Dining, Duttilleux and Dance at the Philharmonie - Monday, 24 October

me & my baguette outside of my
favorite Boulangerie Eric Kayser

After a day of bumming around the 'hood and picking up a few provisions, we headed up to the Philharmonie de Paris in the far northeast corner of Paris, designed by architect Jean Nouvel at a mere €534 million (which was about  €173 million over budget - yikes!) for dinner in their resto "Le Balcon" and then a concert of Henri Duttilleux' music. It's the 100th anniversary of Duttilleux' birth, and there are concerts honoring him all over France this year.

the view from my seat

Sure glad I sat in the back row
 of my balcony section -
these are steep steps
with no railing!

The Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire performed four of his works in this one-hour program, accompanied by modern dance from the Centre national de danse contemporaine and some abstract scenic and floating-watery-color type projections on a white scrim behind the dancers. The music was modern/abstract with fascinating tone colors, long arching lines, some haunting and some peaceful soundscapes punctuated by percussion and other rhythmic elements. At times there was almost too much to observe - the music, solos within the orchestra, the dance, the projections, the background of the hall - all vied for my attention. It was all movement and color, as is the hall itself! A cimbalom was used in two of the pieces; perhaps not so unusual, you might say, but I've heard it played in person only twice in my life and the other time was one week ago at a MN Orchestra concert!

Our pre-concert dinner at Le Balcon was surprisingly tasty - not top tier gourmet stuff but not bad! For an appetizer we shared sautéed forest mushrooms served over a bed of warm mushroom mousse; Barb had cod, and I had pork, both with appropriate accompaniments. The chairs and tables, which repeated shapes used on the exterior and floors of the building, were almost as amusing as the food!

a haunting image!  (actually just a reflection in the window at Le Balcon)

Departing the mother ship.....