Rest your feet & Bless your ears...
Mozart’s Requiem in La Madeleine. Chopin and Satie at St. Ephrem. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at La Sainte Chappelle…especially in summer, when the late summer sun shines through the stained glass magnificence. Pouring over the room and your heart. What a way to give your ‘paris-walking’ feet a rest!
With a love for classical music or not, you can have a uniquely Parisian concert experience at an amazingly affordable price! Why? Because so many of Paris’ churches turn into concert halls at night! You’ll often see small posters around town advertising classical concerts, but don’t assume they’re out of your budget or even sold out…
Enter CLASSICTIC! A website dedicated to telling you what classical concerts are on offer in your city of interest.
For Paris you can search by date, composer or church…and watch a list of stunning and historical churches scroll down before you with various concerts, composers and performers. And often in the range of 20-30 euros per ticket!
Chopin’s Nocturnes by a solo pianist.
A quartet playing and evening of Bach. Rachmaninoff at St. Germain des Pres. And perhaps my favorite evening…Beethoven’s 9th at La Madeleine…chills!
Need we say more? Here’s the how to’s and tips on special churches.
The Classictic website:
https://www.classictic.com/en/
Some of my favorite churches for concerts: La Madeleine – massive inside this makes for a awe inspiring experience
Saint Ephrem – an small, intimate church. Often piano only concerts. Very romantic as you feel you’re at some private performance.
Saint Germain des Pres – the oldest church in Paris. Dating back to the 6th century. Umm, need I say more. What a special way to experience this piece of Parisian history.
La Sainte Chapelle – this stained glass beauty alone will take your breath away. They also offer dinner concerts, can you imagine!?
Notre Dame & Saint Eustache – keep an eye out for a organ concert here. As both house impressive organs.
Note: The concerts are acoustic. I haven’t been to one yet that
had microphones. So, try to be early for a good seat and especially at a bigger place like Madeleine pay the slightly higher ticket price to sit closer. Although, you’ll be able to hear wherever you’re seated.
LINKS FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE:
- Composer M.I. Glinka, often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music. 'La Separation' as played by Adriano Paolini
Feel free to leave a comment or question below. If you have any questions on venues or advice for a good, upcoming show. Also, share with us if you've been to a classical, church concert in Paris. We'd love to hear from you!