A portrait of Henri Dutilleux

We already knew that value cannot be counted in years and for the young Zaïde Quartet, recognition is not age-related either, and it shouldn't be. Only a year after they came together as a quartet in 2010, the four musicians were already making an impression at competitions in Bordeaux, Banff (Canada) and Heerlen (the Netherlands); but the 2011-12 season has placed the bar even higher, with a joint 1st prize at the Beijing International Music Competition in September and no less than four prizes (including 1st) at the Joseph Haydn Competition in Vienna in March. They will perform a concert in the form of a portrait at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, evoking one of the greatest contemporary French composers, Dutilleux, through his work from the seventies and the eighties. The quartet will perform the poetic Ainsi la nuit (1977), an essential piece from the repertoire that the composer defined as a “nocturnal vision of “states”, with a slight impressionist side”. On the solo cello, we will hear the Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher (who played a huge role in European musical life in the 20th century), a commission from the great Mstislav Rostropovitch in the seventies performed by Henri Demarquette, who is more than familiar with this music (his performance of Dutilleux's concerto Tout un monde lointain with the Mannheim Akademisches Orkester and Frédéric Chaslin was broadcast by Mezzo). On the piano we will have the Trois Préludes , brought together in a collection in 1994, played by Bertrand Chamayou, who recently won two awards at the Victoires de la musique classique (“instrumental soloist of the year” in 2011 and “best recording of the year” for his complete Years of Pilgrimage by Liszt in 2012).