This Monday, September 9, ended the 74th edition of September Musical with the show "Reverse", symbol of the festival's opening, from this edition, to other forms of culture than classical music.
Classical music legends performed from September 1 to 9: the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, conductor Valery Gergiev, the Russian National Orchestra and its conductor Mikhail Pletnev or pianists Nikolai Lugansky and Boris Berezovsky. The festival also highlighted young prodigies, such as the Glinka Choir, the participants in the Nutcracker project, including pianist Alexandra Dovgan, and young virtuosos of Musical Olympus, including harpist Alexander Boldachev. Pianist Alexandre Kantorow, violinists Alexandra Conunova and Daniel Lozakovich also made their mark on the festival. The festival began with a free concert, "Peter and the Wolf" by S. Prokofiev, told by Henri Dès in front of an audience composed mainly of children.
Mischa Damev, director of the September Musical festival: "I was very touched by the welcome and enthusiasm of the people of the region for my first September Musical. Some people praised the artistic quality of the eleven concerts and the show by calling me out in the street. I am happy to have brought Russian virtuosity to one of the most beautiful regions in the world, the Vaud Riviera.
Nearly 10,500 concert/show tickets sold for the 2019 edition, an increase of 50% compared to the previous year. Four concerts were sold out. An increasing proportion of tickets were purchased by young people, at the particularly attractive price of CHF 10.00, all categories combined. Laurent Maire, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the September Musical Montreux-Vevey Foundation: "This year we tripled the number of tickets sold to young people, which is good news for us because we defend access to culture for all".
Nearly thirty events were held as part of the OFF festival and brought the streets of the region to life. Music in all its forms, of course, but also classical ballet demonstrations, a "Russian Ball" flash-mob, conferences, feature film screenings, traditional games, creative workshops, culinary tastings, guided tours. And finally, a dinner in support of the festival brought together two of the world's greatest chefs, Franck Giovannini from Crissier City Hall and Vladimir Mukhin from White Rabbit in Moscow, for an exceptional evening.
The foundation of Septembre Musical Montreux-Vevey wishes to warmly thank its audience, but also its partners, as well as the Friends of the Festival for their support. Not to mention the volunteers and the entire festival team for their unfailing professionalism. And finally, on behalf of the entire team, we would like to warmly thank all those who made this festival possible.