Thursday 9 October 2014

Storm in a concert hall

One of our regular readers remembers playing symphonic music in the Salle Pleyel in Paris - the city's most famous venue. But Paris has built - at great cost and amid much controversy - a spanking new concert hall, the Philharmonic, due to open in January 2015. The owners of the Salle Pleyel want to hand over the running of that venue to promoters who would be obliged to use it for other types of music. But the ownership is actually disputed in a divorce proceedings by the ex-wife of the former owner; she claims he sold it too cheaply at 60 million euros to avoid paying her in the settlement.
So currently Pleyel could be deprived of any music until the courts pronounce. Some concert goers think that would be just as well as the acoustic is "atroce".
The hall's position in smart rue de  Faubourg St Honoré suits some Parisians better than the Philharmonic's situation in the suburbs.... lots of controversy there then!
 Val says this is a real Bobo post   (bourgeois bohemian ) expect more bobo posts coming soon.
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