International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron: prepare your ears! July – August 2024

      For 40 years, the International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron has established itself as an exceptional mainstay in the worldwide musical and pianistic scene, providing a unique experience in the nature.

     Although other Festival venues have been added in recent years, the grounds of the Château de Florans remain the key site for unclassifiable encounters between all types of musical creation (classical, contemporary…), every style (jazz, electronic…) and all types of artists, with emerging talents alongside the greatest international performers.

     The acoustic qualities of the stage, just as suitable for piano recitals as it is for concertos and symphonies, only add to the charms of this mythical and magical park, filled with the entire history of the Château de Florans.

      Paul Onoratini took a great interest in local life and was elected mayor of the commune of La Roque in 1959. In 1971, with the help of his son Bernard, an interior architect with a passion for the piano, he launched « Musique à Silvacane ».  This first musical project was a series of seven concerts given at Silvacane Abbey each year. Soon, the DRAC (Direction Régionale de l’Action Culturelle) put Paul Onoratini in touch with René Martin, whose ambition was to create a piano festival in Aix or its surroundings. The discovery of the Parc de Florans gave him a glimpse of extraordinary possibilities and Paul Onoratini was enthusiastic about the project. The first Festival was born in 1981.

      From the very first Festival in 1981, on the only stage in the Parc du Château de Florans, 9000 spectators came to attend the 12 concerts programmed with prestigious performers such as Youri Egorov, Vlado Perlemuter, Martha Argerich or Krystian Zimermann. Since then, more than 700 pianists have been invited, 2509 concerts have been programmed and more than 2,000,000 tickets have been registered.

      In order to provide the artist the best professional environment and the public with the best acoustics, the Festival has made major investments since its second year of operation:

• 1982: creation of an acoustic shell

• 1983: creation of rehearsal studios

• 1984: installation of 1400 seats in bleachers

• 1987: construction of a second acoustic shell to accommodate philharmonic orchestras

• 1990 : elevation of the acoustic shell for wind instruments

• 1999 : purchase of new bleachers (1850 seats)

• 2002 : enlargement of the stands (2300 seats)

• 2007: construction of a new acoustic shell (300m2 span, 28m wide x 14m high, 122 acoustic panels)

• 2010 : investment in new, more spacious and comfortable stands (2020 seats)

• 2016: construction of new stands for the shops

  

The « petit Château » and then the « grand Château » were built between 1598 and 1667 at the instigation of Annibal de Forbin who died in a duel in 1612.  His widow, Camille de Grimaldi d’Antibes, was so distraught that she had a chapel built and a park laid out in his memory.  The Château remained the property of the Forbins until 1818, when the buildings and land were sold to Louis Raphaël de Cordoue. One of his descendants, Caroline de Cordoue, married the Marquis de Florans, a native of Comtat-Venaissin. During the 19th century, the Château de Forbin became the Château de Florans. In 1937, the Marquise Marie de Florans, the last of her name and the only survivor of an era, bequeathed the family property to the Archbishopric of Aix-en-Provence. A decade later, in 1948, Paul Onoratini rented and renovated the Château, which he turned into a medical and dietary centre. He became the owner nine years later. Over time, the Centre Médical Soleil et Repos became the current Clinique du Château de Florans. Paul Onoratini was also behind the creation of the Festival in 1981, in the heart of Château de Florans Park.