Juliette Gréco in Paris

In the late Middle Ages, the only ways to access the Île de la Cité in Paris, the 1st Arrondissement of the current French capital, were two bridges that were guarded by two headframes. The northern one was the biggest and was the most outstanding one due to its square shape and, according to all chronicles, to its spectral towers. This headframe went through successive and gruesome metamorphosis thanks to which it would become the headquarters of the Paris provost. It possessed one of the most feared prisons by Parisians, which had terrifying torture chambers that worsened the unfortunate reputation of the building. This reputation grew ominously until its final destruction in 1808 by Napoleon’s orders.

To those who lived through that period they would have struggled to believe that on that same piece of land, approximately fifty years later, the incredibly beautiful Théâtre du Châtelet, as a tribute to the historical initial headframe. Dedicated entirely to music, it’s a building of harmonious beauty of Palladian inspiration designed by the architect Gabriel Davioud. It was part of the urban reform plans impulsed by Baron Haussmann that were to radically transform the aspect of the city, with the aim to favour the free flow of goods demanded by the capitalist society and, also, stop the formation of barricades in potential future revolutions.

Its attractive interior isn’t just the annual stage for the awards ceremony of the prestigious César Awards of French film, but also the witness of some of the most decisive moments in artistic, scenic and musical avant-gardes in the first two decades of the 20th century, such as the representations of the Russian ballets of Diaghilev and the premieres of plays such as ‘Petrouchka’ by Stravinsky and ‘Parade’ by Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau, with the costumes and scenography by Picasso.

Equally avant-gardist was the appearance in 1959 of the great surrealist novel ‘Zazie in the Metro’ (that tells the story of the adventures of girl from outside Paris who eludes the supervision of adults during two days to explore with unsuspected limits the possibilities of the city and the language) by the writer Raymond Queneau, an oustanding member of the High Pataphysical Studies College in Paris and co-founder of the legendary Oulipo Workshop of Potential Literature. The musical adaptation of the novel will be staged at the Théâtre du Châtelet only on the 5th of February.

However, it is the concerts that the living legend of French song Juliette Gréco -who is presenting her new album ‘Ça se traverse et c’est beau’- at the Châtelet from the 6th to the 8th of February that will be the highlight of the theatre’s monthly programme http://www.chatelet-theatre.com/2011-2012/juliette-greco,639

Paul Oilzum

The stage at the Châtelet is one of the few that lives up to the expectations of Gréco and Queneau, both an essential part of the 20th century French history and culture. Come to see them both when you rent apartments in Paris

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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