Annual festival held in Prades, a small mountain village in France, 40 km from Perpignan. In 1939 Pablo Casals exiled himself there as a protest against General Franco's regime in Spain. Ten years later Casals was visited by the violinist Alexander Schneider, who offered him substantial contracts for an American tour; Casals refused, but agreed to the idea of inviting musicians to Prades to perform with him in commemoration of the bicentenary of Bach’s death. The event's success led to its being repeated annually during July and August. The Prades Festival is run by an association whose president is also the town's mayor, and is funded by municipal, regional and national grants. In 1980 clarinettist Michel Lethiec was appointed director. Artists invited have included Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Clara Haskil, Alexander Schneider, William Primrose, Marcel Dupré, Pierre Fournier and Henryk Szeryng. The programmes, given in the small church of the Romanesque abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, have revolved around works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and earlier composers. Contemporary music has, however, begun to appear: in 1994 an evening was devoted to Penderecki. The concerts are supplemented by an academy for instrumental technique, a choral session and a short series of concerts held in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées every January.
CLAUDE SAMUEL