He was the soul of this evening worthy of Verbier

If one spoke of Verbier, these days, it is because, on 19 July, the Tower of France was step. Earning disabilities - a dead end in the full Swiss mountains, a small hotel structure - has not prevented this village to become, in 15 years, an international summer appointment for music lovers.

Soloists at the beginning of their careers on one side, stars on the other, each recognizes his own. Revealed by the Rostropovitch 2005 competition that she won, Maria Elizabeth Hecker is a cellist to follow. With his partner, Julien Quentin, piano very safe game and generous (flourishes in a very direct difficult "serious changes" approach of Mendelssohn), it offers of "Variations" B' ar Männern "" and Beethoven's "Sonata for cello and piano in d minor" Shostakovich perfectly controlled, full of ranging; and the "Suite No. 4 for cello alone" of Bach shows to what degree of maturity is reached.

Good and bad surprises

Bring together big names may reserve surprises. Good or bad. When the temperament are inconsistent, nothing can redress the bar. Rachmaninov ("elegiac Trio") and Tchaikovsky ("Trio in memory of a great artist") make charges when Lang Lang on piano, Mischa Maïksky on cello, Vadim Repin violin take over. The ostentatious set of the first, the watery exudate of the second draw music to a caricature of Slavic Romance. Sound finesse, musical rigour, poetry: Repin wonders... and it takes to listen to. The three friends musardent, then, through American musical tunes that sing René Pape, Thomas Quasthoff and Bryn Terfel; the company might be funny if the preparation had been stronger.

The day before, on the other hand, the success was there for a "Don Giovanni", Mozart, set in space with humor and intelligence by Marthe Keller. Direction caracolante and hectic, Manfred Honeck, a nothing square and steep, but avoiding cumbersome and behnisch, at the head of a delightful Verbier Festival Orchestra composed of musicians recruited around the world on hearings. The distribution High flight, even if three anticipated guests (Edita Gruberova, Susan Graham, Matthew Polenzani) is were cancelled four days earlier. The role of Donna Elvira is probably a little low for Annette Dasch, deriving to his conviction and his vehemence. Anna Samuil, vibrant voice and incandescent presence, is a sensual Donna Anna, and Sylvia Schwarz, former Academy of Verbier, a fresh Zerlina and riotous. In front of them, an almost ideal male ensemble, with the sober, manly and if well singing of Michael Schade, Ottavio the Masetto is in leaving no storytelling Robert Gleadow (twenty-four years old!), and the disturbing Commander of Thomas Quasthoff. Imposing voice, cold seasoned irony of a strand of cynicism: Pope René Leporello is memorable. It was, apparently, one of the last Don Giovanni of Bryn Terfel, who now seems to prefer Leporello. It cannot be that the deplore both this character he sticks to the skin; Pest seducer, spontaneous actor, and Mozart in the soul, the Welsh colossus to the sumptuous timbre and perfect phrasing will remain one of the most fabulous Don Giovanni of his time. He was the soul of this evening worthy of Verbier.