Rosa Musica - Itinéraire d'un héros solitaire - 09/20/26

Franz Schubert: String Quartet in C Minor, D.703 (Quartettsatz) 

Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne In C-sharp Minor 

Frédéric Chopin: Impromptu No. 3, Opus 51 

Frédéric Chopin: Scherzo No. 3, Opus 39 

Frédéric Chopin: Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 for Piano and String Quintet 

Quatuor Girard 

François Dumont: Piano 

Claire-Elie Tenet: Bass 

Just as we have been getting so close to fall that we have almost been able to smell it, these past couple of weeks have been filled with various fun activities such as readings, one of which almost reconciled me with Proust (!?), arts exhibits, which were a decidedly mixed bag but hey, that’s the effort that counts, a fall literary season presentation, with so many promising books that it will probably take a whole season to read them all, and, finally, some live music too, even if my mom and I had to go all the way to Bonlieu-sur-Roubion last Sunday to enjoy it… in a barn! 

But not just any barn, mind you. This was the stunningly restored barn that belonged to the Monastère Sainte-Anne, a former abbey for women founded in 1171, which we had already visited earlier this summer for a concert al fresco. This time, we would get to hear the all-siblings Quatuor Girard and their special guests, who would be tackling two major leaders of the Romantic genre: Schubert The Wanderer and Chopin The Dreamer. Hence the title of the evening organized by Rosa Musica: The Journey of a Lone Hero.

We in fact ended up having plenty of extra time to enjoy our surroundings as well as a quick warm-up by pianist François Dumont and the company of our friend Pascaline because, besides arriving a good half an hour before the starting time we had been given (Thanks, mom!), we had to wait for another half an hour for the concert to start due to some confusion between the artists and the venue regarding scheduling. So, instead of starting at the excellent time of 6:00 PM, the concert started at the still very good time of 6:30 PM in the packed barn. 

And then, as if they had been itching to get on with the show, the musicians proved to be unstoppable. Things got underway with Franz Schubert and his shortish but epic Quartettsatz, the only finished movement of an unfinished string quartet, but then again, as is often the case with Schubert’s unfinished works, what more was there really to say? Nothing, as the Quatuor Girard categorically demonstrated with their wonderfully energized reading that found the perfect balance between turbulent dark currents and soaring lyrical grace. 

Next, highly regarded pianist and Chopin expert François Dumont played three solo pieces of Frédéric Chopin, starting with one of my all-time favorites, his exquisitely simple yet deeply emotional Nocturne In C-sharp Minor. The more obscure but excitingly sophisticated Impromptu No. 3, Opus 51, and then the unapologetically fierce and highly contrasted Scherzo No. 3, Opus 39 completed this interestingly wide-ranging and masterfully performed Chopin mini set. 

But we were not done with Chopin or Dumont, and he was then joined by the Quatuor Girard and multi-talented performer Claire-Elie Tenet, who was wearing her bassist hat on Sunday and, as such, had her humongous instrument completely under control, even on scarily sky-high heels. This made-up but extraordinarily tight ensemble had the challenging mission of playing a piano and string quintet version of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21, and they fulfilled it magnificently. I had often suspected that Chopin was not always sure what to do with a whole orchestra, and this terrific pared-down performance confirmed my belief that sometimes smaller is better indeed. 

And then, who do you turn to after Schubert and Chopin when you are a string quartet plus a bass plus a piano? Well, Mozart, of course. And that’s just what the musicians did with an intimate take on the famous Adagio of his Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467, so famous, in fact, that first violin and quartet spokesperson Grégoire Girard had facetiously decided to let us guess what it was. Regardless of the level of recognition among the audience, there was no doubt that it was relished by all.