the essential
As part of “Organ Day”, organist Franck Besingrand will give two concerts, one in Rodez on May 11 and another on May 12 in Villeneuve d’Aveyron.
In the small world of the organ, Franck Besingrand, concert pianist and musicologist, is not unknown. Having fallen into the pot around the age of fourteen, Franck Besingrand has since dedicated part of his life to the instrument. “I got there through a fascination with sounds and the almost mystical atmosphere between the stained glass windows and the darkness.”
Winner of the Toulouse Conservatory, UFAM honorary prize, but also winner of the Swiss Lonfat-Stalder composition competition, he has given nearly 700 concerts in Paris (including several at Notre-Dame, La Madeleine, Saint-Roch, Saint-Augustin), in international festivals in France and in various European countries, in Brussels, Bamberg, Geneva, Lausanne, Valencia, as well as in Canada (Lachine Festival, Festival of Colors, Toronto Organ Festival, etc.).
This Ruthenian major will offer two concerts in Aveyron, Saturday May 11 at 8:30 p.m. at Rodez Cathedral and Sunday May 12 at 5 p.m. at the Villeneuve church as part of “Organ Day” and around the works by Pasquini, Sweelinck, Buxtehude, Bach but also Vivaldi.
Organ Day: May 11 and 12, 2024
Initiated by Organ in France, the event offers hundreds of events every second Sunday in May in towns and villages to rediscover the noble instrument. An original way to highlight the nearly 2,000 instruments in the country, and to highlight the secular uses of the instrument.
A special encounter
If Franck Besingrand is a regular at this type of event, he does not hide his pleasure in participating, “even if it would have to be very hot for several days to warm up the cathedral a little before then”, jokes the organist who does not fail to emphasize the visual and musical quality of the Ruthenian instrument.
DDM – AM
“On Organ Day, the public is different. For them, it will be a discovery,” adds the man who also taught at the Aveyron conservatory and who expects an audience who are mainly new to the subject. “It’s a concert instrument. The religious side is only one aspect. There is a secular aspect with a repertoire that is surely one of the oldest in the history of music.”
A long history with Villeneuve
Franck Besingrand knows the Villeneuve organ well, since he closely followed all stages from its design to its completed construction in 2005.
“No two organs are alike,” confesses the musician. “Unlike that of Rodez, that of Villeneuve is recent with a Spanish tendency”, in short an instrument with horizontal pipes and a thunderous sound which promises an impressive concert. “It will be an opportunity to share an emotion and an elevation. The organ touches something that vibrates within us.”
