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Classical music in the intimacy of private salons...

plus enlightenment

"There is nothing more splendid than to play for a group of cultured guests with whom one can have an exchange. That is true civilization and a way to counter the violence of the world." - G. L., young pianist.

The painting is by Bram van Velde.

 

That sentiment explains why we choose members' salons, or other sites that have a soul, for soirées of classical music. Their ambiance encourages the closeness of performers and public, and lends itself to this art's nobility.

 

As well: Of the many excellent musicians who perform in Paris, we choose those who let guests "take  home" a deepened perception of music or of an epoch.

 

 

  • French music's British expert
At the British Embassy, 2005

One of the few foreign artists invited to teach French music in Paris conservatories and to play on French radio, this Scotsman is a specialist of Debussy.

 

 
Reading and talk, then concert, at the bookstore "Shakespeare & Company", December 2009
Book, 2009

 

 

  • "Classical music for people who hate classical music "
Interview, "France Culture" (national public radio), April 8, 2008

"Six centuries of sixth sense – surprise in music from the 16th to the 21st century,  or why great composers are great"

  

"I play excerpts from the immense composers to show how they went beyond reliable, expected formulas. My starting point is Paul Klee's statement, "Genius is the error in the system." - J.G.

Composers write for this exuberant artist, who performs internationally and gives master classes at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau. But his music is not elitist. Even people who are bored by the classics and detest the contemporary may change their minds when they've heard his clear, energetic explanations.

 

•For a review of the concert Six Jewish composers,

at "Archipel" (concert hall and recording studio), on February 6, 2010:

http://unexpectedparis.blogspot.com/

 

 

    • A pianist and an epoch
    CD and biography 1992, second edition 2007

     

    Felix Mendelssohn's sister had the same training, teachers and perhaps the same talent as he. But, as a 19th-century woman, she was unable to publish most of her compositions or to perform them in public. She remains little-known.

     

     

    A pianist has written Fanny's biography and recorded her music.

     

    She receives us in her Montparnasse home, tells Fanny's story and plays some of her works. She explains that her grandmother, who inspired this research and her choice of career, had Fanny's problems and more...

     

     

    • Opera in a family home, under a portrait's gaze

       

      This young soloist has performed with orchestras at the Salles Gaveau and Pleyel and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, given recitals in the churches of Notre-Dame, Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Saint-Sulpice, at the Senate and the Sorbonne. She has sung at festivals and at the operas of Cairo and Hanoi.

       

      Descendant of an Orientalist painter and granddaughter of a world-known pianist, she seems predestined for this career.  

       

      For the family salon where the concert can be held please click HERE and for a prelude via a 19th-century painting, HERE.

       

      Recent Paris concert: Adyar concert hall, January 31, 2010.

      Our hostess can of course give other concerts. But the historical and personal side of this proposal provides an extra dimension.

       

      Paris concert: traditional music from central France, transposed by Chopin, Liszt, Chabrier... at the d'Orsay Museum, March 23, 2010.

       

       

       

      Her celebrated grandfather transmitted dignity and discipline. (The insurance company lets us give the name privately.)

       

       

       

       
      Recital, Sorbonne Chapel, 2006

       

       

      NB: We can produce soirées in most domains of classical music. 

       

       

      • Costs: Please CLICK

       

       

       

      Credits: radio station / Karin Liebe; embassy / Sara White Wilson; reading / David Turner; other photos / Claude Abron

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