We are celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 2020. The Musicatreize ensemble joins in this event by asking 12 composers including Sivan Eldar to write twelve "Lettres à Élise" for choir and accordion.

This commission will be premiered by the Musicatreize ensemble and accordionist Jean-Etienne Soty under the direction of Roland Hayrabedian at Pôle culturel Chabran in Draguignan on 6 November 2020. Concerts throughout France will follow with a date at Philharmonie de Paris on 21 November 2020. 

Here is some words by the composer about the work:  

"Once Loved", for two voices and accordion, is a miniature of simultaneous love narratives. The three bodies - the two singers and the accordionist - occupy a triangle of yearning, always emoting towards the other. The words, standing for the difficulty of semantic expression, are sparse, yet they provide momentary glimpses of internal worlds. They find their echo, sometimes lyrical, sometimes speech-like, in the hollowed, unencumbered body of the accordion.

3 July 2021
La Courroie, Entraigues
Ensemble Musicatreize
Jean-Etienne Sotty, accordion
Roland Hayrabedian, conductor

4 July 2021
Opéra de Marseille, foyer 
Ensemble Musicatreize
Jean-Etienne Sotty, accordion
Roland Hayrabedian, conductor

14 July 2021
Festival de Chambord
Ensemble Musicatreize
Jean-Etienne Sotty, accordion
Roland Hayrabedian, conductor

16 July 2021
Festival Musiques des Lumières, Sorèze
Ensemble Musicatreize
Jean-Etienne Sotty, accordion
Roland Hayrabedian, conductor

27 July 2021
Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije
Ensemble Musicatreize
Jean-Etienne Sotty, accordion
Roland Hayrabedian, conductor