On Thursday this week, the cellist Camille Thomas, who will play a Stradivarius from 1730, performs this programme with the pianist Julien Brocal

 

The Chamber Music Cycle of Auditorio de Tenerife presents the concert À mon ami -  Chopin y Franchomme, el crepúsculo de los dioses (The twilight of gods), with the cellist Camille Thomas and the pianist Julien Brocal. The French musician will play in Tenerife the renowned Stradivarius Feuermann from 1730, on loan from Nippon Music Foundation, that belonged to Franchomme.

The programme is featured by the musicians and composers Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) and August-Joseph Franchomme (1808-1884), whose friendship inspired Thomas for this concert. The last letter Chopin wrote in his life was to Franchomme and those where his words: “I love you and that's all what I can tell because I'm falling from sleep and weakness”.

At the twilight of his life, Chopin composed his sonata for cello and piano dedicating it to his dear friend, the cellist Franchomme. The day before his death Chopin asked to hear it and Franchomme, at his bedside in a salon in the Place Vendôme, played the second and third movements.

According to Camille Thomas, "it's like the testament of a life that ends in full swing, each note of the sonata reflects the immense human and artistic friendship that bonded both of them." Through music, they became immortal" explains the artist who highlights that "Chopin confessed that his favourite instrument was the cello and apart from piano compositions, he exclusively composed for this other instrument."  

Optimism, vitality and joyful exuberance are elements of Camille Thomas's rich and compelling personality. The young Franco-Belgian cellist, who signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in April 2017, understands art's power to bring people together, to unite individuals from diverse cultures, countries and backgrounds. Thomas declared "I strongly believe that music has the power to enlarge the heart, to make you feel everything with more intensity, because music offers hope for the beauty and greatness of the soul."

Voice of Hope is her second Deutsche Grammophon’s album that was released in June 2020. It is the world premiere recording of Fazil's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra 'Never Give Up', the composer's response to terrorist attacks on Paris and Istanbul. It was written expressly for Thomas, who gave its world premiere performance in Paris in April 2018. It is the first classical album recorded in partnership with UNICEF, reflecting the cellist's desire to help others through her music.

Camille Thomas has already worked with such conductors as Paavo Järvi, Mikko Franck, Marc Soustrot, Darrell Ang, Kent Nagano, and Stéphane Denève, and with orchestras such as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Academia Santa Cecilia, the Sinfonia Varsovia, Staatsorchester Hamburg in the Elbphilharmonie, the Lucerne Festival Strings in the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Orchestre National de Bordeaux, and Brussels Philharmonic.

Named BBC Music Magazine's 2018 Revelation of the Year, Julien Brocal began learning the piano at the age of five and performed for the first time at the Salle Cortot (Paris) at the age of seven. He was spotted in January 2013 by Maria João Pires during an advanced course at the Cité de la Musique (Paris). She then invited him for an artistic residency at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Belgium.

The pianist has offered several recitals around the world. Brocal is a regular chamber music partner of cellists Lidy Blijdorp, Camille Thomas and violinist Rosanne Philippens, co-organizing with pianist Julien Libeer the chamber music festival "Pause Festival" in La Donaira, Andalusia. In addition to playing in traditional halls, he has created in his studio a "Musical Garden" a creative ecosystem reflecting the principles of permaculture by providing a space to produce live performances, recordings and residencies.

Julien Brocal also works to bring music and the arts, to organize workshops to introduce classical music, and educational projects for children in difficulty. He has contributed to the development of the children's choir Equinoxe created by Maria João Pires. Likewise, he is involved as a conductor in the children's choir Singing Molenbeek which works in the schools of Molenbeek in Brussels. He has initiated regular sessions of Musical Breathing with the Doctor in psychology of emotions Ilios Kotsou.

The tickets are available on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium's box office or by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 02:00 p.m. Check the special discounts for the audience under 30 years of age, students, unemployed and large families.