the evening for me was the duo’s commanding performance of Johannes Brahms’ perfectly structured, endlessly complex and emotionally intense Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Opus 108, one of his most accomplished works in a career that contains plenty. Everything I love about that piece, including the gorgeous lyricism, the vivid contrast between playfulness and darkness, the sheer compositional brilliance, was brilliantly conveyed and fully enjoyed. 

After such a memorable experience, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s intimate Sicilienne in E Minor and its soothing melodies was exactly what we needed to calm down while remaining fully involved in the moment. 

Another significant tour de force was Franz Schubert’s Sonatina in D Major, Opus 137, No. 1, during which Saussac and Borgolotto displayed total mastery of their craft and the composition. Immediately accessible and yet plenty intricate when you really look into it, the work never ceased to surprise and seduce. 

Next, the unstoppable duo gracefully unfolded the delicate melancholy and meditative mood of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ever-popular song Vocalise. 

Things perked up again quickly though, with a dynamite version of Bela Bartok’s zesty Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, which was already played during our last visit to the petit palais de Chaillot, but then again, who can get enough of it? Not us, and we were delighted to have a chance to hear it again. 

Once the last note had faded away, we readily expressed our gratitude for such a wonderful hour with a resounding ovation, and that earned us a lovely instrumental version of “Les berceaux” by Gabriel Fauré. The half lullaby half barcarolle turned the energy level down again to the gentle rhythms of the rocking waves it invoked and subtly prepared us for a Zen rest of the evening.

Petit Palais de Chaillot - Rebecca & Baptiste Chaillot - Dvorak, Bartok, Schubert, Massenet & Vivaldi - 06/28/26

Antonin Dvorak: Sonatina 

Bela Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56 

Franz Schubert: Violin Sonata No.1 in D Major, D. 384 

Jules Massenet: Meditation from Thais 

Antonio Vivaldi: Rain from Winter (The Four Seasons) 

Antonin Dvorak: Sonatina 

Rebecca Chaillot: Piano 

Baptiste Chaillot: Violin 

Another summer weekend in Drôme Provençale, another promising concert lined up, even if my mom and I had to regretfully turn down the invitation to another concert happening at the same time and valiantly go all the way to Colonzelle to attend our preferred option. But then again, where wouldn’t we go for a chance to hear local girl and pianist extraordinaire Rebecca Chaillot, who this time would be accompanied by her Geneva-based violinist brother Baptiste Chaillot as a bonus, in her “petit palais de Chaillot”? 

For sure, we had been there before and were happy to make the trek again, especially since we knew for a fact that her “little palace of Chaillot” had been an old rundown house that she has meticulously and gorgeously restored, and in fine turned into an exciting art center where several pianos are strategically scattered and art lovers from all walks of life gratefully converge for concerts, open rehearsals, masterclasses, recordings, exhibits, and more. 

During the last couple of summers, we loved attending early evening concerts in the spacious courtyard where her music-making often had to playfully compete with the singing of persistent birds. This year, however, the headlines-making heatwave that had mercilessly lingered over most of France was a game-changer, and we were kindly informed that the concert would take place in the downstairs smaller room, which turned out to be cooler in every possible way (The ideal room temperature! The amazing stone vaulted ceiling! The wonderfully intimate atmosphere!) than the bigger room upstairs or the courtyard outside. 

The mood in the reduced space was decidedly informal, but that did not keep the musicians from taking full advantage of the top-notch acoustics and delivering a first-rate recital. No program had been provided, so we relied on our hostess’ descriptions and let the magic of the music do the rest. We started with a Romantic sonatina from Antonin Dvorak, a gentle opening number that made us feel welcome to this relaxed family reunion, where the siblings would brilliantly perform under the watchful eye of their mom. 

If the Dvorak’s sonatina had been a nice introduction, Bela Bartok’s fierce Romanian Folk Dances were the perfect opportunity to let countless virtuosic sparks fly all over the place. Overflowing with various musical ingredients from the composer’s native Hungary such as irregular rhythms and infectious melodies, this set of six dances was a divine breath of fresh air on that hot Sunday. 

The Bartok tour de force had dazzled us, but it was Schubert’s Violin Sonata No.1 in D Major, D.384 and its subtly evocative clarity that slowly imposed itself as the pièce de resistance of the evening. Cleverly leveraging the kind of synchronicity that can only happen between siblings, Rebecca and Baptiste Chaillot flawlessly brought out the bubbliness and the daintiness, but also the youthful boldness, of this relatively short piece. 

A lot of people who are not familiar with Jules Massenet’s opera Thais have heard and fallen in love with his famously show-stopping aria for solo violin “Meditation” anyway. It is therefore not surprising that it is one of the most often performed encores by violinists, and who could blame them? Certainly not the insatiable audience. And sure enough, we all swooned in remarkable unison on Sunday evening in the petit palais de Chaillot. 

Next was a wink at the climate challenge we had been facing with the Largo from the winter of The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi. Even if it did not bring us the relief we were all fervently hoping for, that pared-down version and its countless raindrops steadily falling in pizzicato under the solo violin’s catchy melody was a fun little treat. 

After having come full circle with another mystery Romantic sonatina by Dvorak, this delightful hour of uplifting music ended in the best possible way, with an informal get-together around cool refreshments, local amuse-bouches and friendly conversation.