Monégasque pianist Stella Almondo received a standing ovation from an audience of nearly 50,000 people after performing at the opening of Royan’s renowned Un Violon sur le Sable festival.
Held on Saturday, July 25, the concert transformed the Grande-Conche beach into an open-air auditorium, with classical music unfolding against the rather unfair competition of the Atlantic coastline.
Almondo performed the finale of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, widely considered one of the most technically demanding pieces in the classical piano repertoire. Her performance brought the evening to a dramatic conclusion and marked an important milestone in the young musician’s rapidly developing career.
The pianist began playing at the age of three and later appeared on the France 2 talent programme Prodiges. At just 16, she was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.
Her growing list of international achievements includes winning Best Music Talent at the Maria Callas Awards in 2021 and the Premier Grand Prix at the International Scriabin Competition in Paris the following year. In 2023, she was named a Young Steinway Artist.
Almondo is continuing her development through an advanced programme with pianist and composer Shani Diluka at Monaco’s Académie de Musique Prince Rainier III.
Performing Rachmaninoff before tens of thousands of people would be an intimidating prospect for even the most experienced concert pianist. Almondo, however, appears to have treated it as another opportunity to demonstrate the remarkable musical talent emerging from the Principality.
Her standing ovation in Royan was not simply recognition of one evening’s performance. It was the sound of an international audience discovering a young Monégasque artist whose career is only just beginning.