François Servais, the Paganini of the Cello
Expo
The second Queen Elisabeth Competition for cello is the perfect occasion to turn our attention to the Belgian cello history. In Flagey, the expo ‘François Servais, the Paganini of the Cello’ runs from 9-22 May 2022.
François Servais (1807-1866) was a pioneering cellist, a European star and one of the founding fathers of the Belgian School of Cello Playing. The worldwide use of the cello pin owes a lot to Servais. He made music with Mendelssohn, Rossini and Vieuxtemps and was rated highly by Schumann, Meyerbeer and Berlioz. One and a half century after his death his virtuoso cello compositions still resound all over the world. Those willing to compete in the 2022 edition had to send in a video recording of one of the Etudes. The Servais Society enables the public to discover this multifacetted and remarkable Belgian musician through numerous pictures and documents from the Halle Servais Collection.
Servais Society, Queen Elisabeth Competition, Flagey