Bonjour mes amis! While Lee and I were in Paris, after working during the day, we experienced some wonderful cultural events at night. We saw a play at the Comédie Française, Salle Richelieu. We saw the play Andromaque by Racine. The Comédie Française was founded by a decree from Louis XIV in 1680 to merge the two Parisian acting troupes of the time. In 1680, the repertoire consisted of the collections of theatrical works by Molière and Jean Racine, along with a few works by Pierre Corneille. Lee and I saw Andromaque, which was a tragedy in five acts, written in alexandrine verse. It was first performed in 1667 before the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre. Andromaque, the third of Racine's plays, written at the age of 27, established its author's reputation as one of the great playwrights in France. Euripides' play, Andromache, and the third book of Virgil's Aeneid were the basis for Racine's play. It was a story of human passion, with the structure of an unrequited love chain. We felt like we were living in the 17th century as we were watching Racine's play! Thursday evening, January 27, we went to a symphony concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. It was the Orchestre National de France under the direction of Marc Albrecht. There were special performances by a gifted violinist, Carolin Widmann, and celloist, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker. We listened to Brahams for two hours. The music was beautiful!
Mme. Wallace
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