Symphonious sounds to fill your summer evenings

Operatic ambience from Art Canto in 'Nights under the Stars'

In the magnificent setting of the Château de Vallauris, a harmonious programme will be presented. The audience will be treated to choirs with duets, trios and quartets, as well as extracts of opera airs. Composers to be featured include Verdi, Bach, Gounod, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Massenet and Bizet.

Art Canto is a cultural association which has entertained lyrical enthusiasts for many years. The choir has an excellent vocal education and strives for perfection, and some of their young members have already practised their lyrical talent as soloists on the professional stage, in such places as the Palais de la Méditerranée and the Acropolis in Nice and the Grasse cathedral.

The ensemble is under the artistic and musical direction of Jean-François Ercolani, an international baritone soloist who has played numerous lyrical roles and conveys his art with passion. For Thursday’s concert, he will direct forty choir members, of which most are soloists, trained by professional artists.

Opera enthusiasts should make their way to the Place de la Libération in Vallauris, where the concert will begin at 8.30pm on Thursday 10th July.

If your preferred musical genre is something other than opera, ‘Nights under the Stars 2008’ will certainly have something else to offer you:

On Thursday 17th July, audiences can enjoy a baroque concert with canatas from Handel performed by a contre tenor, a soprano, a harpsichord and a viola de gamba. 9pm, Place de la Libération.

Eddy Ray Cooper, will provide American entertainment on Thursday 24th July, with an evening of country and rock ‘n’ roll. His repetoire will include his own compositions as well as those of Americans such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. 9pm, Place de la Libération.

In the final performance of ‘Nights under the Stars 2008’, the ‘History of Swing’ will treat you to gypsy jazz. Thursday 7th August, 9pm, Place de la Libération.