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
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
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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
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
Berlin Philharmonic
Handel: Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno
Julia Lezhneva stood in for Franco Fagioli
10 March 2023
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!