I am writing this on Saturday Oct. 24th (UN day – we used to mark the day in primary school). In a bit we are heading out into Paris and uncertainty – how messy and violent will today be? We are 32 kids aged 14 to 18 and 5 adults, and we have done our duties to the gods of music, and now it’s just for fun. Louvre is closed, Musée d’Orsay is closed, and we are headed for the hills – Montmartre. Dinner is already booked, a 3-course at La mère Catherine.
Our duties. We attended a concert at the rather beautiful Radio France concert hall with its in-house orchestra. Vier letzen Lieder by Strauss – strange title to give a work, as if saying “that’s it” – and then the 5th by Sibelius, which I found a bit disjointed and not so interesting. Strauss included a soprano – and she was great, though we mainly saw her back due to the seating. The reactions in our group can be summarised through the comments of one of adults, a professional with 30 years in orchestras: “when you are young you listen out for faults. There will always be faults. As you mature, you listen out for other aspects of the music”. She also noted that the style in France is individualistic (so sound will be less homogeneous), and compare to Berliner Filharmoniker for a taste of the opposite approach.
Heading out now…
