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Animal musicians
from 16 to November 26, 2022
All programming

Bestiaire

Musiciens de l’Orchestre de Paris - Axelle Fanyo, Kunal Lahiry
Chamber Music
Amphithéâtre - Cité de la musique
Duration: about 1h05

Program

Distribution

Maurice Ravel
Les histoires naturelles
extraits
Jean-Philippe Rameau
La poule
George Enesco
Impressions d'enfance pour violon et piano op. 28
Joseph Haydn
Quatuor à cordes op. 64 n° 5
L'Alouette
André Caplet
Trois fables de la Fontaine pour voix et piano
Ottorino Respighi
Il Tramonto pour voix et quatuor à cordes
Axelle Fanyo , soprano
Kunal Lahiry , piano
Eiichi Chiijiwa , violin
Gaëlle Bisson , violin
Florian Wallez , viola
Alexandre Bernon , cello

This concert of contrasting pieces presents a whole microcosm of animals, tender and picturesque: inspiring birds, grotesque poultry, ants and crickets, and an elegant peacock longing for marriage!

‘I use animals to teach men’, says the famous verse by La Fontaine, summing up the moral and satirical significance of his animal portrayals. Here, we enjoy three of his fables—including The Grasshopper and the Ant, about the freedom of art—masterfully scored by André Caplet. We also hear the characteristic clucking of hens in Rameau’s comical Poule, and the endearing menagerie of Ravel’s Histoires naturelles, the nostalgic charm of Enesco’s Impressions d'enfance, recalling the memory of a caged bird and a cricket. Through its crystalline instrumentation and contemplative ambiance, Respighi’s Il tramonto, based on a poem by Shelley, conjures the colours of a sunset. A flurry of larks swoops across the space, as in the most famous of Haydn’s Six Quartets, Op. 64. The trills and tremolos of the songbird, in the first movement, are as lilting as the starling that, according to legend, put the theme of a concerto in Mozart’s ear.

Getting here

Porte de Pantin station
Paris Underground (Métro) Line 5
Tram 3B 

Address

221 avenue Jean-Jaurès, 75019 Paris