Alice and I went wandering around Paris today. When we passed by Notre Dame I asked if she had been inside, since she hadn't we peeked in…
To our amazement Berlioz's Requiem by the ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE et le CHOEUR DE RADIO FRANCE was practicing inside Notre Dame. It was being filmed as well. We stood in awe and listened.
Alice plays the violin. French Husband is an opera fan.
I cannot say I know a thing about either.
But I love atmosphere.
Something for everyone was singing to our hearts.
Light reflected in areas that I had never noticed before.
The atmosphere, given that the orchestra which was practicing in the church, had an impressive silence… do you know what I mean? Pure music to me feels like a silence, a harmony with the surrounding, moving without moving, a oneness. Notre Dame is usually crowded with tourists, a constant low chatter and footsteps an atmospheric pollution.
Ah to see the alcoves filled with light and music was atmospheric harmony.
Gustavo Dudamel was the director.
If you are not in Paris you can listen to the Berlioz Requiem at Notre Dame by following this link.
“It's a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn't even know you were aiming for.”
― Lois McMaster Bujold
And so it was today.
The hand of beauty playing the instrutment of meant-to-be, a moment of serendipity.
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