It was with the Ukrainian National Anthem, conducted by Claire Gibault, at the head of her Paris Mozart Orchestra, in front of a standing room, that the final of the conductors’ competition, La Maestra, at the Philharmonie de Paris. Of the three candidates remaining in the running, among the fourteen selected out of some 200 applications from 48 countries and five continents, two are Polish, an opportunity to underline the flourishing health of female conductors in this country.
A vigor which is also evidenced by the appointment of conductor Marzena Diakun, former assistant to Mikko Franck at the Philharmonic of Radio France, who in 2021 took on the artistic co-direction of the Toulon Opera, while her compatriot, Marta Gardolinska, was dubbed by the National Opera of Lorraine.
First to stand on the podium, the Spaniard Beatriz Fernandez Aucejo, a tall 38-year-old dark-haired woman, who studied in Germany, Austria and Italy, before passing through the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en -Provence. Working at the Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Valencia (Spain), she conducts without a baton, and will offer in the imposed piece, The existence of the possible, commissioned from composer Graciane Finzi, a sober vision filled with mystery.
Will follow the initial movement of the first symphony, by Brahms, a supple and sensitive interpretation, but lacking in contrast, before From dawn to noon on the sea, first of three parts of The sea, by Debussy, which is more suited to his supple and airy phrasing. She won the third La Maestra prize (5,000 euros), as well as the Arte Prize.
Playful complicity
Ten years separate the two Poles. It is to the youngest, Anna Sulkowska-Migon, 24 years old and with an energetic appearance of mini-Mirga Grazynité-Tyla, that returns the second performance. The very thin young girl, native of Krakow, who did most of her studies in Poland, where she currently directs the Ars Cameralis choir, will give a totally different version of The existence of the possible, which takes, under its baton, much more dramatic contours.
She also pulls out of the game in the sequel Pulcinella, of Stravinsky, showing, in this music difficult to animate (and, sometimes, to listen to without annoyance or boredom), a playful complicity with his musicians. The public will be sensitive to it, which will applaud four times between the pieces. She won first place in the competition (20,000 euros), as well as the Prix Génération Opéra (2,000 euros) for her accompaniment of three songs by Alma Mahler, sung in the semi-finals by the mezzo Victoire Bunel.
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