I discovered recently through a friend of Chéri’s that there is a new and first-of-it’s-kind event happening in Paris : a baroque music festival.

It immediately caught my attention and I feel it is imperative to share it with my lovely readers! I will be attending at least one concert from the festival, and if you are in Paris from November 23rd to December 9th I urge you to grab tickets! To listen to quality baroque music in some of the most architecturaly beautiful monumetns in Paris will be quite a treat, especailly as many of the places were meant to have music notes wafting over our heads in the lofty vouted ceilings.

Festival Baroque : YouTube ; Facebook page ; Twitter

The following is the press release from the Festival Baroque:

“The Festival Paris Baroque (November 23 – December 9, 2012) is a new, exciting musical event in
the heart of Paris, in its most historical parts and in venues which have survived since the 17th and the
18th centuries. This event will gather great musicians from all parts of the world, and world-renowned
musicians living and working in Paris.”

“This new festival is independent of all existing concert institutions, in Paris and its area, as were
originally all the initiatives created by the Historically Informed Performance movement. Paris and its
new festival should not be considered as an achievement for a movement contemplating its 50 years
of history, but must become a new starting point, a new setting for the movement to blossom in new
directions.”

“The Festival Paris Baroque will offer, starting this year, concerts which will reflect the whole European
baroque landscape, its different national traditions, its different periods and musical colors. The
musicians who will perform are all well-known for their talents, from pioneer members of the “HIP”
movement (Hopkinson Smith, the Academy of Ancient Music) to younger musicians who claim this
legacy and want to go further in the discovery of the baroque repertoire, as Benjamin Alard, and Les
Ombres who will reveal the forgotten Te Deum by Colin de Blamont.”
“The festival also aims to initiate a new relationship with the public, with the excitement of a true
popular event, affordable to the largest public possible. 5 000 tickets on almost 8 000 will cost 25
euros or less. The festival will also offer other events besides the concerts which will help this music to
reach the largest audience, as free meetings with the artists, free concerts with local amateurs, film
screenings…”

The concerts :

November 23, 2012 (Saint-Sulpice): La Simphonie du Marais (Charpentier, Lully, Delalande…)
November 24, 2012 (Les Billettes): Hopkinson Smith (Dowland, Kapsberger…)
November 26, 2012 (Lycée Henri-IV): Elizabeth Wallfisch Trio (Leclair, Corelli, Couperin…)
November 28, 2012 (Les Billettes): Béatrice Martin (Bach – Goldberg Variations)
November 29, 2012 (Saint-Louis-en-l’Île): Cantus Cölln & Benjamin Alard (Bach & his family)
November 30, 2012 (Saint-Louis-en-l’Île): Stéphanie d’Oustrac & Amarillis (Monteverdi, Cavalli…)
December 2, 2012 (Saint-Louis-en- l’Île): Jan van Elsacker & La Fenice (Schütz, Buxtehude, Biber…)
December 3, 2012 (Lycée Henri-IV): Elisabeth Joyé Trio (Marin Marais)
December 5, 2012 (Saint-Sulpice): Academy of Ancient Music (Vivaldi)
December 7, 2012 (Les Billettes): Skip Sempé (Forqueray, Couperin, Marchand)
December 9, 2012 (Saint-Étienne-du-Mont): Les Ombres (Charpentier, Colin de Blamont)