Une Soirée à Caveau

Take a seat at Café Caveau the Parisian establishment where café-concerts were held from 1860 onwards. The program features operetta arias by Offenbach chansons by Varney songs by Gounod and compositions by Viardot and Chaminade. In between the music poems by Victor Hugo and Pierre-Jean de Béranger are recited. Drinks flow freely with absinthe communard and coco accompanied by platters of galettes de maïs sugared almonds and madeleines.

The performers met while studying at the Utrecht Conservatory and share a desire to create a freer and more engaging concert experience. Today audiences often associate classical concerts with profound and virtuosic masterpieces performed at the highest level in formal surroundings complete with red velvet seats a raised stage musicians dressed in black and a crowd making its way to the cloakroom after enthusiastic applause.

In the nineteenth century however the story was quite different. Classical music was often simply a form of entertainment. Programs were eclectic and venues ranged from grand palaces to lively taverns. At Theater de Richel audiences can enjoy a historically informed cultural experience that is above all immensely entertaining.

Musicians
Lisa Defeyter mezzo-soprano
Héloïse Godefroi contralto
Bas Cornelissen baritone
Jeroen Sarphati piano