Organized by France Télévisions and co-transmitted by Radio France, this show will be held in front of the cathedral, shortly after 9 p.m., on the first day of the ceremonies marking the reopening of this 12th century monument, partially destroyed by a fire on April 15, 2019 .
This fire, the causes of which have not yet been determined, caused global emotion and caused an influx of donations to rebuild the building located in the heart of Paris, which was among the most visited monuments in Europe.
Lyrical singing and classical music will dominate this concert, which will honor the mastery of Notre-Dame de Paris and the Radio France philharmonic orchestra, conducted for the occasion by Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel.
This 43-year-old superstar conductor, who resigned as musical director of the Paris Opera in mid-2023, is one of the most talented in the world. As comfortable conducting a Mahler symphony as the music of Star Wars or West Side Storyhe will be, from 2026, the artistic and musical director of the New York Philharmonic.
Touche pop
Among the artists called to celebrate the reopening of Notre-Dame is also the Chinese virtuoso pianist Lang Lang, 42, who has been playing for years in the four corners of the planet and has established close ties with the French capital, where he has a pied-à-terre.
When Notre-Dame burned in 2019, he stayed in Paris specifically to participate in a concert in tribute to the cathedral.
Accustomed to major global events, the pianist notably played for the coronation of Charles III in 2023, as did the South African soprano Pretty Yende, who will also perform on the square in front of Notre-Dame.
The Franco-Swiss tenor Benjamin Bernheim (39), present at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, will also be on the bill.
A more pop touch will be brought by Clara Luciani, Vianney and Garou, three very popular artists in France.
Also on the program: the Franco-Beninese Angélique Kidjo, who has just celebrated forty years of career which has seen her cross genres, fashions and continents.
As comfortable with Nigerian Afrobeat as with revisiting the Bolero by Ravel or the pop of David Bowie, the diva with five Grammy Awards, ardent defender of women’s rights, wants to “see in Notre-Dame a symbol of peace and compassion that we so need today”, he said. -she declared. “The completion of its restoration gives me hope that our humanity, too, has the power to rebuild itself,” she added.
Another concert
The Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji, also announced, made herself known in France by participating in the show The Voice in 2015 and formed a special bond with the cathedral: in 2016, she succeeded Hélène Ségara to take up, alternately, the role of Esmeralda in the musical Notre-Dame of Paris.
The only DJ, Michael Canitrot, organized the “So, happy in Paris?” », which took him to clubs in the biggest cities in the world.
His “Monumental tour”, an alliance between music, cultural heritage and digital art, then led him to perform at the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey in 2021, at the Eiffel Tower on the occasion of the centenary of the disappearance by Gustave Eiffel or at the basilica of Zaragoza, Spain, in October.
Earlier in the day, the celebrations will begin with a speech by French President Emmanuel Macron on the square, followed by a liturgical ceremony in the presence of foreign heads of state, the list of whom has not been revealed. A first concert, the list of artists of which is not yet known, is also scheduled at this time.
Organized by France Télévisions and co-transmitted by Radio France, this show will be held in front of the cathedral, shortly after 9 p.m., on the first day of the ceremonies marking the reopening of this 12th century monument, partially destroyed by a fire on April 15, 2019 This fire, the causes of which have not yet been determined, caused emotion…
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