Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti Festival
Classical Music and Literature Festival in Charente-Maritime
About Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti
Music and Literature in Dialogue
Created in 2004, the Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti Festival pays tribute to the writer from Rochefort, Julien Viaud, known as Pierre Loti (1850-1923), by building each edition around a theme inspired by his work. The artistic direction has been provided for several years by the baritone Victor Sicard.
A Journey Between Rochefort and Oléron Island
While the Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or in Rochefort remains an emblematic venue for the festival, the programming extends widely across Charente-Maritime: Saint-Porchaire, Château-d'Oléron, Saint-Denis-d'Oléron, Saint-Georges-d'Oléron, and Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron also host concerts, readings, and conferences in heritage or unusual locations (church, arsenal, oyster hut, winery room).
A Program Blending Classical Music, Voices, and Texts
Chamber music, French melody, baroque repertoire, opera, and vocal music follow one another throughout the concerts. Several proposals combine spoken texts and live music, and some evenings are accompanied by convivial moments specific to the region — oyster tasting in Château-d'Oléron, wine tasting in Saint-Georges-d'Oléron. Conferences and mediation activities complete the program.
Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti — edition 2026
22nd edition of the Festival Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti, from May 9 to 16, 2026, centered around the theme Loti in the Mediterranean, vol. 2. Eight days of concerts, readings, and conferences in Rochefort and on Oléron Island, under the artistic direction of Victor Sicard.
Loti in the Mediterranean, vol. 2
The 22nd edition of the festival, from May 9 to 16, 2026, extends the Mediterranean journey begun the previous year around the Rochefort writer Pierre Loti. The program conceived by Victor Sicard blends great classics (Mozart, Ravel, Debussy, Monteverdi) with more unexpected offerings (Mediterranean music for saxhorn ensemble, dramatized reading with Jean-Pierre Darroussin, baroque program in the Eldorado of Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron).
An opening for Mozart's 270th anniversary
The festival opened on Saturday, May 9, at the Arsenal du Château-d'Oléron with an intimate version of Mozart's Requiem, celebrating the composer's 270th anniversary, preceded at 6 PM by a short recital of French sea melodies and an oyster tasting with music.
Voices, texts, and piano at the heart of the program
On Tuesday, May 12, at the Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or in Rochefort, actor Jean-Pierre Darroussin performed readings of texts by Pierre Loti and Baudelaire, accompanied by Anna Cardona Esteva (piano), Victor Sicard (baritone), Joël Grare (percussion), and Emeline Bayart (narrator). The festival concluded on Saturday, May 16, at the Eldorado of Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, featuring Monteverdi and his contemporaries, with American tenor Zachary Wilder in a duo with Victor Sicard.
Programme Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti 2026
Saturday, May 9, 2026 — Château-d'Oléron
- 6:00 PM — Oyster hut: French Sea Melodies · Victor Sicard (baritone), Yoan Héreau (piano) · ~15 min followed by an oyster tasting
- 8:30 PM — Salle de l'Arsenal: Mozart's Requiem and Ave Verum, John Cage's 4'33 · Yoan Héreau (conductor) with soprano, mezzo, tenor, baritone, organ, strings
Sunday, May 10, 2026 — Saint-Porchaire (Church)
- 2:00 PM — Dramatized reading tour Pierre Loti in Saint-Porchaire
- 4:30 PM — The Mediterranean in Sax · Ensemble Saxback (saxhorns, saxophones, clarinets) · works by Dessner, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Press · 10 € (free for under 12s)
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 — Rochefort
- 1:00 PM — Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or: Sandwich Concert Loti in the Mediterranean vol. 2 · Anna Cardona Esteva (piano), Victor Sicard (baritone) · works by Ravel, Duparc, Rossini
- 6:00 PM — Musée Hèbre: conference Loti in the Mediterranean by Alain Quella-Villéger
- 8:30 PM — Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or: Loti in the Mediterranean vol. 2 · Anna Cardona Esteva (piano), Victor Sicard (baritone), Joël Grare (percussion), Emeline Bayart (narrator) · works by Ravel, Duparc, Rossini + texts by Loti and Baudelaire
Thursday, May 14, 2026 — Saint-Denis-d'Oléron (L'Escale)
- 8:30 PM — Pop'Opera in the Mediterranean · Hélène Carpentier (soprano), Victor Sicard (baritone), Anna Cardona Esteva (piano) · works by Rossini, Bizet, Offenbach, Mozart, Audran
Friday, May 15, 2026 — Saint-Georges-d'Oléron (Salle du chai)
- 6:00 PM — Short Debussy concert (~15 min) followed by a wine tasting · Claire Désert, Emmanuel Strosser (two pianos)
- 8:30 PM — Two Pianos for Loti · Claire Désert, Emmanuel Strosser · works by Ravel, Debussy, De Falla, Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring in two-piano version), Chabrier
Saturday, May 16, 2026 — Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron (Eldorado)
- 8:30 PM — At Monsieur Monteverdi's House · Zachary Wilder (tenor), Victor Sicard (baritone) accompanied by lute, cornet, violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord, double bass · works by Monteverdi, Cavalli, Rossi, Sances
Highlights Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti 2026
- 22nd edition centered around the theme Loti in the Mediterranean, vol. 2
- Opening with Mozart's Requiem for the composer's 270th anniversary
- Concert-reading with Jean-Pierre Darroussin featuring texts by Pierre Loti
- Two Pianos for Loti evening with Claire Désert and Emmanuel Strosser
- Baroque closing with tenor Zachary Wilder featuring Monteverdi
- Itinerant journey between Rochefort and 5 municipalities on Oléron Island
Prices Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti 2026
Practical information — Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti
Practical Information
Venues
- Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or — Rochefort
- Église de Saint-Porchaire
- Salle de l'Arsenal and oyster hut — Château-d'Oléron
- L'Escale — Saint-Denis-d'Oléron
- Salle du chai — Saint-Georges-d'Oléron
- Eldorado — Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron
Access
Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or: Rochefort city center, near the SNCF train station. Parking available in the city center. The island venues (Oléron) are accessible from the mainland via the Oléron viaduct.
Ticketing and Reservations
- Online: Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or ticketing for concerts in Rochefort, Elloha platform for concerts in Oléron (links accessible from the Program page of the official website)
- On-site: a ticket office opens half an hour before each concert at the entrance of the venues
- Physical points of sale: Tourist Offices of Rochefort, Marennes, Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, Le Château-d'Oléron, Saint-Georges-d'Oléron, Saint-Denis-d'Oléron, Saint-Trojan-les-Bains
Membership in the Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti association provides access to reduced rates.
Contact
Association Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti — BP 40010, 17310 Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron
Tel.: 06 42 71 64 36 — [email protected]
Official website: festival-mppl.com
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Where does it take place — Musiques au Pays de Pierre Loti
Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or
Place Amiral Dupont, 17300 Rochefort