Music in the city of Paris, France, includes a variety of genres, from opera and symphonic music to musical theater, jazz, rock, rap, hip-hop, the traditional Bal-musette and gypsy jazz, and every variety of world music, particularly music from Africa and North Africa. such as the Algerian-born music known as Raï. Leading musical institutions include the Paris Opera, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Paris Conservatory, the first state music conservatory in Europe. The Cité de la Musique at La Villette is home of the new Paris Symphony Hall, the Conservatory, a museum of musical instruments, and Le Zenith, a major venue for popular music. Many of the churches in Paris have magnificent historic organs, and often host concerts. The city is also known for its music halls and clubs.
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera, officially called the Opéra National de Paris founded in 1669, is the oldest and most famous opera company of France. It mainly produces operas at its modern 2700-seat theatre Opéra Bastille which opened in 1989, and ballets and some classical operas at the older 1970-seat Palais Garnier which opened in 1875. Small scale and contemporary works are also staged in the 500-seat Amphitheatre under the Opéra Bastille. The company's annual budget is in the order of 200 million euros, of which 100 million come from the French state and 70 million from box office receipts.Interview with the President of the Board of the Opéra With this money, the company runs the two houses and supports a large permanent staff, which includes the orchestra of 170, a chorus of 110 and the corps de ballet of 150.Company profile, Tous à l'Opéra 2012 press release pp 52,53 Each year, the Opéra presents about 380 performances of opera, ballet and other concerts, to a total audience of about 800,000 people (of whom 17% come from abroad), which is a very good average seat occupancy rate of 94%. In the 2012–13 season, the Opéra presented 18 opera titles (two in a double bill), 13 ballets, 5 symphonic concerts and two vocal recitals, plus 15 other programmes. The company's training bodies are also active, with 7 concerts from the Atelier Lyrique and 4 programmes from the École de Danse.Opéra national de Paris website, 2012/13 season presentation
Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet (French: Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris) is the oldest national ballet company in the world, founded in 1669, just after the Opera; and many European and international ballet companies, can trace their origins to it. Many famous romantic ballets, including Giselle and Le Corsaire, were first danced by the Paris Opera company. The Paris Opera has had many different official names during its long history but since 1994 has been called the Opéra National de Paris (Paris National Opera). The company presents ballet primarily at the Palais Garnier. The director of the Paris Opera Ballet until his resignation in February 2016 was Benjamin Millepied.
Orchestre de Paris
The Orchestre de Paris was established in 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, when conductor Charles Munch was called on by the Minister of Culture, André Malraux to create a new orchestra in Paris. Previous musical directors included and Herbert von Karajan was hired as an interim music advisor from 1969 to 1971. Later musical directors music include Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, and Semyon Bychkov.
The main venue of the Orchestre de Paris is the Philharmonie de Paris in the Cité de la Musique, in the Parc de la Villette in the 19th arrondissement. The hall, designed by Jean Nouvel, was inaugurated in 2015. The orchestra has 119 musicians, and will be giving fifty concerts during the 2015–2016 season. The musical director since 2010 is Paavo Järvi. He will be replaced in September 2016 by Daniel Harding.
Classical music and dance Paris has several other important orchestras and venues for classical music and dance. The Lamoureux Orchestra, officially known as the Société des Nouveaux-Concerts, founded by Claude Lamoureux in 1881, has had an illustrious role in Paris music. It gave the first performances of Claude Debussy's Nocturnes (1900 and 1901) and La mer (1905). The current artistic director is Pierre Thilloy, and it performs both classical and new works. Performances are held at the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and sometimes at the Grand Rex movie theater, an art deco landmark in the city.
Radio France is the home of two professional symphony orchestras. The Orchestre National de France, founded in 1934, specializes in French music and tours frequently abroad. It plays regularly at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and its concerts are broadcast on French national radio. Its music director since 2008 is Daniele Gatti.
The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, founded in 1937, performs both contemporary and classical music. It has 141 members, and performs at the auditorium of the Maison de la Radio France. Its musical director is Mikko Franck. Its concerts are broadcast on radio and television throughout Europe. Radio France also has a choral group, the Choeur de Radio France, the only professional symphonic choir in France, which performs classical, traditional and modern choral works, and also broadcasts regularly on French radio and TV. It is directed by Sofi Jeannin.
The Salle Pleyel is another important concert venue for classical music. It was home of the Orchestre de Paris until 2015.
Cité de la Musique The Cité de la Musique (City of Music), is a complex of musical institutions that was created beginning in the 1990s in the Parc de la Villette in, the 19th arrondissement, a former industrial area near the edge of the city. The project was conceived by President François Mitterrand as a means to create a new cultural center in a working-class neighborhood outside the city center. It was designed by the architect Christian de Portzamparc and opened in 1995. The Paris Conservatory of Music was transferred there in September 1990. and a large hall for rock concerts and other events, Le Zenith, was opened in . The jewel of the ensemble, the Philharmonie de Paris, the home of the Orchestre de Paris, designed by architect Jean Nouvel, was inaugurated in 2015.
Music in the cathedral and churches
The most famous organ in Paris is that of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. It was made in the 18th century by the noted builder François-Henri Clicquot. Some of Clicquot's original pipework in the pedal division continues to sound from the organ today. The organ was almost completely rebuilt and expanded in the 19th century by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
The position of titular organist ("head" or "chief" organist) at Notre-Dame is one of the most prestigious organist posts in France, along with the post of titular organist of Saint Sulpice in Paris, Cavaillé-Coll's largest instrument.
The organ has 7,374 pipes, with ca 900 classified as historical. It has 110 real stops, five 56-key manuals and a 32-key pedalboard. In December 1992, a two-year restoration of the organ was completed that fully computerized the organ under three LANs (Local Area Networks). The restoration also included a number of additions, notably two further horizontal reed stops en chamade in the Cavaille-Coll style. The Notre-Dame organ is therefore unique in France in having five fully independent reed stops en chamade.
The church of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais is one of the great shrines of organ music, thanks to the Couperin family; eight members of the family were organists there from 1656 until 1826. They included Louis Couperin (1626-1661), and François Couperin (1668-1733) authors of celebrated masses and other compositions for the instrument. The grand organ of Couperin is still in place on the Tribune above the entrance at the back of the church. The first organ was constructed by Mathis Languhedul of Flanders in 1601; followed by new organ made by the French dynasty of Pierre, Alexandre and François Thierry, between 1649 and 1714; then rebuilt by François-Henri Cliquot in 1769, with many restorations over the following years. The organ itself is a registered historic landmark.Sources Vives, L'èglise Saint-Gervais, pages 119-123
Another well-known organ in Paris is the organ of the American Cathedral in Paris on Avenue George V. Built in 1887 by the prestigious French firm Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, it was inaugurated on October 5, 1887, by Alexandre Guilmant. It has been suggested that Marcel Dupré is the person most responsible for the evolution of the instrument, which is still one of the largest in Paris: it was Dupré who acted as consultant, first in 1922, again in 1930, then again in the 1950s, with Maurice Duruflé. The latest restoration was completed in 1993 by the organ firm of Bernard Dargassies with the generous support of the Paulé Foundation and other Cathedral members. The organ was re-dedicated on February 21, 1993, and re-inaugurated on May 18, 1993, by Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, and on May 30, 1993, by Marilyn Keiser.
African-American gospel musicians are well known in Paris and some of them have taken permanent residence here.
Many churches in Paris host free concerts on Sunday afternoons. A few well-known examples include the Sunday "Les Dimanches Musicaux" concerts at the American Cathedral in Paris, an English speaking church located on Avenue George V, and similar programs at other churches around Paris including La Madeleine.
The Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique theater has a long and illustrious history; founded in 1753, it hosted the first performances of Bizet's Carmen and of Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy, and the French premieres of the operas of Puccini. In recent years the historic theater went through economic difficulties, and the permanent company was disbanded in 1972, but the theater continues to present productions by several different companies of both classical and new works of opera and musical theater. The building was closed in 2015 for eighteen months of extensive renovations.
Musical theater Musical theater became very popular in Paris in the mid-19th century, largely because of the witty and well-crafted musical works of Jacques Offenbach, but the genre nearly disappeared in the 20th century, due in large part to high costs and to competition from motion pictures. In the 1980s and 1990s, Paris reversed the trend hosted the premieres of two mega-musicals, Les Miserables, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and original French lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, opened in Paris in 1980, and Notre Dame de Paris, also based on a novel by Victor Hugo, with music composed by Riccardo Cocciante and lyrics by Luc Plamondon, which opened on September 16, 1998. Both musicals started in Paris and went on to success in London, New York and around the world.
Today the main venue for musicals is the Théatre du Châtelet, which regularly brings Broadway musicals from New York to Paris. In 2015, the musical An American in Paris was previewed first at the Chatelet before going to New York for a successful run. The theater is presenting Passion by Stephen Sondheim in its 2016 season
Music halls
The music hall was first imported to Paris from London in 1862, and became enormously popular, with dancers, singers, acrobats, magicians trained animals. In the 1920s and 1930s they focused on music, and introduced many famous singers including Mistinguett, Josephine Baker, and Edith Piaf. The traditional clubs include the Folies-Bergere, founded in 1869, followed by the Moulin Rouge founded in 1889, which first presented the dance known as the French Cancan.