WILLIAM CHRISTIE-THÉOTIME LANGLOIS DE SWARTE

I am inviting you to the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse in Soissons on Thursday 17 December 2026 at 8pm, for a concert entitled "Le Violon de Rameau".

The starting point is a portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau depicting him as a violinist. The programme explores this little-known side of his world, from his youth to his breakthrough with Hippolyte et Aricie. The source describes it as a kind of investigation, illustrated by transcriptions of opera airs, extracts from dance suites and sonatas by his contemporaries: Jacques Aubert, Louis Aubert, Toussaint Bordet, Charles Antoine Branche, Jean-Baptiste Cupis, Antoine Dauvergne and André Joseph Exaudet.

On stage, Théotime Langlois de Swarte plays the violin and William Christie the harpsichord and organ. Part of this programme was recorded by the two musicians on the historic organ of the abbey of Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne.

Tickets range from 5 to 20 euros. The Cité de la Musique et de la Danse is at Parc Gouraud, 9 allée Claude Debussy, in Soissons. For tickets and information: 03 23 59 10 12 or cmd@agglo-soissonnais.com.

I like the idea of approaching Rameau through the violin, with composers of his time who are rarely heard.