Day: 13 November 2018

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco will see his nephew Louis Ducruet marry long-term girlfriend Marie Chevallier next summer. It will be the next Monaco royal wedding.

Louis is the son of Princess Stephanie of Monaco and the grandson of Princess Grace.

Speaking to Paris Match, Louis said his mother Stephanie was “very happy” about his engagement.

The 25-year-old said: “She was very happy, very moved. Just like my sisters who were there too. All three of them took me in their arms.”

The couple were engaged in February, while they were in Vietnam.

Marie said it was “love at first sight” when they met.

In the presence of Patrice Cellario, Government Counselor – Minister of the Interior and Isabelle Bonnal, Director of National Education, Youth and Sports, three hundred students from the public and private institutions of the Principality had the chance to meet Pierre Rabhi and to discuss with him their concerns about the future of humanity.

Essayist, novelist, farmer, lecturer and ecologist, Pierre Rabhi is the founder of the association “Colibris”. Created in 2007, this movement mobilizes for the construction of an ecological and human society, based on the “happy sobriety” of which Pierre Rabhi wants to be the defender.

“What are your relations to humanism?”, “Are man-made damage to nature reversible?” “Are you optimistic for the future?” Or “How to make us want to act?” These are the questions that were asked of him.

The annual Ecumenical Kermesse will be held in the Fontvieille Chapiteau in Monaco on Saturday 1 December 2018.

Entry is free and the doors open at 10h00 until 18h00.

There are over 25 stalls including clothes, books, CDs, DVDs, antiques, Christmas decorations, Spanish, Greek and French speciality stands plus jewellery, household items, shoes, bags, gifts and novelties.

The Tombola has more than 20 exciting prizes and tickets for that are just €2 each.

The Snack Bar is open all day, with a wide selection of delicious and  inexpensive food and drinks.

Donated items can be dropped off at the Chapiteau all day on Thursday 29  and Friday 30 November. Access is open to cars and pedestrians.

For more information, especially if you would like to donate any items,
please call Merville on Monaco +377 93 15 02 89.

The annual performance of Handel’s Messiah is to take place on Saturday 1st December at 8pm, hosted by St Paul’s Anglican Church in Monaco and the Chamber Music Association. The Ristretto Chamber Choir and Instrumental Ensemble will be directed by Errol Girdlestone with international soloists Elenor Bowers-Jolley, Clint van der Linde, Alex Tsilogiannis and Jacques Imbrailo lending their voices to the performance.

This event echoes a well-known tradition in the Anglo-Saxon world whereby the Messiah, composed in English, is regularly performed during Advent. This year is particularly special as it marks the fifth and final time that a generous and anonymous sponsor has provided the funds for this momentous work to be given for music lovers in Monaco.

First performed in 1742, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah remains one of the great musical masterpieces of all times. The work contains many well-known melodies, stunning choruses, dramatic arias, and underlying emotional intensity, which still awe listeners today, over 250 years after the composer’s death.

A few amusing legends surround the Baroque-era oratorio. At the Dublin premiere in 1742, the renown of the composer was such that the audience was supposedly advised ahead of the performance to leave their hoop skirts and swords at home, for fear of overcrowding. Another off-repeated anecdote explains why audiences to this day stand up during the Halleluja Chorus at the end of the second part. It is rumoured that King George II was so moved by this Chorus during the first performance in London, that he is said to have risen to his feet. Naturally, everyone in attendance would have followed suit so as not to be seated whilst the King was standing.

Errol Girdlestone, Artistic Director of Ristretto, is a musician of international renown who has made the South of France his home. He is one of the founding members of the Hilliard ensemble, and has had a wide-ranging career as an opera and symphonic conductor. Alongside a busy freelance programme, he is currently Chorus Master at the Wexford Opera Festival (Ireland).

This year, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Monaco performance, a poignant reunion and a South African connection underpin the choice of soloists. Errol Girdlestone spent eight years in South Africa as a conductor working with the state operas and symphony orchestras. It was during this time that he met his South African wife, Susie, a ballet dancer. The four soloists all have prestigious international careers both as opera singers and concert performers. Two of them, Clint van der Linde and Jacques Imbrailo, are also South African and both are alumni of the famous Drakensberg Boys Choir, in which they were remarkable boy sopranos. A recording can be found on internet with the pair performing in turn the renowned Mozart aria ‘Queen of the Night’, famed for its challenging high notes. Coincidentally, the Drakensberg Boys Choir was directed at the time by a close friend of Errol’s.

Handel’s Messiah will be performed on Saturday 1st December at St Paul’s Church, 22 avenue de Grande Bretagne, in Monaco at 8pm. Tickets are 30€ and can be obtained from the FNAC, or by contacting the AMC (Association Musique de Chambre, Monaco) on 06.43.91.67.43.

A committee for the promotion and protection of women’s rights has just been created, with Ms. Céline Cottalorda as its key delegate.

The move is intended to improve the implementation of public policies relating to the protection of women’s rights and to respond to the recommendations of the international conventions in which Monaco takes part (Council of Europe Conventions on preventing and combating violence against women) women and domestic violence and the fight against trafficking in human beings – UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women).

Established with the Minister of State and chaired by the Government Counselor-Minister of External Relations and Cooperation, this committee will be responsible for coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating policies and measures. taken to promote equality between women and men and to prevent and combat all forms of violence and discrimination against them.

It also includes the representatives of the Departments and the administrative departments concerned as well as the Directorate of Judicial Services.

The National Council is represented and associated with the work of the committee as well as other institutional entities, the High Commissioner for the Protection of Rights, Freedoms and Mediation as well as the representatives of associations working in this field.

In order to follow up on the implementation of the decisions and orientations taken within the committee, Ms. Céline Cottalorda, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of State, has just been appointed as delegate for the promotion and protection of women’s rights . As such, she will be part of the committee.

Ms. Cottalorda has joined the General Secretariat of the Government since its creation in 2016 after being appointed Technical Advisor to the Ministry of State in 2010.

The committee will meet very soon and will be installed by the Minister of State.

With the implementation of these measures, the Princely Government reaffirms its commitment to the defense of women’s interests and its desire to work effectively with all stakeholders involved in these issues.