Paavo at la Salle Pleyel

Oh, how I wish I could be in my beloved City of Lights, Paris, when Paavo returns on Friday, October 20, to lead the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in an All Strauss concert at the newly renovated Salle Pleyel. On the program: Don Juan; Final Scene from Capriccio (Soile Isokoski, soprano); and Une vie de héro. For tickets, visit the orchestra's website here.

And as an aside to Cincinnatians: The International Herald Tribune article, linked to above raises an interesting question about Paris and the size of its classical music audience, now that the Salle Pleyel has been succesfully renovated and there has also been an announcement made this year that "national and city governments agreed to build a new concert hall of 2,000 to 2,500 seats at the Cité de la Musique on the northeastern edge of Paris, beside the Music Museum and an existing smaller concert hall. The target date for its opening is 2012."

"But immediately new questions were raised. Does Paris have a large enough concertgoing public to support two halls? Will the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, which now have residences in the Salle Pleyel, move to the new hall? Will middle-class Parisians still prefer the Pleyel's central location, near the Arc de Triomphe?"

Questions like these are not unlike the ones that we should be asking ourselves here, with the speculation about the downsizing of Music Hall.

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
La Salle Pleyel
Address: 252, rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré
75008 Paris, France
Telephone: +33 (0)1 42 56 13 13
Transport: Métro: Line 2; Station: Ternes