Debut Gabriel Pidoux

The Pidoux are actually a cello family: father Raphaël plays in the Trio Wanderer, grandfather Roland holds the principal position in the Orchestre National de France and is part of the Trio Pasquier, and mother Pascale also played chamber music and taught. But Gabriel, born in 1996, broke with this tradition and “fled” to the oboe at the age of seven. It was worth it. After studying at the Paris Conservatory and with François Leleux, his successes at various competitions caused a sensation and he was named “Discovery of the Year” at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2020. He has performed as a soloist with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lille, and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Gabriel Pidoux hopes to show off the oboe’s versatility in his Festival debut. Along with two of the repertoire’s greatest hits — Robert Schumann’s poetic Romances and Francis Poulenc’s late Oboe Sonata — he will introduce music by the largely forgotten Russian oboist Marina Dranishnikova and present a work by Heinz Holliger. And since the oboe has some of the most beautiful solos in the orchestral repertoire, he will additionally play two examples thereof.