International reach of the Festival d’Aix in the United States: interview with FrÉdÉric Fekkai and Jean-Claude Gruffat | Festival d’Aix—en—Provence

Patrice Chéreau’s Elektra is an iconic production of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; the world premiere, which was performed in Aix, lives on in operatic memory. After starting its tour at La Scala in Milan, this production of Elektra is now at the Metropolitan Opera. How do IFILAF members promote the international reach of the Festival d’Aix in the United States and in New York in particular?
Jean-Claude Gruffat: IFILAF uses the Festival d’Aix’s flagship productions to establish its communication and fundraising policies in the United States. This work is at its most effective when Aix productions are staged at the great American opera houses, and all the more so when a prestigious house such as the Metropolitan Opera is co-producer, as was the case with Elektra.

Frédéric Fekkai: In 2013, after Elektra premiered at the Festival d’Aix, the Alliance Française in New York showed Chéreau’s final production on the big screen. The screening by this important New York partner was followed by a panel discussion with Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and set designer Richard Peduzzi. As an accompaniment to the production of Elektra at the Metropolitan Opera, a second meeting with the American audience was held in April, focusing on the Aix production. Peter Gelb and Richard Peduzzi were in attendance once again, accompanied this time by director Vincent Huguet, costume designer Caroline de Vivaise and by Nina Stemme, who reprised the title role at the Met.

JCG: The inclusion of Elektra in the Met’s calendar is a guarantee of excellence for American opera lovers. So I suggested capitalizing on its reputation by bringing together American music lovers and opera patrons in a meeting with Bernard Foccroulle and the fascinating mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier. We worked together in a small committee to strengthen the ties between IFILAF patrons and those music lovers who are so passionate about opera that they would have no qualms about traveling around the world to attend the best performances.

FF: More generally, every year IFILAF organizes a number of events for American patrons of the Festival d’Aix, including a fall gala dinner to raise funds for the Festival, and the “Operatic Getaway” – our annual three-day trip to Aix-en-Provence. This custom-made trip has become THE event for American friends of the Festival d’Aix, enabling them to experience the best of the opera repertoire in a unique Provençal setting.

Elektra, as well as the world premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin and The Nightingale and Other Short Fables in a bold staging by Robert Lepage, are also on tour in New York at the Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The global reputation these productions have achieved has enabled the Festival to forge a strong identity, far away from its home area. What do you think makes the Festival d’Aix different from other international opera venues?
FF: The Festival d’Aix has an excellent reputation in the United States. The US media sees it as a leader, an opera laboratory for the 21st century.

JCG: The Festival promotes its own vision of opera and of its relationship with the real world. It is a vision that involves co-productions and strong, lasting partnerships, as well as outreach work to grow the audience for opera. This professional approach is recognized across the board. The Festival d’Aix has a genuine reputation in the US, and it is boosted every time there is a co-production with US institutions such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Lincoln Center or the Brooklyn Academy of Music. These co-productions provide the best way of winning over American audiences.

FF: Every evening, at every Festival d’Aix performance, audiences are won over by the passion of the artists appearing at the Festival. It doesn’t matter whether they already sing in the major opera houses of the world or whether they are a young upcoming talent; at Aix, everyone is there to serve the work and the opera.

The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence also takes place in the unique setting of an outdoor festival under the skies of Provence. What memories do you and IFILAF members have of this festival experience?
FF: I remember being invited as a teenager to attend a performance of The Marriage of Figaro and going backstage. This “first time” has stayed etched in my memory as an extraordinary moment; something magical and delightful.
I am from Aix originally, but I was away from the area for over 20 years. It is only recently that I have fallen in love with the city again, with Provence and its way of life. On a random stroll through the old town, how magical it is to hear strains of music escaping from a courtyard... That wouldn’t happen in New York! The Festival d’Aix is perfectly placed to appeal to a young, international audience; that’s why I am happy to get behind it and help to enhance its reputation and image.

JCG: I remember The Nose in Aix, which was later performed at the Lincoln Center in New York. It was thanks to that production that I discovered the work of the South African plastic artist William Kentridge, whom I now follow regularly. I was delighted to see him again at the Frieze Art Fair in New York recently. This is one of the special things about the Festival d’Aix: this ability to create, in the heart of Provence, bridges between cultures and continents, between repertoires and disciplines.