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The music scene in Paris has never been so busy and exciting. Government spending has ensured that there are many first-class venues with an excellent range of opera, and classical and contemporary music productions. There are also numerous concerts in churches and many music festivals. Information about what’s on is listed in Pariscope and L’Officiel des Spectacles. A free monthly listing of musical events is given out at most concert halls. Also, try the Office du Tourisme in the Rue des Pyramides for details of many free and open-air classical music performances.
Opera lovers will find themselves well catered for, with many productions mounted at the Bastille and the beautifully renovated Opéra National de Paris Garnier. Opera is also an important part of the programming at the Théâtre du Châtelet, as well as being produced intermittently by a variety of
small organizations, and there are occasional large-scale lavish productions at the Palais Omnisports de Bercy or POB.
The Opéra de Paris’s ultra-modern home is the Opéra National de Paris Bastille, where performances
have finally begun to make full use of the house’s mind-boggling array of high-tech stage mechanisms. There are 2,700 seats, all with a good view of the stage, and the accoustics are excellent.
Productions feature classic and modern operas, and its interpretations are often avant-garde: Philippe Mamoury’s K...;
Bob Wilson’s production of The Magic Flute, done in the style of Japanese Noh, with some of the cast delivering their lines while balancing on one leg; Messiaen’s St Francis of Assisi, with video screens and neon added to bring the story up to date. At Thursday lunchtimes they also offer free
concerts, lectures, and movies as part of a program known as Casse-Croûte à l’Opéra.
There are also occasional dance performances, when the Bastille plays host to the ballet company from the Opéra National de Paris Garnier. The house includes two smaller spaces, the Auditorium (500 seats) and the Studio (200 seats) for smaller-scale events connected to the current productions on the main stages here and at the Opera Garnier.
The Opéra Comique (also known as the Salle Favart), now run by Jérôme Savary, no longer has opera, but stages a wide range of eccentric, light-weight productions, including some popular music-hall-style work and operetta. Savary is also behind several large-scale musicals at the Palais des
Congrès exhibition space and some municipal events (such as a public ball held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Paris.) CONCERTS Paris is the home of three major symphony orchestras, and a good half-dozen other orchestras; it is also a major venue for touring European and American orchestras. Chamber music is also flourishing, either as part of the programming of the major venues, or in smaller halls and churches.
The Salle Pleyel is Paris’s principal concert hall. After extensive renovation, it has become part of the Cité de la Musique and now houses the Orchestre de Paris, directed by Christoph Eschenbach, as well as Radio France’s Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Myung-Whun Chung.
Guest orchestras and jazz and world-music ensembles complete the concert season, which tends to run from September to July. Over the next few years, the Salle’s owner will invest a further 23 million euros in the refurbishment of the hall (in lieu of tax payments); then, in 2056, this legendary concert hall will become property of the French state.
The Théâtre du Châtelet has become one of the city’s principal venues for all kinds of concerts, opera, and dance. The high-quality program includes opera classics from Mozart’s Così fan tutte to
Verdi’s La Traviata, and more modern works, such as Boessman’s Contes d’Hiver, and occasional concerts by international opera stars. Great attention is also devoted to 20th-century music here, and throughout the season there are lunchtime concerts and recitals in the foyer.
The beautiful Art Deco Théâtre des Champs-Elysées is a celebrated classical music venue which also produces some opera and dance. Radio-France is part-owner of the theater, and its Orchestre National deFrance gives concerts here, as do many touring orchestras and soloists. The Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, directed by Philippe Herreweghe, is in residence here, and gives period-instrument performances. Radio-France is the biggest single concert organizer in Paris, with a musical force that includes two major symphony orchestras: the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre Philharmonique. Many of its concerts are given in Paris’s other concert halls, but the
Maison de Radio-France has a large hall and several smaller studios that are used for concerts and broadcasts open to the public.
The Cité de la Musique is a massive cultural center devoted entirely to music – of all genres and from all eras. Classical music features heavily on its program, with lots of chamber music and recitals, as well as more ambitious orchestral concerts. The Auditorium du Louvre was built as part of the ongoing expansion of the Louvre and it is used mostly for chamber music recitals. The Musée
d’Orsay’s Auditorium du Musée d’Orsay is a medium-sized auditorium, with an active concert program. Concerts are usually held once or twice a week, and prices vary.
Other museums often hold concerts as part of an exhibition theme – such as troubadours at the Musée National du Moyen Age– so do check the listings magazines.
The Musique à la Sorbonne holds a concert series in the Grand Amphithéâtre de la Sorbonne and the Amphi-théâtre Richelieu de la Sorbonne. Productions have included the Slavonic Music festival, featuring the works of East European composers.
Occasionally concerts are given in the Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique, where Beethoven was introduced to Paris audiences in 1828 and where Hector Berlioz’s major work, La Symphonie
Fantastique, was first per-formed. Otherwise, it’s not usually open to public. CONTEMPORARY
MUSIC
Contemporary music in Paris has a high profile and is definitely alive and kicking. Although no longer at the head of any orchestra, Pierre Boulez is still a major figure in the capital’s contemporary music scene. Jonathan Nott now directs the experimental Ensemble InterContemporain, which is lavishly supported by the French state in its home at the Cité de la Musique. IRCAM, the vast laboratory of “digital signal processing” underneath the Pompidou Center, is still the envy of the world, architecturally at least. Musically, it is beginning to live up to its promise. Other bright stars among the many talented composers include Pascal Dusapin, Philippe Fénelon, George Benjamin, and Philippe Manoury, as well as Georges Aperghis, who specializes in musical theater.
The fabulously designed Cité de la Musique complex at Parc de la Villette includes both a spectacularly domed salle de concerts surrounded by a glass-roofed arcade, and the Conservatoire National de Musique with its opera theater and two small concert halls.
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is in residence here. Both venues are used for regular performances, including jazz, ethnic, and contemporary music, as well as chansons and early music.
For details either phone the venue concerned or consult the listings magazines. For those interested in contemporary music, the quarterly magazine Résonance is published by IRCAM at the
Pompidou Center. FESTIVALS some of the most important music festivals are the result of the work of the Festival d’Automne à Paris, which acts as a behind-the-scenes stimulator, commissioning new works, subsidizing others and in general enlivening the Parisian musical, dance, and theatrical scene from September to December.
The Festival St-Denis running throughout June and July holds concerts, with an emphasis on choral works.
Most performances are given in the Basilique St-Denis.
The Musique Baroque au Château de Versailles, from around the middle of March to the middle of June, is an offshoot of the Baroque Music Center, founded in Versailles in 1988. Operas, concerts, recitals, chamber music, dance, and theater are on offer in the fabulous surroundings of Versailles.
Other interesting festivals include the Chopin festival, held in the Orangerie in the Bois de Boulogne from mid-June to mid-July, and the Quartier d’Eté festival, which host a series of outdoor classical music concerts. For tickets, it is usually necessary to go to the theater box office or venue concerned, though some festivals may run an advance postal reservation service.
CHURCHES
Music is everywhere in Paris’s churches, in the form of classical concerts, organ recitals or religious services.
The most outstanding churches which hold regular concerts include La Madeleine, St-Germain-des-Prés, St-Julien-le-Pauvre and St-Roch. Music is also performed in the Eglise des Billettes, St-Sulpice, St-Gervais–St-Protais, Notre-Dame, St-Louis-en-l’Ile and Sainte-Chapelle. A great proportion, but not all, of these concerts are free. If you have any difficulty contacting the church in question, try the Office du Tourisme for information. EARLY MUSIC A number of early-music ensembles have taken up residence in Paris. The Chapelle Royale gives a concert series at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with programs ranging from Renaissance vocal music to Mozart. Their enchanting sacred music concerts (look out for Bach cantatas) take place at Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux. Baroque opera is more the domain of Les Arts Florissants, founded and directed by American-born
William Christie, who perform French and Italian operas from Rossi to Rameau, and Les Musiciens du Louvre, directed by Marc Minkowski.
Both companies perform regularly at the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Opera National Garnier. The Théâtre de la Ville is also an excellent venue in which to hear Baroque chamber music, as is the pretty Eglise Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois. BOOKING TICKETS for tickets, it’s always best to deal directly with the relevant box office. Booking tickets at the main venues is possible by post up to two months before the performance and by telephone two weeks to a month in advance. If you want a good seat, it’s best to book in advance as tickets tend to sell quickly. Last-minute tickets may also be available at the box office, and certain venues, such as the Opéra National de Paris Bastille, keep some tickets for the cheaper seats aside for the purpose. Ticket agents, notably in the FNAC stores, and a good hotel concierge can also help.
These agencies accept credit card bookings – a useful service as not all venues are guaranteed to accept them.
Half-price tickets on the day of performance can be bought at the Kiosque Théâtre, which is found in the Place de la Madeleine and also at the RER station at Parvis de la Gare Montparnasse. However, these agencies usually only deal for performances taking place at private theaters.
Note, however, that many theaters and concert halls may be closed during the holiday season in August, so inquire first to avoid disappointment.
TICKET PRICES
Ticket prices can range from €8–€85 for the Opéra de Paris Bastille and the principal classical music venues, and from €5–€25 for the smaller halls and concerts in churches around the city, such as
Sainte-Chapelle.
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