Q. The Pully Week-End Musical will take place from 24th to 26th April 2015. What can we expect over these 3 days?
More than 75 musicians who will play at the 13 musical events spread over three locations in Pully (Eglise du Prieuré, Grande salle and Foyer de la Maison Pulliérane). Among these, there are three real highlights:
The opening concert on Friday night at 20h. With three talented musicians (Guillaume Hersperger and Lionel Andrey - co-organisers of the festival - and Constantine Macherel), in a programme of French music for the flute, cello, clarinet and piano by Gaubert, Debussy, Jolivet, Poulenc and Saint-Saens.
The Bass-Night on Saturday from 17h. Featuring a recital for the double bass, violin and piano, and an exceptional concert with some twenty bassists present onstage.
On Sunday, our headliner, the world-renowned Gottlieb Wallisch, will give a piano recital on a Bösendorfer Imperial.
In addition to these three events, there will be pre- and post-concert performances of various repertoires, concerts by the students of the Ecole de Musique de Pully and a Masterclass given by Mr Wallisch. It is very important for us to bring an educational dimension to the festival.
Q. I have read on the festival website that the previous two festivals attracted audiences of 700 and 800 spectators respectively. What’s your typical audience member and how many spectators are you anticipating this year?
With free entry concerts, it is difficult to know the number of spectators we should anticipate. With all the effort made to offer a more ambitious programme and more developed communication than in previous years, we hope to attract more people in order to have the widest possible audience. Equally, we have the aim of appealing to younger classical music enthusiasts. One has to face up to the question of an aging audience. Who will fill the concert halls tomorrow? That's why free entry is extremely important to us. With a very varied programme in a relaxed atmosphere, we want to break the stuffy and elitist image of classical music.