Renowned violinist, director of a music festival and of an orchestra, Renaud Capuçon adds a new string to his bow: a label that will "
short scale
" to young musicians in search of visibility.
The French artist, who has just left Warner Classics and the Erato label to join Deutsche Grammophon (a subsidiary of Universal Music Group), thus becomes a producer, developing a label called "
Beau Soir Productions
" in collaboration with this prestigious record company.
, which will help young talents to perform more widely.
"
It's always been in my head but I hadn't found the key to how to do it
“, confided the violinist, who often supports young musicians, in particular with the Easter Festival which he founded in Aix-en-Provence and which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2023.
Read alsoAix-en-Provence Easter Festival: fantastic symphonies
Mentor of young talents
The violinist who, during confinement, posted videos of him playing at home every day on social networks, revealed how this label idea germinated in his mind: “
It crystallized during the pandemic.
There were a lot of young people impacted and, as I was already helping and advising emerging talents, I said to myself: “Might as well do it in an entity”
”
The idea of “
Beau Soir Productions
”, presented by the artist and Deutsche Grammophon as an innovative project in the middle of classical music, is to do a kind of "
short scale to make them move faster
".
The label has already produced concerts by these young artists with Renaud Capuçon across France.
These recordings will be broadcast by Deutsche Grammophon, the powerful partner of the famous violinist.
"
It's not about young people coming out of the Conservatory, they are already professionals
", specifies the star of classical music.
For the moment, the project involves six talents, including the violinist Manon Galy (revelation at the Victoires de la Musique Classique this year) and the young violist Paul Zientara.
Renaud Capuçon insisted on the protective nature of this new label: “
As long as we are at the Conservatory, we are protected but, when we are in between and we do not yet have an agent,
»,
Renaud Capuçon, who made his debut as a maestro a year ago with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, of which he is the artistic director, insists on the generous principle of his approach: "
I am either second violin or conducting the orchestra, so there's no risk of me overshadowing them.
It's not me who makes them progress but, by taking them to full halls, they gain confidence
”.
This proselytism is essential, for the 46-year-old violinist, who is also the husband of journalist Laurence Ferrari in the city: "
There is also a social side: we are going to perform in regional halls which have difficulty in fill, in prisons, in hospitals.
It seems essential to me to bring music everywhere.
I feel like
Inexhaustible Renaud Capuçon has just released an album (under the Erato label), in which he tackles Vivaldi's
Four Seasons
, as well as concertos by the little-known Guadeloupean composer Le Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799), who will be the subject of a Disney biopic.
Having founded an endowment fund two years ago which is used to lend instruments, often expensive, to young musicians, he enjoys this role of "
father of the family
", providing them with advice in terms of repertoire but also concerning their image on social networks.
A mentor, now an unwavering supporter of new classical talents with his label, Renaud Capuçon does not forget to point out that the path to success is not easy to find: "
Young people can be drawn into a sort of wave when they are says: 'You're great and they forget that they're there to play Brahms or Beethoven...' But you have to keep your feet on the ground to survive in the long term
”.
