CHÂTEAU DE LA ROCHE-GUYON
Flower PowerSATURDAY JUNE 1ST 2024 - 5:00PM
Fiona McGown, mezzo-soprano
Manon Galy, violin
Antoine de Grolée, piano
Roses, jasmine, honeysuckle and bindweed mingle in a flower garden full of symbols, narrated by singer Fiona McGown, violinist Manon Galy and pianist Antoine de Grolée.
“As our fingers caress each other,
Roses in bouquets hurry
On the outstretched arms of the bushes”.
Charles Chuster’s verses (set to music by Louise Didier) illustrate the symbolic role of flowers in the melodies of the late 19th century: images of joie de vivre or insouciance, they also represent the thousand nuances of love. In Mathilde Kralik’s Fantasy, flowers are part of an enchanting, peaceful nature; in Amy Beach’s songs, they symbolize a springtime that is an infinite source of wonder. But for Fred de Faye-Jozin, the heady scent of honeysuckle merges with the dreamy scent of a loved one… Whether enigmatic metaphors of love for Marcelle de Manziarly (based on verses by Christine de Pisan), or images of carnal attraction for Anna Teichmüller, flowers offer music an additional palette of colors and symbols.
PROGRAMME
FLOWER POWER
HEDWIGE CHRETIEN (1859-1944)
Bouquets Flétris
for speaking voice and piano
MATHILDE KRALIK (1857-1944)
Fantaisie
for voice, violin and piano
ANNA TEICHMÜLLER (1861-1940)
Rose im Schnee
for two voices and piano
FRED DE FAYE-JOZIN (1871-1942)
Le chèvrefeuille
for voice, violin and piano
C.P. SIMON (1881-1970)
Chanson slave
for voice, violin and piano
JULIETTE FOLVILLE (1870-1946)
Rappelle toi !
for voice, violin and piano
LAUMA REINHOLDE (1906-1986)
Je pense à toi “Es domaju uz tevi”
for voice, violin and piano
CÉCILE CHAMINADE (1857-1944)
Fleur du matin
for voice and piano
FLOWER POWER
ELLEN WHRIGHT (1859 -1904)
Violets
for voice, violin and piano
MARGUERITE CANAL (1890-1978)
J’ai rêvé d’un jardin primitif
for voice and piano
Les jardins de la Villa Cypris
for solo piano
JEANNE LELEU (1898 – 1979)
Qu’il est doux le festin de ces fleurs…
LOUISE DIDIER (1872-1955)
Les chemins
for voice and piano
AMY BEACH (1867-1944)
June op. 51 n°3, Rendez-vous op. 120
for voice, violin and piano
MARGUERITE LABORI (1864-1952)
Fleurs coiffées
for voice, violin, cello and piano
DISTRIBUTION
FIONA MCGOWN, mezzo-soprano
MANON GALY, violin
ANTOINE DE GROLÉE, piano

FIONA MCGOWN
Mezzo-soprano Fiona McGown began singing with the Paris Opera Children’s Choir. She trained with the Maîtrise de Radio France and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Paris VII. She is a graduate of the Leipzig School of Music and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. Her operatic roles include Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte and Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Cybèle in Lully’s Atys, Diane and Oenone in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie and Orphée in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice. She can also be heard in Zemlinsky’s Le Nain, Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and in a tribute concert to Leonard Bernstein with the Orchestre de Paris. She has sung under the baton of Leonardo García Alarcón, Alexis Kossenko and Raphaël Pichon, and collaborated with directors Katie Mitchell (Trauernacht), Jean-Yves Ruf (La Finta Pazza), Jean Bellorini (Erismena), Dominique Pitoiset (Cosi fan tutte) and Romeo Castellucci (Mozart Requiem). Recently, she took part in the creation of Innocence by Kaija Saariaho, directed by Simon Stone, and L’Apocalypse Arabe by Samir Odeh-Tamimi, directed by Pierre Audi as part of the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Passionate about chamber music, Fiona regularly performs in duo with pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid (Grand Prize winner of the Xth Gordes International Song and Lieder Competition). She is the author and creator of several pieces by composer Camille Pépin, and sings Chamber Music in a critically acclaimed CD: fff Télérama, Choc Classica, Choix de France Musique.

MANON GALY
Named “Instrumental Soloist of the Year” at the 2022 Victoires de la Musique awards, Manon Galy studied violin at the CNSMDP with Roland Daugareil, Suzanne Gessner and Christophe Poiget, at the Munich Hochschule with Julia Fischer and at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo with the Zeliha Trio. Manon was also a member of the Vivaldi class at the Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky. She won the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition in 2021 and the Jascha Heifetz International Competition in Vilnius. For 2022-2023, Manon is part of the Euroradio Top Young Performers Series, alongside artists such as Maria Dueñas, Jonathan Fournel, Maria Ioudenitch and Zlatomir Fung. She is also a prizewinner of the Banque Populaire and Safran foundations, as well as the AMOPA and Charles Oulmont foundations. Manon is a regular guest at major festivals in France and abroad, and performs in the most prestigious concert halls with great conductors. A chamber musician at heart, Manon Galy founded the Trio Zeliha in 2018 with Jorge Gonzalez-Buajasan and Maxime Quennesson. Manon plays a 1741 Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi violin on loan from Michaël Guttman, as well as a Nicolas Maire bow on loan from Renaud Capuçon.

ANTOINE DE GROLÉE
Antoine de Grolée joined the CNSMD in Lyon in Pierre Pontier’s class. In 2005, he was awarded the Diplôme national d’études supérieures musicales with congratulations from the jury. He then worked with pianist Hortense Cartier-Bresson and Boris Petrushansky at the Piano Academy in Imola (Italy). For several years now, he has been a guest at numerous festivals, giving recitals and chamber music concerts in France and abroad. A keen chamber musician, his partners have included Svetlin Roussev, Tedi Papavrami, Eléonore Darmon, Michel Dalberto, François Salque, Hildegarde Fesneau, David Guerrier, Ayako Tanaka, Julie Sévilla-Fraysse, Pierre Fouchenneret, Laurent Cabasso and Léo Marillier, Irène Duval, Alexis Galpérine, Amaury Coeytaux, Lise Berthaud, Florent Charpentier, Hélène Clément, Virgil Boutellis, Guillaume Chilemme, Xavier Gagnepain, Julien Beaudiment, Elsa Grether, Saténik Khourdoian, the Joachim, Elysée, Varèse, Akilone and Girard quartets… Attracted to accompanying singers from an early age, he has given recitals with sopranos Anaïs Constans, Shigeko Hata and Hannah Medlam. He gives regular concerts with the choirs Temperamens Variations and A Canto aperto. In August 2013, he was the pianist for Teresa Berganza’s master-class in Saintes.
CHÂTEAU DE LA ROCHE-GUYON
Address: 1 rue de l’Audience, 95780 La Roche-Guyon
FROM GARE ST LAZARE
Take the train to Mantes-la-Jolie.
Bus line 95-11 goes to La Roche-Guyon.
DRIVE FROM PARIS
Through highway A15
Take the A15 to «Cergy-Pontoise», then drive on to the D14. When you reach Magny-en-Vexin, take the exit «Hodent / Vernon» then follow the signs to «Vernon» and «La Roche-Guyon».
Through highway A13
Take the A13 to «Rouen». When you reach Mantes-la-Jolie, take the exit no. 11, then follow the signs to «Limay» and «Vétheuil / La Roche-Guyon».

DO YOU KNOW LOUISE DIDIER ?
La pluie
Fiona McGown, mezzo-soprano
David Kadouch, piano