The La Chaise-Dieu Music Festival is back for its 58th edition, which is what makes La Chaise-Dieu such a unique event. You’ll find sacred music, piano and violin, as well as the greatest symphonic formations and soloists. All this in a unique setting, in the heart of the Auvergne countryside, in a thousand-year-old abbey church at an altitude of over 1,000 m. A recipe that works: over 100 musicians on stage and more than 40 choristers.
La Chaise-Dieu Festival 6
In 2024, the mission of the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu is to make room for the beauty of music, to make it resonate ever more loudly. That’s why we’re offering 33 concerts and 39 free concerts throughout the 11 days of festivities. The continuation ofBeethoven’s complete symphonies, the perpetuation of Génération Chaise-Dieu, a program launched in 2023, the introduction of opera in the Abbey Church of Saint-Robert, the celebration of the centenary of the death of Gabriel Fauré– all these will contribute to marking this edition with a white stone.
True to its identity, the 33 concerts at the Festival de La Chaise-Dieu will cover all genres, styles and eras, from Beethoven to Monteverdi, Bach to Lacôte, jazz to opera and choral music.
We owe the Festival de La Chaise-Dieu to Georges Cziffra, a Hungarian virtuoso musician born in Budapest, naturalized French in 1968. He is renowned for his interpretation of the works of Liszt and considered one of the finest pianists of the XXᵉ century.
It all began in 1957, when Georges Mazoyer, a cardiologist in Le Puy-en-Velay, and his wife Suzanne, a piano teacher, happened to hear pianist Georges Cziffra on a television program. Moved by his musical genius, they invited him to play at the Théâtre du Puy-en-Velay in 1963. It was a huge success, and encouraged the Mazoyer family to organize a concert with a full orchestra.
One day in 1965, we were driving along the road from Le Puy-en-Velay to Vichy (…). As we passed La Chaise-Dieu, the austere, proud and grandiose abbey church suddenly appeared to us as a call, an invitation, a prayer… wasn’t this the privileged placé we were looking for? We weren’t sponsored by anyone for this purpose, but we had a much more fabulous treasure around us: a host of volunteer friends who worked tirelessly. On September 25, 1966, everything was ready to welcome the 2,500 spectators who thronged to the doors of the abbey church… This first concert was a triumph. Cziffra ended the interminable encores (36 to be precise) with these words: “See you next year!
To make the most of this exceptional weekend, find accommodation and restaurants around La Chaise-Dieu.
