Parc
de la
Villette : Cité de la Musique
Metro : Porte de Pantin
The Porte de la
Villette was in
days gone by the capital of Parisian abattoirs and butchers. In the
last few decades though it has become the focal point for music in
Paris, thanks to the development of the Cité de la Musique.
The
famous Conservatoire Supérieur leaving its home since the
19th
century on the rue de Madrid in 1990 for shining new premises here,
designed by the architect Franck Hammoutène. Aside from the
complete audio-visual library the grounds consist as well of an
extraordinary museum of musical instruments, containing over 900
man-made pieces, some dating back thousands of years. It is even
possible to listen to many of the instruments thanks to an available
audio tour. The first instruments to be gathered were done so from
pillaged royal collections during the French Revolution. The museum
opened its doors much later, in 1861. One today can find both ancient
masterpieces such as a Stradivarius and those more modern, a violin
belonging to Stéphane Grappelli, a guitar from Django
Reinhardt
or a concert piano from Erard that Liszt once played. The Grande Halle
de la Villette plays host once a year to the Salon de la Musique, once
named Musicora. An immense concert hall of 1200 seats regularly
welcomes a variety of musicians.
Absolutely not the same place than Studio
Marais , rue du Bourg-Tibourg,
Completely the other side of Paris from
Studio Sicile , rue du Roi de Sicile.
