Église Saint-Paul – Saint Louis, Sainte-Chapelle, Saint-Germain-des-Prés -- the concerts in these historic cathedrals are sublime
Wherever there are tourists in Paris — and where are there not?— you will see posters advertising one or more concerts in the city's historic cathedrals.Dismissing these out of hand as dumbed-down made-for-tourists fare is quite a mistake.True, the programs of these concerts have more than their share of the tried and true staples like Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Pachelbel's Canon, and Ave Marias from more than one composer.They are not so much the greatest hits of the classical or opera repertoire. They ARE the music made for church settings. You experience music swirling in your ears without acoustic blocks from carpets or drapes. Your eyes are soothed by the celestial decor of stained glass, and the religious paintings and sculpture around you.
Traveling to the Église Saint-Paul – Saint Louis weekend concerts you will likely wend your way to the cathedral through the beginnings of the party scene that will have totally taken over the Marais area by the concert's conclusion.Even with restoration work in progress — and where is it not?— you feel yourself to be in an oasis of calm.It is thick with crystal chandeliers that signal you are about to sample elegance.When the music begins, your transport to a timeless place is complete. You too may find a post-concert lilt in your step that helps you jump on and off the curbs to avoid the beer-drinking hordes that have now seized the Marais, and invite you to join the totally different vibe of party central.
Concerts at Sainte-Chapelle have quite a different prelude, particularly if there is a high profile trial in progress at the adjoining Palace of Justice.You will go past several security checks and the kind of body scan you expect at airports.Plan to get on the concert queue early and arrive to find that you might already be late.Plan also for the line to move very slowly into Sainte-Chapelle as doors open because everyone is so stunned by the beauty of the chapel that they must slow down to take a photo— by phone or camera or both.The soloists— violin or singer— will at some point stride down the long center aisle during their performance, which lets you feel the majestic dimensions of the hall anew as their voice or instrument finds heights and widths to bounce from.
Seize any chance you can to hear large choral works in a Paris cathedral like Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés.These venues are perfection for the power of multiplied voices.