“We know that it will be broadcast around the world. We know that there will be a lot of people present, quite high-ranking people, heads of state. It's not something that changes our work, but It’s something that inevitably impresses us a little. to sing, to be in the front row, in the heart of the cathedral, It's going to be very impressive.” launches Mathieu, singer of the Mastery of Notre-Dame.
Like him, they are all preparing to return to their parent company, five years later.
“We had a lot of different emotions. The very evening of the fire, like everyone else, we witnessed this terrible spectacle. The next day, we had to completely reinvent ourselves. It takes years to obtain sound quality, a vocal identity. SO the primary challenge was to maintain know-how. We had around fifty concerts to reimagine, to shift to other places, with new constraints. Then there was Covid. But we managed to maintain a lot of concerts in Paris, in Ile-de-France, in France in large abbeys too. We even toured the UNITED STATES, a first in the history of the Masters. These are a lot of experiences that have allowed us to continue not only to keep the level, but to seek an even better level.”
The cathedral obviously has its own acoustics.
Mathieu, singer of the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame
The difficulty now will be to reclaim the places. “The cathedral obviously has an acoustic of its own. It doesn't sound the same depending on where you sing. So we try to play with that. It's always an intense reflection to know depending on the repertoire where we are going to sing. We will have to adapt quite quickly since the first week will be a very intense week with lots of liturgies, lots of masses.”
And added: “For the opening concert, we will sing as for the services, on the steps in front of the hotel, which also allows the public to be able to admire behind us all the beautiful architecture of the choir, of the Pietà, of this entire ensemble which has been restored. Our first concert will open with it. Bach's Magnificat. It's a text that seemed quite natural to us, also because these are the texts of the Virgin Mary and Notre-Dame, obviously, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.”
The program of upcoming concerts and news from the Maîtrise are available on the website musique-sacree-notredamedeparis.fr
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