Events

Pierre Derhet, tenor
Maxime Melnik, tenor
Julius Drake, piano
Sophie Daneman, staging

Melodies by Vaughan Williams, Britten, Bernstein, Weill

Two artists who are complete opposites take the same road: that of the journey towards the unknown. From the English tradition, carried by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Ivor Gurney and Roger Quilter, to the more eclectic repertoires that extend their echoes, their worlds intersect, confront each other and end up in dialogue.

At the heart of the program, Songs of Travel, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ emblematic cycle on poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, becomes the point of convergence of these trajectories. A real initiatory journey unfolds: an inner journey where wandering, memory and the quest for oneself are mixed.

Carried by the complicity of Pierre Derhet and Maxime Melnik — associate artists of the Festivals de Wallonie 2026 — this show comes to life under the fingers of pianist Julius Drake, a major figure in international vocal accompaniment, guest of the greatest stages and partner of many renowned singers. Sophie Daneman’s staging brings a sensitive dimension and a narrative thread.

In resonance with the theme “Travels” of the 2026 season, this program explores the multiple paths—geographical, poetic, and interior—that shape all existence.

Ailyn Perez, soprano
Julius Drake piano

RICHARD STRAUSS
ROBERT SCHUMANN
JOAQUÍN TURINA
XAVIER MONTSALVATGE

Celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic, American soprano Ailyn Pérez makes her eagerly awaited debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, in the friendly and intimate setting of the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud. Renowned for her stage portrayals of the most beautiful heroines of Mozart, Verdi, Gounod, and Puccini, Ailyn Pérez will make her first appearance before the Aix-en-Provence audience with a recital, a daunting exercise that lays bare the artist and her emotions in a sort of osmosis with the audience. A debut of rare sincerity, with British pianist Julius Drake as her accomplice.

Pierre Derhet, tenor
Maxime Melnik, tenor
Julius Drake, piano
Sophie Daneman, staging

Melodies by Vaughan Williams, Britten, Bernstein, Weill

Two artists who are complete opposites take the same road: that of the journey towards the unknown. From the English tradition, carried by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Ivor Gurney and Roger Quilter, to the more eclectic repertoires that extend their echoes, their worlds intersect, confront each other and end up in dialogue.

At the heart of the program, Songs of Travel, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ emblematic cycle on poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, becomes the point of convergence of these trajectories. A real initiatory journey unfolds: an inner journey where wandering, memory and the quest for oneself are mixed.

Carried by the complicity of Pierre Derhet and Maxime Melnik — associate artists of the Festivals de Wallonie 2026 — this show comes to life under the fingers of pianist Julius Drake, a major figure in international vocal accompaniment, guest of the greatest stages and partner of many renowned singers. Sophie Daneman’s staging brings a sensitive dimension and a narrative thread.

In resonance with the theme “Travels” of the 2026 season, this program explores the multiple paths—geographical, poetic, and interior—that shape all existence.