L’Odyssée Frank Martin
In 2025, Odyssée Frank Martin presented no less than twelve concerts. Three of these were performed by the Orchestre Frank Martin, formed by Thierry Fischer to accompany the Odyssey throughout its journey. These highlights included Cinderella, Der Cornet and Et la vie l’emporta.
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Each concert revealed different facets of Frank Martin’s personality and musical style, often combining music with other media. For Cinderella (Das Märchen vom Aschenbrödel) at Victoria Hall, the French actress Élodie Fondacci was invited as a storyteller to write her own text, which was integrated with Martin’s music and accompanied by a dreamlike scenography specially designed for children. (16 March 2025)
© Alexandre Favez
In October 2024 we presented the world première of the complete ballet Die blaue Blume in an instrumentation for large orchestra by the Swiss composer Nicolas Bolens. In 2025 a suite concertante taken from this ballet received its world première. This Suite Die blaue Blume for chamber orchestra was created by the Dutch composer Bart Visman; it was commissioned by the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Association L’Odyssée Frank Martin.
(30 April & 1 May 2025)
The performance of this suite in Concertgebouw Amsterdam on 3 May 2025 can be listened to via NPO Klassiek – NTR ZaterdagMatinee.
For Le Cornette (Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke), a French translation of Rilke’s text, adapted to Martin’s music, was commissioned from Alexandre Pateau by Odyssée Frank Martin and read on stage by the renowned actor Gilles Privat. This allowed the audience to follow the text sung by Stefanie Iranyi without subtitles. The performance was immediately followed by Mahler’s Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony, creating an intensely emotional atmosphere in the Temple Saint-Gervais. (15 October 2025)
© Alexandre Favez
© Alexandre Favez
Et la vie l’emporta, performed on the 51st anniversary of Martin’s death by Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne who premiered the work in 1975, was another very special moment, highlighted by Ives’ The Unanswered Question, filling Temple Saint-Gervais with a profound, quasi-philosophical aura.
(21 November 2025)
On a more intimate scale, Odyssée Frank Martin co-organized a private chamber music concert with the Frank Martin Foundation at the International Museum of the Reformation. Among the guests were the Dutch Ambassador and the Dutch Consul in Geneva. This event underlined the relationship between Martin’s music and its roots in Protestant culture, both in Geneva and the Netherlands. (4 November 2025)
La Nique à Satan takes place in a quaint, old-fashioned town plagued by constant quarrels and overshadowed by the threat of the fearsome witch Bergougne. The arrival of Jean des Lunes, a poet-musician armed with a magical flute, ultimately saves the town from destruction. The lyrics by Albert Rudhardt reflect the atmosphere of a children’s story and blend irony, depth, humour and innocence. Frank Martin’s music is at once popular, witty and picturesque, while his sophisticated score is rich and refined in its instrumentation.
Premiered in 1933 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the work revived in a new version performed by the orchestra and choir of the Haute école de musique, the Maîtrise from Geneva Conservatoire populaire and Cantus laetus, under the direction of Natacha Casagrande with a colourful staging by Benjamin Knobil. (12 October & 1 November 2025)
The last event of the Odyssey this year took place at the Ansermet Auditorium. Ensemble Contrechamps re-created the radio fairy tale Le portal de glace (The Ice Portal), featuring actress Anne Cécile Moser and sound performer Jonathan Fridgeri, who adapted the piece for a contemporary audience. It was the first-ever staging of this unique (radio) fairy tale. We were led through an icy portal by fifteen performers and an actress, as they embarked on a quest for adventure and solitude. (10 December 2025)
Looking ahead to 2026, concerts by the Orchestre Frank Martin will take place on January 10 and April 24. The first of these, at the Geneva Conservatory, will feature Thierry Fischer conducting Martin’s Petite symphonie concertante and Trois danses, alongside Bartók’s Music for strings, percussion and celesta (Hommage à Paul Sacher, 10 January 2026).
The second concert, at the Ansermet Auditorium, will feature both of Martin’s Piano Concertos in a performance by the highly talented Tom Borrow.
On February 11 (Geneva) and February 12 (Lausanne) the world-renowned violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann will perform Martin’s Violin Concerto, with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Eun Sun Kim. (11 & 12 February 2026). These concerts are part of a series of 15 European performances of this remarkable composition, undertaken by Zimmermann.
A major event at Victoria Hall brings together the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Lémanic Ensemble and prominent soloists on June 14 to perform all six Ballades, along with Hans Zender’s arrangement of Schubert’s Winterreise, sung by Christophe Prégardien.
Save these dates and join the Frank Martin Odyssey for its final year!
Paul Sacher and Frank Martin
Frank Peter Zimmermann
Christoph Prégardien
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