Thursday, June 14, 2007

Concert in La Madeleine Church


I surely have better things to do than attending a concert 2 days before leaving home for 2 weeks, but... I could not resist going to La Madeleine Church last night (Wednesday) after I saw, on an ad, that they would perform Mahler's Lied von den Erd and Gabriel Fauré's Requiem. The acoustics in La Madeleine is really bad but I did not regret attending this concert, first because I did enjoy the performance very much and second because they played for a charity (Espoirs sans frontières - Hopes without borders). BTW, I arrived a little early while there were still rehearsing as you can see on these photos.

17 comments:

  1. I don't believe they are still organising concerts à La Madeleine. Acoustics are so bad in there... But the Church is grandiose, no doubt about it.

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  2. What a beautiful scenario! I can only imagine how amazing the concert was.

    Does this concerts in Madeleine happen frequently?

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  3. You made a good decision. Music like that feeds the soul!

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  4. I have always wondered what it looked like inside La Madeleine - it's gorgeous!

    Have a great trip, Eric - so sad you won't be coming to Southern California - I would love to meet you in person. I guess I will have to wait for my next trip to Paris... Maybe in October!

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  5. It looks like an auspicious concert. Though the orchestra is still rehearsing in the photo the balcony seems to be giving them something of a standing ovation behind them.

    Perhaps this would be a good time to wish you Bon Voyage! Godspeed Eric!

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  6. You leave in 2 days for 2 weeks in the USA - while I leave in 1 day now for two weeks in France, second week in Paris. I have benefited from all your postings, and the new forum. merci!

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  7. I've never been inside La Madeleine before so I loved seeing your photo. It must have been wonderful to hear that music in such a beautiful setting. Enjoy your trip!

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  8. That woulda have been a nice night for sure, and for a wonderful cause.

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  9. Many years ago at the University I wrote a paper on Chopin and during my research discovered that Chopin had requested that Mozart's Requiem be sung at his funeral, which was held at this Church. His request caused a ruckus and delayed the funeral by a couple of weeks until it gave in. The point of contention was that Mozart's Requiem apparently has major parts for female singers, but this Church had never before permitted female singers in its choir. Several years later when I had the privilege of visiting Paris and La Madeleine, this is what I thought about.
    Bon Voyage, Eric. Be well and stay safe.

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  10. I happpened upon a concert in La Madeleine once when I was in Paris. It was an a capella choir from a college in the US. The singers stood in a large circle and the sound was incredibly beautiful. I didn't notice any bad acoustics. I was transported. They sang mostly spirituals from the American south.

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  11. Hey, Bonnie, was that in June 2006? I, too, heard a gospel choir here, but it was a church choir from Denver. I thought it amusing to hear an all-caucasian choir from Colorado (Western U.S.) singing black gospel music from the Deep South in a Greek revival church in Paris. It sounded lovely, the church is enthrallingly beautiful, and we had a wonderful experience.

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  12. I have a very precise memory of a Chrismas night celebration I attended in la Madeleine, about 20 years ago.
    At the beginning, the church was, say, half empty. But lot a people arrived late, making quite some noise, which was quite disturbing, and the priest looked quite upset!
    So, after the reading of the Gospel, he started his comment with the following words : "As I said at the beginning of this ceremony to half of this audience, ..."
    ...Suddenly, silence was total !!

    Apart from that, that was a very nice ceremony in a really great place !

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  13. I have been to several concerts at La Madeleine and enjoyed all of them. La Madeleine is such a beautiful venue for a concert. I actually found the acoustics to be pas mal.

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  14. The choir I heard last year sounded just fine. I would guess that orchestral music would not sound as good, however. Well, I've heard many many concerts in arenas and theaters with poor acoustics, and few were as pretty as La Madeleine.

    (And, I'm in love with the violinist on the left. Eric, you'll give her my e-mail, n'est ce pas?)

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  15. Jeff

    I was in Bordeaux and heard a French choir sing southern gospel. That was a real treat! I was touched that they were reaching across cultures that way. The mostly French audience was very responsive and it was a wonderful evening. Another "happened upon" concert. The best kind :o)

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  16. Je suis allée à la Madeleine la semaine dernière et j'ai vu les affiches, ils étaient aussi en train de placer des bacs de fleurs sur les marches, mais habitant la Normandie je n'ai pas pu me déplacer pour le concert et le regrette.

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