What a French soloist charges for free recitals

The cellist Gautier Capucon has told French media that he is touring the country this summer, playing free concerts in the open air over loudspeakers with pre-recorded piano accompaniment by Jérôme Ducros. He calls it ‘going back to roots’.

Free is free, right? The journal La Lettre du Musicien has just published details of the fees Capucon requires:

 2800 euros for cities with less than 3000 inhabitants,

4800 euros for cities between 3000 and 10 000 inhabitants,

7800 euros for cities between 10,000 and 60,000 inhabitants and

9,800 euros for cities with more than 60,000 inhabitants.

There seems to be no shortage of takers. As many as 600 requests, according to his Facebook page.

Read the full article here.

UPDATE: Cellist scraps fees