Mariellen's (a)Musings: So Happy that I Didn't Succumb to Exhaustion!

To think that I almost gave up with exhaustion making my way to Église Saint-Éphrem for a Piano Trio concert this evening. Wow, what a loss that would have been. More about that part of the story later, but first something about the musicians and music.

Three students from the Paris Conservatory performed this spellbinding concert for us:

Hugues Chabert, piano

Thibault Maudry, violin

Armance Quéro, cello

Not only were they wonderful musicians, they also all had matinee idol good looks. Bonus!

Mozart’s Piano Trio in B-flat major K 502 kicked things off with sunlight, energy, inter-playfulness, introspection, and that wonderful Mozart genius that I too-often take for granted. The musicians played with wonderfully understanding phrasing, long fluid lines in the second movement, and a collegial spirit throughout.

Next, the Shostakovich No.1 opus 8 Trio in C major. This was soul-stirring passionate stuff with deep heart-breaking sighing, conflict, resolution, strength. The intensity of their playing took our breath away (indeed, controlled our breathing) – the cellist’s playing in this piece was especially compelling. The audience responded audibly in places during the performance and we called them back for multiple bows before we allowed them to take their intermission break.

Then Mendelssohn’s No.1 Op 49 Trio in D minor – oh, those sweetly marvelous hummable Mendelssohn melodies – they make you cry with their beauty then laugh then cry again – and I did. Again, wonderfully controlled yet expressive playing throughout (and oh, my goodness, did the pianist’s fingers ever fly!). We even got the third movement (the one that makes you chuckle) again as an encore!

This small (it seats maybe 80) stone church with a barrel ceiling has superb acoustics and hosts multiple chamber music concerts every week, yet somehow I had not heard of it before. Wow, live and learn, hey? Now you are not as informationally deficient as I was! I’ll post photos of the October lineup. The building dates from the 18^th century, although its first chapel was built here in the early 14^th century.

The church sits on rue des Carmes in the 5^th arrondissement, near the Sorbonne, on a steep hill (well, steep for me anyway) that leads up to the Panthéon. I had been walking all afternoon and my legs were more exhausted than usual. I took a look at the hill and almost gave up since I couldn’t see the church from rue des Écoles (it is set back from the street) and I hadn’t looked to see exactly how far up the street it was. I was stupidly walking up the “wrong” side of rue des Carmes (people who have walked with me in Paris will know what I’m talking about!), and the pitch was quite significant. So about half way up to the church I almost gave up again, but I plowed on! Suffice it to say that I was sweating and walking very gingerly by the time I reached the door. But I was rewarded for my efforts!

Église Saint-Éphrem is in the Syriac Catholic Church, an autonomous branch of the Christian Church that extends back to the origins of Christianity in Antioch! The Syriac Church has archdioceses in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Sudan, and other jurisdictions in Israel, Turkey, the US and Canada. Its Patriarch resides in Beirut. I have goosebumps just thinking about its history and ministry. Ephrem the Syrian, after whom this particular church was named, was born in 306 AD. He was a prolific Syrian-language poet, hymnographer, theologian and preacher.

Tickets for concerts here can be ordered online through classictic.com. Here’s a link: http://www.classictic.com/en/concerts_at_st._ephrem_church_in_paris/13585/203453/ When I got home I looked at my e-ticket again and discovered that they are located on Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Str. in Berlin, so even the Lutherans get honorable mention in this setup!