Alexandre Jean Joseph ‘le Riche’ de la Popelinière was one of the great patrons of the arts in mid-18th century France. His mansion welcomed the most influential artists and thinkers of the time, and Jean-Philippe Rameau conducted his private orchestra for over twenty years.
With this programme, we recreate the atmosphere of those concerts, where Rameau, flutist Michel Blavet and violist Jean-Baptiste Forqueray might have shared the stage. Beyond the music, we will explore the debates of the time on the Italian influence on French music, notably through the adaptation for flute of Corelli's sonatas and the emergence of a French violin school with figures such as Jean-Marie Leclair and Louis-Antoine Dornel. Foreign influence was not limited to Italy: the German Georg Philipp Telemann also left his mark on this prestigious circle of musicians through his travels to Paris.
This is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the musical world of 18th-century Paris, discovering the dialogues between composers, performers and foreign influences that shaped French music of the time.