“Virtuosity can destroy meaning and beauty”
Sonia Wieder-Atherton grew up in New York and Paris. She was trained in Moscow by the great Russian concert pianist Natalia Chakhovskaïa and won the Rostropovich Competition at the age of 25. She composed for the filmmaker Chantal Akerman, whose accompanist she was. She just released a record on Alpha Classics, Bach, cello suites nos […]
Bruno Monsaingeon, the musician of the images
Bruno Monsaingeon, in his home in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine), in May 2023. JEROME BONNET / MODDS On Bruno Monsaingeon’s front door in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine), a street sign for the city of Paris with a blue-green enamelled gable indicates in white letters: “Promenade Yehudi Menuhin 1916-1999. Violinist, conductor, humanist. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador ». The director’s house is […]
“The Beatles: Eight Days a Week”, on Arte: Birth of Beatlemania
The Beatles in their Stockholm hotel room during their autumn tour of Sweden, 1963. APPLE CORPS LTD ARTE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 10:25 PM – DOCUMENTARY Let’s get to the documentary’s commercial hook, which is incompetent unless it’s second degree British: “You know the group. Not his story. » Formulated in 2016 about as well-kept […]
With the show “Trash!” », tools, objects and everyday waste are given a new musical life
The show “Trash!” », in Madrid, in 2022. AZIZ EL HAMOUDI A female voice can be heard: “Welcome to the acoustic processing and recycling facility. » Then the scene from 13e Art, a Parisian event hall, is illuminated and shows two large fans with large blades rotating slowly in the background. Four workers arrive in […]
The Sierras, sisters in the city, divas on stage
Nadine and Melanie Sierra, at the Paris Opera on December 14, 2023. DARIA SVERTILOVA FOR M LE MAGAZINE DU MONDE Nadine and Melanie Sierra, both sisters born in Florida, have been traveling mainly in Europe in recent months. Busy schedules, important tours, the singers meet spontaneously, between two planes, in Frankfurt or London. “It’s always […]
Anne Sylvestre, icon of a new generation of feminist artists
Anne Sylvestre. CRISTIANA COUCEIRO FOR “M LE MAGAZINE DU MONDE”. STAN WIEZNIAK / UNIVERSAL MUSIC FRANCE / GAMMA-RAPHO / UNSPLASH / ALAMY It had to be the best birthday present of her life: Klaire would finally see Anne Sylvestre in concert. For her 35th birthday she received two places, the Holy Grail. The author and […]
Victor Le Masne, the one-man band of French pop
Victor Le Masne during rehearsals for the musical show Starmania in Nice in September 2022. ANTHONY DORFMANN What is the common denominator between Starmania, at Seine Musicale until the end of January 2024, and Eddy de Pretto, his album Heart crash is one of the successes of the winter? Between Juliette Armanet and Iliona, two […]
“Don’t limit yourself, you have to dream big!” »
Forty years after the dissolution of his legendary group The Police and with With more than 100 million albums sold, Sting, a 72-year-old gentleman musician, continues to travel the world alone. He is committed to defending the environment and human rights and is a vehement opponent of Brexit. He is concerned about the current attacks […]
When Akai’s MPC-60 sampler ushered in the era of musical collage
At the end of the 1980s, the rules of the game for musicians changed suddenly. In order to create songs, you previously had to master an instrument. But suddenly, with the introduction of the first affordable samplers, it became possible to take a fragment of sound (a “sample”) from any CD, then a second, a […]
The Linn LM-1 Drum Machine and the Advent of the Robot Drummer
It is an important cog in the sonic mechanics of the 1980s, a machine that gives the pace of thriller by Michael Jacksonlike the many hits of his best enemy Prince (kiss, When pigeons cry, Little red Corvette, etc.). A robot blender worn by Rick Astley (Never give up), Genesis (Mother) and various figures of […]