The reference for classical music, jazz and dance on television

20 years of Mezzo - aging like a fine wine

Lagardère Active Senior Executive Director of the radios/TV department Richard Lenormand

2016. In the age of the internet, television programs are available to all audiences around the clock, many of them free of charge. TV channels are seen as a media from another period of time. As for performances of classical music, dance and jazz, often considered to have a detrimental effect on ratings, they will soon have left the early evening timeslot for good. Given the current state of affairs, is it still possible to launch a subscription-based TV channel devoted exclusively to classical music, jazz and dance?

Lagardère Active Managing Director Caroline Cochaux Managing Director Christophe Winckel Programme manager Rose-Hélène Ducassou Classical music programme manager Pablo Galonce Jazz programmer Production officer Hary Randrianarisoa

Twenty years on, Mezzo continues to attract audiences. Now broadcast in 55 countries to 28 million households, the TV channel has gone from strength to strength, with not one but two channels, Mezzo and Mezzo Live HD, which broadcast 24 hours a day on more than 500 providers from Canada to Australia!

Director of development Isabelle Pasquesoone

What better media is there for making classical music, jazz and dance more accessible to all audiences than visual media? The editor, whose role is to select, co-produce and organise new programs in order to share the passion, has never been so important. The editor is to music what a  sommelier is for wine. After all, why resist the pleasure of a fine degustation when given the right guidance.

Broadcasting coordinators Christine Arnol, Guillaume Jouan

For its 20 anniversary, Mezzo Live HD will be the season’s finest concert hall, featuring a host of ever more impressive live performances from around the world. At the same time, Mezzo viewers will discover the great vintages of our musical heritage, with an increasingly diverse range of programs and performers. We hope you will be there to share our passion for music!

Advertisement contact Isabelle Pasquesoone / mezzo tel: +33 1 56 36 51 18 [email protected]

Christophe Winckel managing director

Director of Marketing and communications Wilfried Texier Artistic director Anne Chosson

Journalist Antoine Pecqueur Press contact Wilfried Texier / mezzo tel: +33 1 56 36 51 07 [email protected]

Distribution contact Jean-René Aucouturier / Lagardère Active tel: +33 1 56 36 55 46 [email protected] photo credits: cover: Nahuel Vega in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker by the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, choreographed by Jeroen Verbruggen photo : © GTG/Gregory Batardon opposite: musician from the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic photo : © Peter Adamik back : Avishai Cohen with Nitai Hershkovits at the Jazz à Vienne festival photo : © Pierre Corvaisier

LA THE CHAINE DE LA EXPLORING REPERTOIRE

DE-

Mezzo is the channel to discover and explore classical music, jazz and dance, with the latest news about the artists, all the artists. New prodigies, the stars of today, the legends of the past; recitals, opera, symphonic and sacred music, jazz, world music, dance Mezzo has them all, for you to discover and explore! Each month, Mezzo brings the spotlight on three artists, with concerts, shows, live performances and portraits. This season, in 2016: Jonas Kaufmann, Olga Peretyatko, Roberto Alagna, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Janine Jansen, Jordi Savall, Gautier Capuçon, Benjamin Millepied, Avishai Cohen, Gregory Porter...

When I see the Mezzo logo on screen, I know I am watching a quality programme... Mezzo is our history, it is us! Gregory Porter

THIS SEASON, IN 2016: PROKOFIEV’S 125TH ANNIVERSARY WITH VALERY GERGIEV, 500 YEARS OF SHAKESPEARE, PIERRE BOULEZ, AVISHAI COHEN, GAUTIER CAPUÇON, GREGORY PORTER, THE LEGENDS OF FILMED MUSIC...

AVISHAI COHEN PROKOFIEV SHAKESPEARE GAUTIER CAPUÇON   THE LEGENDS OF TH FILMED MUSIC PERSPECTIVES 125 ANNIVERSARY 500TH ANNIVERSARY Mezzo brings the spotlight on Israeli jazzman Avishai Cohen. A double bass player and a singer, Cohen offers a unique blend of rhythmic energy and melodic charm. Equally at home in a small ensemble and with a symphony orchestra, he is one of the most exciting musicians on today’s jazz scene. He is on Mezzo in February and March, with exclusive concerts and a live performance at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Opera, ballet, film music, symphonies, concertos - Sergei Prokofiev was a multi-faceted genius. To celebrate the 125th anniversary of his birth, Mezzo will be presenting his varied production throughout the month of April, and invited Valery Gergiev, one of today’s best specialists of his music, to introduce the life and works of the composer in a series of short programmes especially made for the occasion. Our Prokofiev month will culminate in a live concert from St Petersburg, on the anniversary day itself!

Hamlet, Falstaff, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Macbeth... To celebrate William Shakespeare’s 500th anniversary, Mezzo revisits the masterpieces of the great English playwright, who inspired composers from the seventeenth century to the present day. From Purcell to Britten, from Rossini to Verdi, from Berlioz to Gounod, it is the mark of true genius to shine so brilliantly in the theatre, opera and ballet!

Gautier Capuçon has a uniquely rich sound and exceptional musical authority. Mezzo celebrates the French cellist with some of the greatest concertos in the repertoire and masterpieces of chamber music, a tribute to the musician’s many talents. We also get a chance to hear his concert anecdotes, and to discover his life as a musician.      

On Mezzo, revisit our musical heritage and see the legendary artists who marked the history of filmed music: Maria Callas, Herbert von Karajan, Luciano Pavarotti, Claudio Abbado, Miles Davis, Rudolph Noureev... images that left a lasting memory in the mind of all music-lovers!

FEBRUARY - MARCH 2016

APRIL 2016

MAY 2016

MAY 2016

SEPTEMBER 2016

FRONT /PHOTOS : Puccini’s Tosca by Nicolas Joel © Paramax / Laurent Bayle © A Prime News / Kasper Holten at the Royal Opera House © Mezzo / Herbert van Karajan © Unitel. BACK /PHOTOS : Avishai Cohen © Yoko Higuchi / Sergei Prokofiev / Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Dmitri Tcherniakov © Clive Barda / Gautier Capuçon © Gregory Batardon / Maria Callas

And also... A tribute to Pierre Boulez (February), Gregory Porter celebrates Miles Davis’s 90th anniversary (May)...

LA CHAINE DE LA DE-

LIVE FROM THE GREATEST CONCERT HALLS

Mezzo Live HD invites you to the finest of concert halls, where each and everyone can fully experience the emotion of live spectacle in the best possible conditions, where image and sound capture the enthusiasm of the moment. With many live performances from the greatest concert halls and opera houses in the world, shot exclusively in High Definition, Mezzo Live HD brings you the best in music: exceptional sound quality and a wealth of visual detail add to the emotion of live spectacle. Each month Mezzo Live HD gives you access to the greatest international venues: opera houses, concert halls, festivals, dance theatres, jazz clubs...

These days I watch a lot of music on television... I‘m advertising for Mezzo! For me it is truly a new experience to watch the expressions on a musician‘s face... It really adds to the music! Hubert Reeves

IN THIS ANNIVERSARY YEAR, ON MEZZO LIVE HD, ANTOINE PECQUEUR WILL BE PRESENTING EVER MORE LIVE BROADCASTS.

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, SIR SIMON RATTLE RAVEL, DUTILLEUX 13 JANUARY – BARBICAN CENTRE, LONDON

YO-YO MA, BAYERISCHE RUNDFUNK, MARISS JANSONS DVORÁK, STRAUSS 30 JANUARY – GASTEIG, MUNICH

SHOSTAKOVICH: LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK KAZUSHI ONO 4 FEBRUARY – OPÉRA NATIONAL DE LYON

MOZART : MITHRIDATE PATRICIA PETIBON, SABINE DEVIEILHE... EMMANUELLE HAÏM 20 FEBRUARY – THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ELYSÉES, PARIS

MATA HARI HET NATIONALE BALLET 23 FEBRUARY – AMSTERDAM NATIONAL OPERA

AN EVENING WITH… AVISHAI COHEN 26 FEBRUARY – PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS

BACH: SAINT-MATTHEW PASSION STÉPHANE DEGOUT, SABINE DEVIEILHE... RAPHAËL PICHON

JANINE JANSEN, MUNICH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, VALERY GERGIEV RACHMANINOV, SZYMANOWSKI 5 APRIL – GASTEIG, MUNICH

PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD, LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, SIR SIMON RATTLE BRUCKNER, MESSIAEN 14 APRIL – BARBICAN CENTRE, LONDON

26 MARCH – CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES

HAENDEL : AGRIPPINE PATRICIA BARDON, DANIELLE DE NIESE... THOMAS HENGELBROCK

MOZART: REQUIEM BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA, IVÁN FISCHER 14 MAY – CONCERTGEBOUW, BRUGGE

29 MARCH – THEATER AN DER WIEN, VIENNA

ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW ORCHESTRA, DANIELE GATTI WAGNER, LISZT, BERLIOZ 1 APRIL – CONCERTGEBOUW, AMSTERDAM

ORCHESTRE DE PARIS, DANIEL HARDING BERG, MAHLER 19 MAY – PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS ... FRONT/PHOTOS  : Franz Welser-Most, Yefim Bronfman, Cleveland Orchestra © Roger Mastroianni / Handel’s Alcina by Pierre Audi © Claerchen und Mathias Baus / Tristan & Isolde by Joëlle Bouvier © Gregory Batardon / Glen David Andrews © Cezar Fernandes

TO ENTERTAIN, INSPIRE, SHARE AND INFORM... MEZZO, the only media offer in the world entirely devoted to classical music, jazz and dance on television MEZZO, TWO TELEVISION CHANNELS  MEZZO, an invitation to explore the repertoire Mezzo is the perfect introduction to classical music, jazz and dance. Each month viewers are invited to explore the repertoire in the company of artists who share their passion with enthusiasm, in a variety of formats: concerts, archive material, clips, interviews, documentaries...

MEZZO LIVE HD, live from the greatest international venues Mezzo Live HD offers a selection of live performances, constantly renewed, directly connected with the latest news from the music world, with more live concerts, and a focus on the greatest international cultural institutions.

MEZZO, 150 FILMED PERFORMANCES EACH YEAR MEZZO works with 80 production companies to acquire the rights to

350 hours each year of new opera, concert (classical and jazz) and ballet programmes and is the first private audio-visual investor in the performing arts in France.

Our passion guides us: every day, we make it our mission to find the most exciting performances in France and abroad, featuring the greatest names in music and dance today, and the new talents of tomorrow.

MEZZO, AN INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS, BROADCASTS IN 55 COUNTRIES TO OVER 28 MILLION SUBSCRIBING HOUSEHOLDS Because music is a universal language,

MEZZO is broadcast in over 55 countries

from Australia to Canada, including Mongolia and Russia... Over 28 million households around the world are Mezzo subscribers 

+75% subscribers in five years!

Mezzo’s subscribers cover the globe

New countries in 2015: Canada, Australia, The Philippines... MEZZO is owned by the Lagardère Group (60%) and by France Télévisions (40%).

FRONT/PHOTOS: Rameau’s Dardanus by Michel Fau © Frederic Desmesure Swan Lake at the Bolshoi © Damir Yusupov Steven Isserlis © LGM / Dave Douglas © Kidam

MEZZO celebrates its 20th anniversary On 19 February 1996, at 7pm, Muzzik, a TV channel belonging to the MCM group (now owned by Lagardère Active) was born. Devoted to classical music, jazz and dance, Muzzik was rebranded Mezzo in 2002, merging with and taking the name of the channel owned by France Télévisions. Twenty years later, Mezzo operates three channels in 55 countries, from Canada to Australia, and serves 28 million subscribing households! Mezzo is now the world reference for classical music, jazz and dance on television. To launch the anniversary celebrations, five personalities from the musical and broadcasting worlds share with us their own selection of spectacles recently filmed by Mezzo. The year opens with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, ballet dancer Agnès Letestu, Laurent Bayle, the director of the new Philharmonie de Paris, Stéphane Lissner, the director of the Opéra de Paris and Patrick Poivre-d’Arvor, who will share their enthusiasm and their passion in short programmes introducing the works they have selected. We also want to share this twenty year anniversary with our audience. In September, viewers will be invited to vote and choose the programmes to be shown in the last week of December, all genres included! A unique experiment involving music-lovers from 55 countries.

Agnès Letestu © A Prime News / Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty by Nacho Duato © Yan Revazov / Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring by Maurice Béjart © Valerie Lacaze / Borodin’s Prince Igor at the Bolshoi © Damir Yusupov