Dear Friends,
As we come to the end of an eventful year, our last newsletter of the year is an opportunity to thank you for your loyalty. We would like to thank you all for your support, which enables us to offer exclusive, high-quality cultural events to a wider audience.
Our new conference with Professor Patrick Barbier
We were delighted to welcome Professor Emeritus Patrick Barbier back on November 21 for the second in a series of lectures organized by Helvetia Lyrica in Geneva.
Following our first meeting in May at the Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie in Geneva, where he introduced us to the history of Castrati, Professor Barbier dedicated this second lecture to the most famous of them all: Farinelli.
We would like to thank the management of the Bibliothèque de Genève for making Les Délices, Voltaire's home, available to us for this occasion, and the curator of the premises, Mr. Flavio Borda d'Agua, who also organized a private tour of the museum and its library, opened especially for us (photos will soon be available in the events section of our website).
MasterClass with legendary tenor Chris Merritt
Just a few days later, we had the immense privilege of welcoming the legendary American tenor Chris Merritt. It was a great thrill to welcome him and to rub shoulders with what is without doubt a living monument to Lyric Art.
Thanks to a private grant and the collaboration of our artistic advisor Arnaud Kientz, we were able to organize the Maestro's first Masterclass in Switzerland in record time, under the aegis ofHelvetia Lyrica.
The sessions took place in a studio at Geneva's Grand Théâtre from November 25 to 28, and gave seven opera artists the opportunity to perfect their skills under the guidance of Maestro Merritt. His availability and humility in providing valuable advice to the students enabled them to make significant progress in just four sessions, and to retain the same advice for their future endeavors.
All of us - candidates, Maestro and organizers - were in osmosis, aware that we were sharing a unique moment together.
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to Maestro Chris Merritt, our artistic advisor and the Grand Théâtre de Genève for making this MasterClass possible.
The general satisfaction of these four days spent together in an environment conducive to the blossoming of everyone's talents naturally encourages us to repeat the experience of a Masterclass as part of the pedagogical component ofHelvetiaLyrica educational program.
Concert with MasterClass students
Chris Merritt's MasterClass concluded with a final concert at the Salle Villa-Lobos of Geneva's Hautre école de Musique on November 29.
The public had an exclusive one-hour opportunity to discover the fruit of intense work, born of the encounter between a Master and the students who had gathered around him for four days to benefit from his wise counsel.
Photos of the concert will soon be available in the events section of our website.
Our plans for 2025
- Two new lectures by Professor Emeritus Patrick Barbier, dedicated to two sisters and Performers who left their mark on the history of opera: Malibran and Pauline Viardot.
- A lecture on the Italian theater artists in Paris who, in the 19th century, introduced the French to Italian Repertoire , in particular " Bel Cantiste".
- An exhibition on the Italian baritone Mattia Battistini (1856-1928), who was one of the last representatives of the " Bel Cantiste" legacy at the beginning of the 20th century, and who was one of the last "DIVO" for whom an opera by Jules Massenet, Wether, was rewritten specifically in Italian for him.
- We're also working to bring you events with foreign correspondents to illustrate our reach beyond our borders.
- A not-to-be-missed trip to Naples on the theme: "Naples, from Castrati to Caruso" with Professor Patrick Barbier. We need 12 registrants to keep the proposed rate, and a firm registration until January 9, 2025. You can register your interest with our secretary Loic by clicking on the envelope-button below, who will send you the documentation with details of the trip:
We wish you a happy festive season and look forward to seeing you in January for the new year 2025, with its many surprises.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Patrick Motisi
Chairman & Founder
