Porgy and Bess echoes the French operas of Ravel and Debussy that Cecilia Bartoli has been programming at the Monte-Carlo Opera since the start of her tenure. George Gershwin's admiration for Ravel can be heard clearly in his piano concertos, while Ravel himself was impressed by Gershwin's compositions and, more broadly, fascinated by American popular music, which was introduced to France in the 1920s by figures such as Josephine Baker.
Les Concerts de la Voûte ‘Vibrer la Musique’ La Malibran An Investigation into the Missing Diva Chrystelle Di Marco, soprano David Lefèvre, violin Katherine Nikitine, piano 7.00 pm: Concert 8.30 pm: Drinks reception and meet-the-artists session
Talking about "les amours impossibles": A myth emerging in the 19th century suggested that everything (un)imaginable in that sector was possible in Paris. Allegedly, this notion was triggered by rich American men starting to discover Europe for themselves, far from the observing eyes of their puritan mothers and brides. But all was not that simple, as we are told in "La Vie parisienne".