A taste of France came to Beijing in October, when two of the greatest French pianists of our time visited the Chinese capital to participate in the 2024 Beijing Music Festival. Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Hélène Grimaud were among the guest artists from around the world who helped make this the most diverse, embracing and inclusive edition of the festival yet, consolidating its place as the leading cultural event in China for classical music and contemporary composers.

France’s deep-rooted links with China may be most associated with Shanghai, but Grimaud and Thibaudet used the festival’s stage to underline Beijing’s prominent role on the global music scene and strengthen the cultural links between the nations.

Shuang Zou (Artistic Director of BMF), Chen Qing (President of Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra), Maestro Long Yu, Thibaudet, Capuçon, Huang Yi (Music Director of Guangzhou Symphony) 

Grimaud is a forceful presence wherever she appears; her performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4, with the Salzburg Camerata under its own director-leaders Gregory Ahss and Giovanni Guzzo, was described by one witness as ‘calculated yet dazzling’. Audiences at the Poly Theatre were also treated to two sizeable encores: the time-stopping slow movement from Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 2, and three pieces for piano by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov.

Grimaud’s ability to capture the subtle colours and underpinning architecture of a piece makes her a great pianist to be reckoned with. Jean-Yves Thibaudet, similarly, lacks nothing in diligence but brings a flair to the instrument that few can match. He joined one of China’s finest large-scale ensembles, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, for a varied programme that aptly communicated BMF’s embracing of various world cultures and traditions.

The centerpiece was a BMF co-commission, Richard Dubugnon’s Eros Athanatos. This exultant 24-minute piece, inspired by the Greek goddess of love, is structured as a double concerto for piano and cello. Thibaudet was joined by his compatriot Gautier Capuçon. The French-Swiss composer’s work is full of beguiling colours and captivating rhythms; it effectively contrasted the long, lyrical lines of Capuçon’s cello with the rhythmic dexterity of Thibaudet’s piano. Conductor Huang Yi, a native of Beijing, was on the podium to bring the whole together.

Many more performances at the 27th edition of the festival emphasized Beijing’s role as a musical capital while underlining the event’s determination to reach ever-higher artistic standards. It included landmark performances by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Cape Town Opera (giving the Chinese premiere of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess), Sandbox Percussion and by the renowned composer and conductor Tan Dun. All formed part of a momentous celebration of music under the banner Voices from Afar that made good on its promise to bring together artists from different cultures and backgrounds for a richer, more varied artistic landscape.

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