A "blonde whose divine hairdressers are goldsmiths", a flute "like a mysterious kiss": the secret voice of Maurice Ravel rises through that of the contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, in a range of melodies where his cherished themes pass through, antiquity, the dreamed Orient, childhood. The soloists of the National revisit Ma Mère l'Oye , a tale of a thousand discoveries inspired by Charles Perrault, where Ravel distils his precious sonorities. Eternal.

The National Morning Show / Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Maison de la Radio et de la Musique

The lion, the rooster, the elephant, the swan, the long-eared characters, and even the pianist, that "digitigrade concertivorous mammal..." Francis Blanche jokes, are all found pell-mell in The Carnival of the Animals , which Saint-Saëns refused to see performed during his lifetime, no doubt for fear of appearing unserious. Seeing the menagerie incomplete, Guillaume Connesson gave it a sequel and imagined grazing, in the musical zoo of Jurassic Trip , six historical miniatures ranging from the tyrannosaurus to the pterodactyl. Adults allowed.

National Sundays: The Carnival of the Animals / Lambert Wilson

In 1889, visitors to the Paris World's Fair were unsure what to admire most: the technical prowess of Eiffel, the designer of a gigantic iron tower, over 300 meters high, and criticized by a section of public opinion because of its ugliness? Or the small recording device, a few centimeters long, whose revolutionary scope was not yet fully understood? Mon Cher Gustave presents the extraordinary encounter between the French engineer and another genius inventor, the American Thomas Edison, set to simple and charming melodies, sometimes dreamy, sometimes catchy, by Lise Borel.

Franz Michel

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 15, 2026

National Sundays: The Carnival of the Animals / Lambert Wilson · Orchestre National de France

Mar 14, 2026

My Dear Gustave · Orchestre National de France

Past events

Mar 2, 2025

The National Morning Show / Marie-Nicole Lemieux · Orchestre National de France

Future and recently performed repertoire

Piano in The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns

Orchestre National de France

Piano in Jurassic Trip by Connesson

Orchestre National de France

Piano in Mon Cher Gustave by Borel

Orchestre National de France

About

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