Musée Zadkine in Les Arques, Lot, France, holds a permanent collection of works, mainly sculptures, by the Russian-French artist Ossip Zadkine.

Ossip Zadkine

Ossip Zadkine was born in January 1888 in the city of Vitsebsk in the Russian Empire. Interestingly, at the age of fifteen, he was sent by his father to Sunderland, England, to learn English and ‘good manners’, before moving to London and attending lessons at Regent Street Polytechnic. In 1910 he moved to Paris where he studied for six months at the École des Beaux-Arts. He then joined the Cubist movement, working in that style from 1914 to 1925, before developing his own technique, which was influenced by African and Greek art.

In Paris, Zadkine lived in Montparnasse, where his neighbours included author Henry Miller, who based the character of Borowski in ‘Tropic of Cancer’ on him, and artists Chaïm Soutine and Tsuguharu Foujita.

As well as its permanent collection, Musée Zadkine also holds temporary exhibitions, the current one examining Zadkine’s shared interest with Jean Cocteau in the legend of Orpheus. It is likely that their interest in the legendary figure came from their mutual friend, poet Guillaume Apollinaire who published a collection of poems, illustrated by Raoul Dufy, entitled ‘Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d’Orphée’ in 1911. Zadkine made at least ten sculptures of Orpheus, whilst Cocteau adapted the story for the stage in 1926 and used it in two films: ‘Orpheus’ (1950) and ‘Testament of Orpheus’ (1960).

Jean Cocteau

Guillaume Apollinaire (ill. Raoul Dufy) ‘Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d’Orphée’ (1911)

Jean Cocteau ‘Orphée. Tragédie en un acte’ (published 1927)

Jean Cocteau ‘Musicien à la lyre’ (1961)

Ossip Zadkine ‘Orphée’ (1960)

From the permanent collection:

Ossip Zadkine ‘La Sainte Famille’ (1912 – 13)

Ossip Zadkine ‘Buste de femme’ (1914)

Ossip Zadkine ‘Trio musical’ (1930)

Ossip Zadkine ‘La Prisonnière’ (1943)

Ossip Zadkine ‘Le Retour de Fils prodique’ (1950)

Ossip Zadkine ‘L’Arbre des Grâces’ (1962 – 63)

Spending a few days exploring some of the picturesque towns and villages in the Gers department of south-west France. The Gers is in the centre of the region formerly known as Gascony, once ruled by the English after the marriage of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152. It is now renowned for its gastronomy and especially for the production of Armagnac.

Fleurance was founded as a fortified town in the thirteenth century. It has a central square with arcades and originally had a medieval wooden market hall but this was replaced in the nineteenth century by the present covered stone hall.

Fleurance market hall

The town’s Church of St. Laurent is in the meridional gothic style with an octagonal bell tower. Its apse has three magnificent Renaissance stained-glass windows dated 1507 – 1513 by Arnaud de Moles. They depict the Holy Trinity, scenes from the lives of saints and the tree of Jesse.

Eglise Saint-Laurent de Fleurance

Detail from ‘Tree of Jesse’ window, Eglise Saint-Laurent de Fleurance

La Romieu is designated as one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and its collegiate complex has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its foundation began in 1062 when monks returning from a pilgrimage to Rome and en-route to Santiago de Compostela, settled in the region and founded a priory around which the village grew.

La Romieu

Collégiale Saint-Pierre, La Romieu

Cloître de Collégiale Saint-Pierre, La Romieu

Lectoure is situated at the eastern end of the Armagnac region of the Gers. The town is on the ancient Via Podiensis, classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site as part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago di Compostella. Today it is a busy market town famous for its antiques centre and spa baths..

Cathédrale Saint-Gervais – Saint-Protais and the town of Lectoure

Antiques arcade in Lectoure

Larressingle

Larressingle is the smallest fortified village in France and is designated as one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The fortifications and chateau were built in the thirteenth century and it once had a population of three hundred, but now there are just a few inhabitants within the inner fortified village.

The church of Saint Sigismund was built before the village and dates to the twelfth century. It is unusual in that the entrance is on the first floor to deter invaders. The chateau, now privately owned, was the residence of the Bishops of Condom in the thirteenth century. After the French Revolution the village was abandoned and only rediscovered in 1920, since when there has been much restoration work.

The fortified village of Larressingle

The entrance to Larressingle

Condom

The market town of Condom is a sub-prefecture of the Gers department and is now mainly known for the production and distribution of Armagnac.

Place Verdun (now Place Saint-Pierre) Condom (1947)

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Condom

The town’s cathedral, the second to occupy the site, was built between 1506 and 1531, then substantially rebuilt in the following century, mostly in the gothic meridional style.The tympanum above the west door has a central figure of Christ surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists. The cathedral cloister, which is also in the gothic style, has a series of impressive pointed stone arches.

Tympanum above the west portal of Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Condom

Cloître de Condom

D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers, Place Saint-Pierre, Condom

John Mayall at Newport Jazz Festival, 1966

John Mayall, known as the ‘godfather of British Blues’, died at his home in California on 22 July 2024, aged 90.

He formed his band, the Bluesbreakers, in the early 1960s and it became a platform for the development of many great musicians, including Eric Clapton, John McVie, Peter Green, Jack Bruce and Mick Taylor. He was a wonderful musician and bandleader and I have very happy memories of seeing him perform.

The citadel of Carcassonne in the Aude department of southern France is one of the largest surviving medieval walled cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A fortified settlement has existed on the site since pre-Roman times, although in the fifth century the site was taken over by the Visigoths, who founded the current city as part of the newly-established Visigothic Kingdom.

Carcassonne was a stronghold of the Occitan Cathars during the Albigensian Crusades of the early thirteenth century but in 1209 its citizens were forced to surrender and the city submitted to the rule of the kingdom of France in 1247. It became a border fortress between France and the Crown of Aragon in 1258 and and King Louis IX and his successor Philip III built the city’s outer ramparts.

The city’s Gothic Cathédrale Saint-Michel de Carcassonne also dates from the thirteenth century, although following war damage in the fourteenth century it was rebuilt as a fortified church. It was elevated to cathedral status in 1803.

Carcassonne with its double defensive walls.

Cathédrale Saint-Michel de Carcassonne

Aigues-Mortes in the Camargue region of southern France is particularly known for two things: its pink salt marshes, coloured by micro-organisms of a variety of microscopic algae, which are devoted to the production of quality sea salt, and the thirteenth-century towers and ramparts which surround much of the town. The town and its ramparts were commissioned by Louis IX in 1248 to establish a port on the Mediterranean and it is connected to the sea by a series of canals and lagoons.Apart from the sea salt, much of the town’s income today derives from tourism.

The Tower of Constance and the ramparts of Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes

An evening of Gustav Mahler by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Mikko Franck opened with the song cycle ‘Kindertotenlieder’ before continuing in the second half to what was intended to be the main event, Symphony no. 4.

However, whilst the symphony would be well performed, ‘Kindertotenlieder’ was, for me, always going to be the main event. Not only is it a collection of songs that I love to listen to, despite the sad subject matter, but it was being sung by my favourite French mezzo-soprano, Marianne Crebassa.

Marianne Crebassa (photograph Simon Fowler)

Whilst ‘Songs on the Death of Children’ is obviously not the most cheerful of subjects to listen to, Marianne Crebassa’s voice is perfectly suited to conveying the sorrow of the words in an extremely thoughtful way. It was a most beautiful interpretation.

Symphony no. 4 in G major was composed between 1899 and 1900, although the song for soprano in the fourth movement dates from 1892. The Fourth is the last of Mahler’s three so-called ‘Wunderhorn’ symphonies, which incorporate themes originating in his ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ song cycle.

Mikko Franck (photograph Christophe Abramowitz)

The first movement is quite jolly, with its sleigh bell motif and the woodwinds and brass were particularly impressive. Impressive playing continued in the second movement from the violins especially and thoughts were that this could be a particularly fine Fourth Symphony. However, the slow third movement, whilst played well, failed to keep the same level of attention. The fourth movement belongs to the soprano, in this case Melody Louledjian, but whilst she sang beautifully, in some sections her voice didn’t seem to have the power to effectively reach the front row of the balcony where I was sitting. So in all, a fine performance, but not the best Mahler 4 I have ever heard.

Nevertheless, overall it was a great evening, especially because I got to hear the wonderful Marianne Crebassa again.

Gustav Mahler: ‘Kindertotenlieder’; Gustav Mahler ‘Symphony no. 4 in G major’.

Unfortunately this was not the concert I had bought tickets for. The original plan was for a performance of Ravel’s complete music for ‘Daphnis et Chloé’ by Les Siecles under François-Xavier Roth, which I was particularly looking forward to. However, the enforced absence of Roth meant a change in programme as well as a change in conductor. French conductor Louis Langrée took over the baton for a concert of works by French composers.

Louis Langrée

To begin, we were able to hear the world’s first performance of a work by Maurice Ravel. A strange occurance considering that he has been dead for 87 years, but in 2023 the Bibliothèque nationale de France acquired the manuscript of a short composition for mixed choir and orchestra based on a poem by Armand Silvestre entitled ‘Amants qui suivez le chemin’, probably composed between 1902 and 1905. It was delightfully performed, especially by the Radio France choir.

Radio France choir

Another short work followed, ‘Thème varié pour violin et orchestre’ by Charlotte Sohy, a composer I was not familiar with, even though she left a large number of compositions including piano pieces, trios, string quartets, songs, masses, a symphony and the lyrical drama ‘L’Esclave couronnée’. She sounds like someone I should find out more about; she also wrote plays and a novel and her musical compositions were frequently performed by Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré, providing a link within tonight’s programme.

We were treated to the usual high quality of violin playing from Renaud Capuçon in both Sohy’s ‘Thème’ and the next work, Gabriel Fauré’s D minor ‘Concerto pour violin et orchestre’. Again it is a short work as only the first of two completed movements, the Allegro, has survived, although Fauré reused some of its themes in his later String Quartet.

Renaud Capuçon

The second half of the concert was a much brighter and livelier affair, with two works by Ravel superbly performed by Les Siecles. The first was ‘Ma Mère l’Oye’, based on fairy tales and originally written for children in 1910 as a piano duet, before being orchestrated the following year, the version we heard. Ravel would subsequently add additional pieces and interludes to transform it into a ballet. The musicians of Les Siècles use French instruments from the beginning of the twentieth century, so we were hearing the works in versions that Ravel would have been familiar with.

The earlier sections have plenty of room for the wind instruments to impress, with flute and piccolo solos, then clarinet and contrabassoon, before concluding with the impressionist ‘Le jardin féerique’ in which Sleeping Beauty, represented by the celesta, awakes to a wonderful crescendo.

The final piece was the highlight of the evening. Even though we didn’t get the promised complete ‘Daphis et Chloé’ ballet music, we did at least get the more-often performed ‘Suite no. 2’. It was a chance for Les Siècles to shine, and shine they did. Both the orchestra and the choir were superb, so much so that they were called back to play the final section all over again, much to the audience’s delight.

Montpellier, just inland from the Mediterranean Sea, is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. It is a vibrant university city with a population of 300,000 and is home to the annual Festival de Radio France, the reason for my visit.

The University of Montpellier, established in 1220, is one of the world’s oldest and has the oldest medical school still in operation. Notable alumni of the university include Petrarch, Nostradamus and François Rabelais.

University of Montpellier Faculty of Medicine

The Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Montpellier was originally the church of the monastery of Saint-Benoît, which was founded in 1364. The building was elevated to the status of cathedral in 1536.

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Montpellier

Arc de Triomphe, Montpellier, erected in 1691

The annual visit to the Issigiac International Music Academy was rewarded with a concert of works from the Romantic period by Beethoven, Stanford and Brahms by the Dante Quartet. The Dante Quartet, one of the UKs finest, was founded in 1995 and has undergone several changes in personnel over the years but currently has Zoe Beyers on first violin, Ian Watson on second violin, Carol Ella on viola and Richard Jenkinson on cello.

Dante Quartet

Beethoven’s late quartets are said to be the ultimate examples of string quartet music and they don’t come any later than String Quartet no. 16 in F major, which was his last completed and not performed until after his death. The opening Allegretto has an enjoyable light-hearted, almost Haydnesque, quality. Whilst the second movement, in all but name a scherzo, has the rhythms of the four parts often seemingly in conflict, the third, slow movement is more poignant. However, all is resolved in the more exuberant final movement which finishes on a happier note. The complexities of the work were handled with great aplomb by the Dantes.

Charles Villiers Stanford’s Quartet no. 5 in B flat major was new to me. It was completed in 1907 and dedicated to the memory of his close friend, the violinist, Joseph Joachim, who had recently died. However, it is by no means a gloomy work, especially the opening Allegro moderato movement which is quite energetic with a joyful Irish lilt. Whilst the second and third movements have more feeling, the final Allegro moderato, which quotes a passage from a work by Joachim, completely dispels the previous plaintive mood.

The second half of the concert was a performance of the Brahms String Quartet no. 1 in C minor. Probably because of the dominance of the Beethoven String Quartets, Brahms was slow to publish his first, doing so in 1873, after, it is said, composing and destroying twenty such works.

The first movement is quite agitated and rhythmic, whilst the middle movements are more lyrical. The third movement in particular, described as an intermezzo rather than a scherzo, has a more relaxed pace. The final movement restores the more aggressive energy of the first before coming to a triumphant resolution.

Beethoven: String Quartet no. 16 in F major, opus 135; Stanford: String Quartet no. 5 in B flat major , opus 104; Brahms: String Quartet no. 1 in C minor, opus 51.

At the Halle aux Grains, Toulouse, for a concert of works from the later years of composers Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner by the Orchester national du Capitole de Toulouse led by its new musical director, the Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski.

The concert opened with the cycle of ‘Four Last Songs’ by Richard Strauss. The songs, composed in 1948 when the composer was eighty-four, are Frühling’ (Spring), ‘September’, ‘Beim Schlafengehen’ (When Falling Asleep) and ‘Im Abendrot’ (At Sunset). After the composer’s death they were published by Strauss’s friend Ernst Roth, who gave them their title. They were performed beautifully by Israeli soprano Chen Reiss, who deservedly received several ovations.

Chen Reiss

The second half saw a tremendous performance of Bruckner’s Symphony no. 9 in D minor. It was the last symphony on which the composer worked and he dedicated it “to the beloved God.” The last movement was left incomplete at the time of his death in 1896 and tonight’s performance included only the three completed movements. (A fourth movement has been completed by a team of Bruckner experts over twenty years and has been recorded by Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.)

Even without the fourth movement it is a monumental symphony and it was played superbly by the orchestra. Of particular note were the brass sections and the lone timpanist who handled the climaxes wonderfully. The strings were also electric, especially in the scherzo. If this is a taste of the Toulouse orchestra’s future under Tarmo Peltokoski there is much to look forward to. I hope so as I have already booked several concerts for next season!

Richard Strauss: ‘Four Last Songs’; Anton Bruckner: ‘Symphony no. 9 in D minor’ WAB 109.