The Musical Festival of Cormeilles – The Impromptu Concert

Claude Monet, like his painter friends, loved music. He listened to his daughter-in-law play the piano and admired Emmanuel Chabrier, whose Suite Pastorale draws inspiration from painters of his time such as Degas, Sisley, and Renoir. Inspired by Chabrier, Erik Satie is represented with his famous Gymnopédie No. 1. Monet also appreciated the voice of his friend Marguerite Namara, a soprano who sang in Bizet's Carmen, hence the inclusion of excerpts from Georges Bizet's work. The chamber music ensemble Le Concert Impromptu, known for its inventiveness and its concerts in major French museums, performs this program.