Who to succeed Simon Lopez, crowned Prodigy of the Year 2021 just a year ago by the now traditional Christmas telecrochet of France 2. The Savoyard clarinettist had marked the spirits both by his technical mastery and by the freedom of his game in a reinterpretation of the famous "air of the Queen of the Night", taken from Mozart's The Magic Flute, which particularly impressed cellist Gautier Capuçon and soprano Gaëlle Arquez, then members of the jury (alongside choreographer Marie-Claude Pietragalla).
While the young musician, now 17, has just released his first album on Warner Classics (accompanied, excuse me, by the baton of Jean-François Verdier), the contenders for the title for 2022 clash, tonight, in the final of the big competition.
To discover
Miss France 2023 is Miss Guadeloupe, Indira Ampiot
For two hours, the nine finalists selected during the “Grand Bal de Noël” broadcast last week will follow one another on the stage.
Under the direction of Zahia Ziouani, formidable accompanist, with her orchestra, Divertimento, the blossoming of these very young talents from the world of dance, singing or instrumental practices.
All under the ever-demanding – sometimes incredulous, often tender – eye of Gautier Capuçon, Marie-Claude Pietragalla and… Julie Fuchs!
After a year of absence due to a particularly busy schedule, the star soprano, with a fiery temperament and a repertoire as extensive as her register can be, made a particularly noticeable return to the jury last week, which she had already joined once, in 2020. Not hiding her admiration for the three voices finally selected, with radically different profiles but all with a little extra soul that will have touched her heart.
Whether it's the surprisingly wide and covered tone of Matt, who, from the height of his 13 years and with a musical curiosity that promises (the young man started with the violin and dreams of being a conductor), already displays tenor colors of astonishing sonic maturity.
From the “real song” of Tinalei, a young self-taught Tahitian who had already won the heart of Fabrice di Falco this year in the Voix d'outre-mer competition.
Or the apparent flippancy cleverly displayed by Abel, only 12 years old, but whose reading of Chérubin's hit, "Voi che sapete", hit the bull's eye with the singer, who incidentally dedicates her latest album to Mozart.
"Dancer or Airline Pilot"
To give them a hard time, Gautier Capuçon has also bet on three talents combining technical and artistic maturity (the particularly virtuoso piano of Lucas, who, from the height of his 10 years, displays an assurance that ranks him among the favorites, the agile and determined violin by Sora, only one year his junior) and originality, with an instrument that could very well create a surprise this year.
It is indeed the first time, in nine seasons, that the trombone is heard at this level of the competition.
A big responsibility for Lucas, 13, from a family of all-round musicians and who has the opportunity to crown an instrument from the brass family for the very first time.
She will have to show freedom and naturalness, to make her unique voice heard above that of the three dancers chosen by Pietragalla, with marked personalities: from the teenager Sasha, who dreams of being a "dancer or airline pilot", to the moving Léa, passing by the “Billy Elliot” of Orleans, Esteban Ramirez, whose performance under the tender eye of his boxer father and his little brother Sébastien, had moved the presenter Faustine Bollaert to tears.
