PRESS

HIGHLIGHTS of the 5th Edition 2017 

• • Anniversary tribute to Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime
• • Focus on great Russian piano classics on the centenary of the 1917 revolution
• • Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Liszt’s famous transcription for two pianos
• • Candle-lit midnight concert of John Cage and Eric Satie, performed by Ivan Ilić
• •  Wagner evening - Liszt transcriptions of his ‘bleeding chunks’, played by one of France’s rising stars, Tanguy de Williencourt, who will also include some of his own arrangements
• • Piano à Volonté – a day when students from local conservatories take the stage and the general public can join in
• • International flavours: young talents from France, USA, Hungary and Russia here for the first time
• • Le Boeuf sur le Toit, a Cabaret evening for international and local singers to perform classics from Cole Porter to Mistinguet. Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!
• • A Celebration of the Waltz, the Bohemian-Viennese dance that emerged from the minuet
• • A Film Evening celebrating Nino Rota and other great film composers, performed by festival regular Lev Atlas and his band
• • Lecture-recital on the Evolution of the Piano by Cyril Guillotin, professor at Narbonne Conservatory and concert virtuoso
• • Return of favourite performers: Bobby Mitchell, François Moschetta, Guillaume Sigier, Simone Tavoni, James Kreiling, Luis Grané and Ivan Ilić
• • Also on the programme:  Preludes by Rachmaninoff, Chopin Ballades and the great ‘Funeral March’ Sonata
• • Celebrated jazz pianist Edouard Ferlet plays his own variations on famous works by Bach
• • For our annual opera programme, the Italian-based Singaporean baritone Martin Ng has selected a mouth-watering group of French operatic arias.

En Blanc Et Noir has been gently expanding at a time when many French festivals are closing down.  Run involving local villagers, yet host every year to over a dozen international musicians on the cusp of exciting careers, EBEN boasts perhaps the most ravishing venue in France, in the 14th century Place de la Halle, smack in the middle of what the London Times described as “France’s most beautiful village’’.  

Lagrasse is famous for its warmth and conviviality and our festival has rightly acquired a reputation for its “family feel” between the artists and the loyal audience.  Guest artists and audience members mingle freely, while village volunteers put on lavish banquets in what has become a celebration of local pride and endeavour unparalleled in France.

we thank our corporate sponsors and supporters - nous tenons à remercier nos parrains et mécènes