Under the arches of Saint-Lizier Cathedral, this Sunday, April 12th, the music didn’t just resonate: it overflowed. To the point that there was almost a need to turn people away. An unusual turnout for a classical music concert, coming from beyond the borders of Couserans, from all over Occitania to Andorra.
At the center of this evening was the brilliant violinist Marie Cantagrill, true to her guiding principles: artistic excellence and uncompromising sharing. With six musicians from the Chamber Orchestra of Ariège, she opened the season of the “Grand Meetings” organized by the association Music and Sharing in Couserans.
An opening that was far from just a curtain-raiser. From the first notes of Ludwig van Beethoven’s concerto, this intimate version of opus 61, in this historically charged location, seemed to find a natural extension in the stone, in the light, in the familiar silence of great listening. The work, often described as a “love song,” unfolded here with an unusual closeness, almost confidential, as if the audience could feel its inner rhythms.
Then came the lightning bolt of Niccolò Paganini. His famous Campanella shifted the assembly into another dimension: one of pure, brilliant, almost ethereal virtuosity. Under Marie Cantagrill’s bow, the violin became fire, bell, brilliance. Moments where technique fades behind wonder.
But beyond the stage, another sign is telling. The musicians themselves, clearly touched by the intensity of the reception, did not hide their enthusiasm at the end of the concert. Through encounters in Couserans, they revealed discovering an increasingly attentive, curious, truly music-loving audience. A sensitive, tangible evolution that enhances the quality of each performance.
In the audience, the faces spoke for themselves. The prefect of Ariège, Hervé Brabant, did not hide his surprise at such enthusiasm for classical music in this rural territory. A reaction that ultimately underscores the essential point: the patient awareness efforts led by Music and Sharing in Couserans over the past several years are bearing fruit, thanks in part to the attentive support of the municipality of Saint-Lizier and the backing of regional cultural institutions.
To extend this moment of emotion, the upcoming Grand Meetings will take place on August 9th, 16th, and 23rd at 6 pm in the Cathedral of Saint-Lizier.
