Corner view

 View of French romantic composer conductor Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869) as he'd walk out of his building on rue Saint Vincent.

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 How many of us who studied piano as children can forget the endless études and exercises for beginners we were made to practice (and practice) by Hector Berlioz - a strange name on dog-eared sheet music folders. Born in southeastern France, Berlioz is said to have drawn many of his influences from Beethoven, von Gluck, Goethe's Faust and, though he did not speak English, Shakespeare's plays. At the insistence of his father he went to Paris to study medicine, hated it, and became a composer instead. Only when he became successful did his parents forgive him. He was to stay in Paris the rest of his life. - BPJ

Rue Cortot

Erik Satie's Gnossiennes for piano were composed on this street in Montmartre where he lived for eight years.

Music and gardens

2019 marks the 40th Anniversary of magnificent Les Arts Florissants, an extraordinary musical ensemble led by William Christie and Paul Agnew, and dedicated to baroque in all its forms, but not only...

Above: spring and summer festivals in The Gardens of William Christie

Featuring talented young musicians from the world over and in liaison with the Juilliard School of Music in New York, more than 20 programs of operas and concerts are held in France and throughout Europe - and there's much more.

- See website for this year's programs -
Les Arts Florissants
 Twitter: @lesartsflo

Above photos: Les Arts Florissants

 

William Christie - Musical Director, Founder
Paul Agnew - Associate Musical Director

Below: from press reception held at L'Académie des Beaux-Arts inside the glorious Institut de France

(click photos to enlarge)

Book benches

A square behind the Institut de France with its book benches signals entry into Literary Paris, where many writers, composers, artists, intellectuals and bons vivants flocked to in the early 20th century in search of the like-minded.