La Madeleine Concert (May 1)

If you're in Paris for any length of time, it's worth getting either one of these - Pariscope - a grand total of 40 cents

 or l'officiel des spectacles - even cheaper at 35 cents.

They come out weekly and list all the events on in Paris.  The concert last night and the concert tonight I found out about through these guides.  First of all, La Madeleine is in itself awesome.  I worried I wouldn't find it - well it's BIG and dominates the area as soon as you get anywhere near it.  Certainly coming out of the Madeleine metro station it was right there.  Its design is modelled on an ancient temple at Nimes - lots and lots of columns.  I could not get it fully into shot while I was on the same block

After last night's experience of not seeing the pianist I worried I'd have the same problem - not at all.  The players were on a platform above the seated audience.  Les Violons de Paris were playing and a soprano sang a few pieces.  She wasn't bad, but the string ensemble was wonderful - 8 in all.  They initially played Pachelbel's canon and accompanied the soprano's songs.  Then the solo violinist/conducter came on - Frederick Moreau.  The 9 of them playing the 4 Seasons was just wonderful - so much passion.  If you see a clip of Frederick on youtube he looks wooden, but he was not like that at all in real life.  He was energetic, displaying remarkable technical skills, and a real showman.  For encore they played a wild piece by Bazzini.  It was a great night.  I walked down rue Royale, past the high end shops like Rolex, Christofle and Villeroy et Boch to get to the metro.  When I came out of my metro stop there was a soup kitchen right there.