My cultural calendar in 2023

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It was a very good year! I started it off with a concert at St Ephrem in Paris, my first time at that church, where I enjoyed the superb musicianship of Frédéric Moreau et Pascal Mantin. I hadn’t any particular expectations when I booked, just following a whim, and the performance was wonderful. It raised my expectations for church concerts in Paris, and it made me a Moreau fan: I will seek out his performances in future visits.

Several short trips for opera in various capitals thrilled me, as that’s the sort of indulgence that living in France may allow me. Then some terrific theatre in London: Medea was an especially spellbinding performance, very powerful. The year wrapped up with three concerts in a week at the Philharmonie de Paris, again, a first for me.

During the year, I got to hear some favorite performers: singers Franco Fagioli, Julia Lezhneva, Peter Mattei, and conductors John Eliot Gardiner and William Christie. Major treats! All the level of concerts I enjoyed over my many years in NYC, and which I so missed during my years in Virginia’s countryside. Making up for lost time!

Philharmonie de Paris

Bach: Cantata “Ich habe genug”; Brahms: Sym #4

Peter Mattei

December 13, 2023 at 8 pm

Philharmonie de Paris

Campra: Requiem

William Christie – Les Arts Florissants

December 11, 2023 at 8 pm

Halle aux Toiles d’Alençon

Swing et Strings

Philippe Duchemin et le Quatuor du Maine

December 10 at 4 pm

Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall

Mozart’s Final Symphonies

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Louis Langrée

August 11, 2023 at 7:30 pm

Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall

Randall Goosby

The Avery Fisher Legacy Concert

Coleman | Tchaikovsky | Mozart | Lully | Kodály

August 9, 2023 at 7:30 pm

Istanbul Devlet Tiyatrosu

Tangopera

June 17, 2023 at 8 pm

Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) 

14th Istanbul Opera Festival

Opening night Gala concert

Sat 10 June 20:30

Verdi: La Traviata

Thu 15 June 20:30

Giordano: Andrea Chenier

Sun 18 June 20:30

Het Concertgebouw

Porpora: Polifemo

Julia Lezhneva, Franco Fagioli

6 May 2023 at 13:00

Het Concertgebouw

Brahms, Symphonies 2 & 4

John Eliot Gardiner

5 May 2023 at 19:00

Theatre Le Fil au Plomb, Toulouse

Du Fist à Phèdre

This was an eminently missable performance. I simply grabbed the chance to try a local theatre.

26 April 2023

Montpellier's Opera-Comedia, home to the national orchestra and opera company

Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier

Gluck, Iphigénie en Tauride

with pre-concert Conférence de Jean-Jacques Groleau

23 April 2023 at 16h

St-Martin-in-the-Fields

Handel Water Music by candlelight

St. Martin’s Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Earis

21 April 2023 at 19h

SoHo Place

Medea

Sophie Okonedo, Ben Daniels

20 April 2023 at 14:30

photo by Kristian Soederberg of interior of Limoges Opera

Opéra de Limoges

Gounod: Faust

19 March 2023 at 15:00

Berlin Philharmonic main auditorium

Berlin Philharmonic

Handel: Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno

Julia Lezhneva stood in for Franco Fagioli

10 March 2023

Eglise Saint Ephrem

Moreau et Mantin

Mozart/Liszt/Beethoven

7 January 16:00


What was your favorite event in the past season?

Which upcoming event are you most looking forward to?

It would fun to know my readers’ tastes – whether they coincide with mine at all or diverge greatly. Won’t you share? Write me in the “Leave a reply” section please!

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