Le Palais Royal Orchestra
: The Romantics, from Budapest to Seville
- Tuesday, June 23, 8:00 p.m.
- La Comédie, Main Hall, Reims
Le Palais Royal Orchestra
Jean-Philippe Sarcos, conductor
Anna Agafia, violin
In 19th-century Francecentury century, travelogues, revolutions, and Romanticism led artists beyond national borders. There they discovered rich palettes and new horizons. The Conservatoire sent its best composers to the Villa Medici, and Berlioz wrote The Roman Carnival. Nerval translates Faust by Goethe, and Berlioz composes The Damnation of Faust with its picturesque Hungarian March. As for Bizet and Lalo, they are captivated by Spain. Inspired by its blazing sun, its proud spirit, and its ancient rhythms, both compose masterpieces steeped in passion and blood.
When, in 1871, the Société Nationale de Musique adopted “Ars Gallica” as its motto, this unique French musical spirit continued to dance with elegance and refinement. Dazzled by the world opening up before it, it embraced new languages and unfamiliar accents, transforming them through its own genius, imagination, and panache.
Orchestra Biography
Founded in 2010, Le Palais Royal is an orchestra performing on period instruments, as well as a choir.
Renowned for the energy and vitality of its performances, the ensemble performs a repertoire spanning from the late 17th century to the mid-20th century. It owes its distinctive musical style to its conductor, Jean-Philippe Sarcos.
His credo: to make every concert unique by prioritizing closeness, wonder, and connection with the audience. Before performing, Jean-Philippe Sarcos introduces the works to listeners from both historical and philosophical perspectives. He demonstrates what these works can offer us today.
The artistic vision of the Palais Royal is centered on three pillars:
19th-century French music. As the sole student of Georges Prêtre, Jean-Philippe Sarcos inherited his mentor’s passion for French music. Recently, he has performed the symphonies of Franck, Lalo, Bizet, Berlioz, and Saint-Saëns, as well as piano and violin concertos and Saint-Saëns’s oratorios *Le Déluge* and *La Terre promise*, along with numerous works by Fauré, Widor, Paladilhe, Poulenc, and others…
Music from the turn of the 18th century, featuring Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Mendelssohn. The Palais Royal has performed the complete Beethoven symphonies on period instruments, rediscovered the original French versions of Haydn’s The Creation and The Seasons, while continuing its exploration of Mendelssohn’s symphonic and choral works.
Baroque music, particularly that of Handel, which Jean-Philippe Sarcos is especially fond of. Thus, Glory and Handel: Royal Music are among the Palais Royal’s flagship programs.
Yesterday and Today
Surrounded by young talents (Adrien Fournaison, Marion Vergez-Pascal, Juliette Mey, to name a few) and leading figures in these repertoires (Mathias Vidal, Orlando Bass, and Paolo Zanzu), the Palais Royal continually reinvents period instrument performance through new concert formats and innovative approaches.
Le Palais Royal has established itself on the French music scene as a true ambassador of history, music, enthusiasm, and emotion.
Le Palais Royal does not hesitate to present rare works alongside masterpieces of the repertoire, as on the album *Paradisi Gloria*, released in 2024 by Aparté.
Source: le-palaisroyal.com
Biography of Jean-Philippe Sarcos
Jean-Philippe Sarcos’s energy, elegance, infectious enthusiasm, and artistic talent have madehima renowned conductor, particularly for his interpretations of the French repertoire.
He conducts at major venues in France and abroad, including the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Seine Musicale, and the Alter Oper in Frankfurt… He was responsible for the French premiere ofElgar’s*Coronation Ode* at the Pleyel.
He is the music director of the Le Palais Royal orchestra, with which he has performed the complete set of Beethoven’s concertos and symphonies on period instruments, and with which he is engaged in an in-depth exploration of the interpretation and wider dissemination of the French repertoire, from the Baroque to the Romantic periods.
“A student of Georges Prêtre, he inherited from his mentor a love for the French repertoire… his conducting highlights not only the richness and diversity of French musical works, but also the invisible thread that connects them—a shared sense of clarity, restraint, and grace.”Forum opéra, Christophe Rizoud, Paris, November 2025.
Among his recordings are the first recording of the sacred works of Mel Bonis, a French post-Romantic composer, and*Paradisi Gloria*, released in 2024 by Aparté.
This season, he will conduct a Bizet gala featuring*Les Pêcheurs de perles*inFrankfurt,Bizet’sSymphony in C andLalo’s*Symphonie espagnole* at the *Flâneries musicales* in Reims, a Gounod recital, Offenbach, Chabrier, and Poulenc with mezzo-soprano Juliette Mey at Gaveau, a program of Rameau and Lalande at La Folle Journée in Nantes, and a staged performance ofVivaldi en pisteat theCirque d’Hiver…
Biography of Anna Agafia
Described as “captivating from the very first masterful stroke of the bow” and praised for her “rich palette of colors and nuances,” the Danish-Ukrainian violinist Anna Agafia is quickly establishing herself as one of the most compelling artists to emerge from the Scandinavian music scene.
A winner of numerous prestigious competitions—including the Singapore Competition (2nd prize), the Nielsen Competition (3rd prize), the Tibor Varga Competition (1st prize), and the Stuttgart Guadagnini Stiftung Competition (3rd prize)—Anna captivates audiences with her breathtaking performances, her playing “revealing both a seductive boldness and a striking dramatic intelligence” (Le Monde).
Anna Agafia has performed with numerous internationally renowned orchestras, including the Münchner Symphoniker, the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Danish Chamber Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Bogotá Philharmonic, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic, and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.
One of the highlights of his career was the release of his debut album on Claves Records in March 2023, featuring Szymanowski’s Second Concerto and Nielsen’s Concerto, recorded with Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Aleksandar Marković.
This album has been unanimously praised by critics: *Diapason* lauded its “rich palette of colors and emotions (ranging from humor to tenderness and restrained tears)” and described her performance of Szymanowski’s concerto as “invigoratingly inspired, comparable only to the legendary recordings by Wilkomirska and Rowicki.” The album was nominated for the 2023 ICMA Awards and received the title of Clef d’Or of the Year from ResMusica.
A passionate chamber musician, Anna regularly collaborates with some of the most prominent figures in the music world. She has performed with Renaud Capuçon, Emmanuel Pahud, Miguel da Silva, Andreas Brantelid, Enrico Pace, the Trio con Brio Copenhagen, Gérard Caussé, Corina Belcea, and the David Oistrakh Quartet. She has also participated in the Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World festival alongside renowned musicians such as Steven Isserlis, Gidon Kremer, and Christian Tetzlaff.
Anna plays a Guarneri del Gesù violin dating from 1730–1733, nicknamed “The Sphinx,” which has been generously loaned to her by an anonymous donor.
Source: Wwww.annaagafia.com
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