Lizst en Provence

La Provence — Michèle Saura — 2026-09-09

Transcript

UCHAUX - Festival Liszt en Provence

Clément Chatelain, young piano prodigy

A 25-year-old pianist, Clément Chatelain, electrified the audience on Sunday with a virtuosic recital centred on Liszt and Prokofiev.

Last Sunday, in Uchaux, the tiers of the great terrace were particularly full. Not for an established star, but for Clément Chatelain, 25, a promising pianist still little known to the general public. After 90 minutes of recital, the audience understood that it was witnessing a future great name of the piano.

A demanding programme

A Liszt devotee, he devised a demanding programme around the transcriptions and reminiscences of the Hungarian composer, demonstrating impressive virtuosity and maturity. On the menu: lieder by Schubert, excerpts from Aïda (Verdi) and from Norma (Bellini), where his hands seemed to multiply the notes on the keyboard, transformed into an orchestra.

After the interval, he offered a breathtaking interpretation of the Totentanz (Liszt), then Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7, anguished and powerful.

Concentrated during the performance, he relaxed between each piece with a mischievous smile, as if to say: « You didn't know me? Well, there you are… » The audience, won over, wanted more. Chatelain confided that this Prokofiev sonata was the only possible conclusion to such a programme. No one held it against him: he had already given his all.

Michèle SAURA

Caption: Clément Chatelain, a name to remember for lovers of the piano. / PHOTO M.S.