Just in: Dudamel to conduct Notre-Dame reopening
NewsMessage received:
Notre-Dame de Paris will reopen this weekend, having been restored in just five years after a raging fire destroyed its 800-year-old wooden roof frame and caused its iconic spire to collapse on April 15 2019.
On the afternoon of December 7 2024 the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, will lead the reopening service in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, as well as heads of state and distinguished guests. This ceremony, which will include the reawakening of the cathedral’s great organ, will be followed by a spectacular concert of pop, rock, world and classical music, designed to share the joy of reopening with an international audience and to thank all those who made the restoration possible.
Among global superstars to take part are Pharrell Williams and Angélique Kidjo, as well as classical luminaries including opera stars Nadine Sierra, Pretty Yende and Benjamin Bernheim, pianists Lang Lang and Khatia Buniatishvili, organist Olivier Latry, violinists Renaud Capuçon and Daniel Lozakovich, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Gustavo Dudamel will conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. The artists will perform either inside Notre-Dame or in the square in front of the building’s western façade, which will be illuminated by a dazzling lightshow.
The entire event will be livestreamed on Deutsche Grammophon’s STAGE+ at 9.30pm CET on Saturday December 7, with repeats at 2am and 12pm CET on Sunday December 8 (available worldwide, except in France, Germany and Australia).
What musics is the Notre-Dame’s acoustic best suited and least suited for?
Best suited: Catholic composers from Mozart to Messiaen
Least suited: Protestant composers from Bach to Mendelssohn
Hysterical. Thanks.
Leonin and Perotin!
And anything up through Josquin and Lassus/Lasso.
The Berlioz Te Deum would be a magnificent work for the opening but won’t happen with so many other artists and pop stars to be accommodated in the programme.
The acoustic might be too reverberant for many passages in the Berlioz. Covering the cathedral walls with thick tapestries — as was the fashion in the Middle Ages — would help in that respect.
Sorry Peter San Diego I do not agree. Back in the early 1980s Claudio Abbado conducted the work in a very similar space – St. Paul’s Cathedral in London – with the LSO and huge additional forces. It worked brilliantly. Berlioz wrote the work to be performed in a Cathedral-like space and it was first performed in the even more reverberant Basilica of St. Eustache in Paris. Its mighty original organ which plays such a major part in the Te Deum was virtually the same size as that now in Notre Dame. I do not find anything in the work that would be lost in such a reverberant acoustic.
Why didn’t they ask Mäkelä?
He’ll be busy in Wien, trying to see how boring he can make Mahler VI.
Well, by the look of his schedule this should not have been a problem for him. He could absolutely squeeze it in.
Why didn’t they ask François-Xavier Roth?
I’m a little surprised they’re going so cheezily glitzy for the dedication of religious site. God bless, I suppose …
Maybe if the guy was not in jail they would have asked Sean Diddy. Why would one have pop and rock stars to reopen the magnificent cathedral? A far cry from the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral for which the Britten War Requiem was composed. Another example of the decline of the decadent west.
Coventry was a victim of evil, and its rebirth was solemn and profound. Notre Dame’s return threatens to be a victim of a loss of meaning and faith, a pop-rock sound and light spectacle signifying nothing. The building may be restored, but will it have a soul? Let’s pray so.
The idea is to open the building to a most diverse audience, and as we know, diverse people are supposed to prefer crap.
Notre Dude
Isn’t Maestro Macelaru still in France? He would’ve been my choice. Or Maesteo Roth. Eh bien…
Barnier has got time on his hands, couldn’t be worse than The Dude (the Biden of the Baton…).
If he was conducting Opéra National de Paris orchestra, now that would have gotten my attention.
No room at all for anything by Leonin or Perotin (of the musical school of Notre Dame!!) or their successors; nothing of pre-baroque music of any sort, judging from the list of performers. (Admittedly, the list begins, “among the superstars…”) I do hope the actual festivity is of broad enough perspective. I haven’t found a complete musical program anywhere.
Will be odd if Nadine Sierra turns up for this since she has withdrawn from the LSO’s La rondine because she is recovering from a medical procedure (apparently).
It seems she did sing so not sure why a concert performance was out of the question
I know it dos demand more standing etc so maybe that’s why
If you search around online you can find the whole concert
When no single ⭐️ is bright enough to shine thru, let’s jam as many ⭐️ within the time allotment the VIPs could sit thru.
Or, it’s just another variety show. I could care less.
P.S. Well, at least it wouldn’t be Dudamel conducting Resurrection . That would be too much extra cheese. God Bless.
A reopening worthy of celebration around the world Be on the lookout for Jesus to make a cameo appearance ⛪️
Well, it is confirmed that Donald Trump will be in attendance. What a party pooper.
“…will be followed by a spectacular concert of pop, rock, world and classical music…”
After watching their Olympics opening and closing concerts, I’ll have my barf bag ready, just in case.
Of course. You do not have the musical taste to understand the intricacies of classical music, opera, soprano and metal rock. Probably stuck in the world of American Pop Music.
Would suffer the rest to hear that beautiful organ played by Latry again.
Finale from Vierne Symphonie 6e as Sortie, please…
Why not able to hear in Australia
Why isn’t a FRENCH maestro conducting??
Isn’t there a suitable one available or has the Cathedral got to book someone who will give vast publicity and street cred?
And HIM of all conductors?
A nod to the peasants of Paris me thinks…
Amazing — yet another institution falls for the absurd notion that Gustavo Dudamel is able to conduct. Following in the footsteps of other idiots, from LA to New York to all those other musical ignorami around the world. And that jumped-up recording company Deutsche Grammophon getting in on the act…how many in the classical music world are going tobe taken in before this conductor drops his baton for keeps?
Who cares what nationality the performers are? Catholicism is the world’s largest religion, stretching all across the globe, and the significance of this place of worship is certainly not confined to national borders.
Amen.
What an embarrassing bunch of performers. An attempt to be inclusive and diverse. Such spectacle has nothing to do with the building and what it means. It’s another demonstration of a general cultural decline.
Amen.
A great appreciation to all those that contributed to saving this magnificent historical cathedral. Victor Hugo can still be read with the joy of reality.
France’s Olympics were the greatest ever this time. Now the most Beautiful and magnificent cathedral comes back to life. Thank you Mr. Macron, thank you France.
The costs of the restoration were to a great extent covered by donations worldwide.
Ed how right you are! Your comment stirs peace and joy in the cauldron of unrest that exist today on this planet.
Hard to imagine Don the Con (The Mango Mussolini) staying awake through this.
I’m just surprised that Renee Fleming didn’t squeeze her way in. Performs at the opening of an envelope…
Concert was planned to be outside, not in the cathedral. Due to weather the music will be pre-recorded. Same as the Olympics opening performance.
Who has chosen the program and performers?
Why Lang Lang ? Some french pianists would have been better choice, Kantorow, Debargue, Chamayou to name a few
I could have done without Lang Lang and the Capucon brothers. The latter choosing the wrong piece for the occasion and performing it also messy.
A large organ work instead by Vierne or Durufle was missing badly.