Sunday morning at the Théâtre du Châtelet: Ebène Quartet

 April 11 2010, Théâtre du Châtelet

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento nº 3 en fa majeur, K. 138
Quatuor en ré mineur, K. 421

Felix Mendelssohn
Quatuor en fa mineur, op. 80

I've been waiting this concert for quite some time. Ever since they won Gramophone Record of the Year 2009 for their last CD, there was a rumor as if one special concert in Paris might be organized "in the weeks to come" but nothing ever came to fruition. Finally they showed up for this morning concert planed a year ago. You really have to be motivated to get up very early on Sunday morning to be in a reasonably good condition to listen to the top level concert. Since this was a rare opportunity to listen to them live I made a huge effort...

The buzz was not that big, the Châtelet theater is quite big, a concert at 11 am... I didn't expect too many people to come. Wrong! The theater was packed with people. 

The concert was a demonstration of excellence of four superb musicians, and the passionate combination in which all 4 young guys resonate with Mozart and  Mendelssohn -- this Mendelssohn's concerto was a novelty to me.

They always prepare something fun for encore. You can, for example, find their "Pulp Fiction" on YT. This morning they added "Nature Boy" - a song by Nat King Cole, obviously adapted for a String Quartet.

If you ever get a chance to listen to them performing live, please do. That rare little moment does happen with them playing... now before they become too big ;)

After the concert they were signing their CD's and there was quite a crowd around the table, with unavoidable aficionados of more advanced age who were telling these young musicians what they should chose to play in the future.  Some things never change... and that's maybe good. ;)



Ah yes, right before the concert, the Marathon de Paris race passed near  the Théâtre du Châtelet [along the bank of La Seine]. That's just one more sign that spring is here

and one more...