If the La Villette site, inaugurated thirty years ago, has been accompanied by a large symphony hall for ten years, it is partly thanks to the lobbying of Pierre Boulez.
François Mitterrand was elected President of the Republic on May 10, 1981, and, in September, his Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, announced the project of a « international city of Music ». Objective: to bring together « an Opera House, a giant auditorium, a conservatory, concert and music halls, classes and study studios, the instrumental museum inherited from rue de Madrid, a media library, student housing and even luthiers, booksellers and record stores ». All on the La Villette site. Lang immediately considers it obvious to consult Pierre Boulez, the most influential personality in the musical world. The latter only sees advantages: finding a residence for two nomadic groups, his own Ensemble Intercontemporain and the Orchester de Paris of his friend Daniel Barenboïm, bringing teaching closer to professional practice, replacing the Palais Garnier, which Boulez judged unsuitable for a long time.
But, when the competition…
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