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La Vie en Fleur

Hello dearest public from St-Flour and my mountains, and dear faithful August holiday-makers 🙂

Marie-Helene Cussac soprano la vie en fleur

Our annual gathering in Saint-Flour’s Cathedral is scheduled for Aug. 16th at 8:30pm.

Cathédrale de Saint-Flour
16 August 2023
8:30 pm

I can’t wait to catch up… especially that this year we’ll be celebrating our 10th anniversary! 2013-2023, ten years I have been maintaining this very French tradition of a concert “au chapeau”, meaning that there is no paying ticket to join, so each and everyone feels welcome and free to pop by and listen, and why not get swept off one’s feet by music.

This year, the theme of the concert imposed itself quite early. I feel I may well have been holding it in for a while. A hymn to Nature. The nature that I so much love here in my home mountains of Cantal (France), facing our numerous dying fur trees, facing our Narse (Natura 2000 vast humid zone) under threat of being dried out for business interests while the whole world is looking out for water. I feel our responsibility is to help Nature face the challenges our civilization has imposed onto her. So one must have faith in humanity.

That is the message of hope I’ll be singing, along the lines of La Vie en Fleur, a novel by 19th century French writer Anatole France, echoing what I so much support: Access to art as of childhood.

Marie-Helene Cussac soprano concert chant et orgue cathedrale de saint-flour la vie en fleur

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A bright 2023

Marie-Helene Cussac soprano happy new year 2023

Dear friends, isn’t it all about how we choose to look at life? I enjoyed wearing that mask and thought about that question. On this last January day, I still have a few minutes to wish you a bright 2023 and plenty of music in your life.
After my first Opera Garnier last October, who knows what 2023 may unveil 😉

 

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Candles or stars?

Marie-Helene Cussac Soprano Concert by CandlelightWithin this grey January, white with snow in my Cantal home, thinking back to the candles of last 21 December concert with its heartwarming atmostphere and all of you singing warms up my Parisian day.

I come to realise that I have not yet published the pictures of that fabulous late afternoon by candlelight with mulled wine and hot cider; sorry; here they are!

That Christmas singalong was at 5pm to enjoy the dark while allowing getting home not too late in our mountains. Yet I had forgotten about milking… I, countrygirl, forgetting about our cows. Our farmers were there anyway, taking part as always. They had started milking ahead of schedule, taken a break for a concert, back at it later, heads & hearts full of music.

Our countryside magic, once again.
And I, very moved, once again.

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Christmas singalong by candlelight

marie-helene cussac soprano concert de noelHere we are, December popped by even sooner than usual… As promised (to myself) I will sing the Advent concert I sang in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome last 27 November 2021, at home 🙂

It will be in Cantal, my native mountains to which I am so dearly attached. It will be in the mountains indeed, as I picked the Church of our Lady of Lescure (15300), our local “Lourdes”.

I look forward to a warm Christmas atmosphere so this will be a 100% candlelight concert, a singalong, and I will invite you to share some tea, mulled wine and sweet treats after the singing.

For children to join & enjoy the Party, the concert is at 5:00 pm.

Looking forward to catching up, in boots, hats and scarves(!)
at the Lescure church (15300)
on Wednesday 21 December 2022
at 5:00 pm
Free participation to expenses
with your mug for the after-concert party 😉

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Dolce Vita concert

Marie-Helene Cussac concert bel canto saint-flour 2022Here we are, August is here already and so is our annual meeting in Saint-Flour (Cantal). This year however, it will be able to “see” each other again, yes! No specific C* restrictions and the freedom to catch-up. That feels good.

When choosing the theme of this year’s concert, I was – as always – reflecting on the past year and what had come round the corner. While we could feel better re Covid, the war in Ukraine broke out, as if one wasn’t left with a moment to breathe. Yet I thought of life, the precious little pleasures of our daily routines. And I wished to say, yes, life is – also – beautiful. So “dolce vita” popped up in my mind and I immediately decided that that would be it for our 2022 concert at home.

For Fellini’s fans knowing the 1960 Dolce Vita movie, sure the image people bare in mind today is quite at odds with the dark underlying background of the movie. “Dolce vita” today calls for images of sun, sea, farniente, friendship and love, enjoying l-i-f-e. Which is the message I wished to share this year.

Musically, I also felt like going back to bel canto.  So welcome back to some Puccini, Catalani, i tutti 🙂 The Italian language will be “à l’honneur”.

See you then on August 9th, at 8:30pm in our St-Flour cathedral for a lovely catch-up. Andiamo!

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Eat P(l)ay Love

Dear friends,

with months going by facing our new life, we have come to realise how big a role those daily “petits bonheurs” play.
I thus cannot resist the reference to the 2010 movie 🙂

Let’s enjoy life whatever the context imposed to us and when in need,
let music be your sunshine.

Looking forward to unveiling great projects,

Yours ever,

Marie-Hélène

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Let’s sing Christmas in Rome

MOnce upon a time was my Irish friend’s wedding in Rome… We are in April 2019. I am alone walking towards Piazza Navona, when a facade suddenly catches my attention. I step back, I get in, I avoid the crowd, I see the organ. Immediately a concert project is born. I am in…. San Luigi dei…. Francesi! 🙂

Two and a half years later, I am therefore delighted to invite you to a Christmas Singalong at

San Luigi dei Francesi
Saturday 27 November 2021
at 5:00 pm
Free participation to expenses

As a good expat, I import the anglo-saxon tradition of singalongs in Italy but also the French tradition of free concerts with a free participation to expenses. As you know, I am attached to giving free access to music 🙂

Special thanks to Enzo Iorio for the beautiful photographies and to the Paris boutique of Flamant for its gorgeous Christmas trees.

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Murat murmured…

An old saying goes that Un jour un mur mura Murat and Murat murmura… (murmured). So indeed on the night of October 30th, eve of Halloween… the organs and myself murmured some notes of fear and joy 😉 Nicolas and I were indeed delighted to have you embark on a journey “From fear to joy” in Murat’s Notre-Dame des Oliviers (in Cantal).

The word about the concert spread at the speed of light on social media (thanks a lot to Nathalie, Cathy, Marie-Noëlle, Lyne, i tutti amici who relay the info) yet I was away from my laptop, hence this late article.

Thank you all for this very warm welcome. Truth be told, I ended up being too warm in my St. Petersburg-like dress!

If you haven’t yet read it, please find here our portrait with Nicolas in the Oct. 29th edition of the Réveil cantalien (thank you Stéphane Briant for the 2-hour interview).