|
 With the Swiss Alps and
sailboats as a stunning backdrop, he appeared
for the fourth time at one of Europe's most
prestigious summer music festivals, cancelled
last year due to the pandemic.
The 55th edition can welcome 1,500 people per
night at four venues, about one-tenth the normal
size for the two-week event.
"It's a real joy to be here again, the first
time was 15 years ago," Maalouf told the crowd.
"The concept of jazz here is a lot like mine."
"You've come despite the circumstances. I found
a year and half without playing live very, very
frustrating," he said.
Maalouf, accompanied by veteran Belgian
guitarist Francois Delporte, played the
melancholy "Beirut", composed at age 12 while
still living in Lebanon as it emerged from civil
war.
Tracks from his latest album "40 Melodies",
issued last November to mark his 40th birthday,
included "Happy Face", "True Sorry" and "All I
Can't Say".
Seating was limited to 500 people along the lake
who paid 155 Swiss francs ($168.15) for an
intimate concert.
Maalouf alternated playing trumpet and a black
grand piano on the stage, an engineering feat
built 25 metres (yards) offshore and anchored at
a depth of 12 metres, the first time in the
history of Montreux, famed for the acoustics of
its indoor concert halls.
[to top of second column]
|
 "You have a great view," he
told the audience. "It's pretty bold to have
built this stage in record time. Only the Swiss
can do something like this."
Vincent Charpentier, who attended the first
90-minute show, told Reuters: "The decor was
magic and the sound excellent."
Mathieu Jaton, the festival's chief executive,
said that Maalouf had been key in encouraging
the audacious project's realisation.
"We wanted to create unique; the stage was a
real challenge. We didn't just want to do a
smaller festival but something extraordinary,"
he said in an interview.
American jazz pianist Fred Hersch is booked at
the Petit Theatre for July 12.
Italian singer Zucchero is stepping in for extra
shows on July 11 to replace another headliner
Rag'n'Bone Man. The soul singer was among gigs
that cancelled due to conditions of entry into
Switzerland from Britain for travellers not
fully vaccinated against COVID-19, organisers
said.
($1 = 0.9218 Swiss franc)
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by
Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
