Concert #2: Salon Edition

Yesterday marked both a national holiday and my second Parisian concert in the last month. While my first concert took place under somewhat rushed and harrowing circumstances, I had been preparing for yesterday's performance with Dominique Fournier (piano) and Anne-Chantal Carrière (soprano) since late fall. You can listen to our entire performance by clicking "play" below, or choose individual tracks by clicking "Les Sonorités du Salon." Click "download" on the player below to get the whole album in mp3 format. (If you're desperate to hear me play clarinet, skip to tracks 4-7.)

The concert took place in a private salon in the 9th arrondissement, just across the street from former residences of Chopin and Georges Sand. The salon, decorated in authentic Louis-Phillippe style, transported us to the era in which much of the music we performed was written. 

Playing chamber music is always a pleasure, but I especially enjoyed the "ethnographic" element this concert adds to my year of research. After all, I'm writing a dissertation about the period in French history that saw the last great flowering of salon culture, so I've spent a decent amount of time reading about concerts just like this one. To have participated in the planning and execution of a concert that could have easily taken place a century ago gives me a strange, almost cosmic sense of connection with the composers, performers, salon hosts, patrons, and audience members that I've been studying. It's fitting that this rich moment comes towards the end of a rewarding year.

I hope you enjoy listening to the recording. Let me know if you're interested in coming to a repeat performance of this concert, which will take place on May 30 in Longpont.