What was found during the restoration of Notre Dame
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@Bernard - Thanks for sharing that video! It was very well done.
I've never been to Paris so haven't seen the cathedral in person, but I'm struck by how different it looks even from photos taken of it before the fire. I think it's wonderful that they used modern lighting techniques to illuminate the stained glass so it glows beautifully even on cloudy days.
Thought of you when I came across this video a couple of weeks ago. Meant to post it in this thread but forgot, so here it is now.
Link to video -
@wtg I was there in '97. Didn't take interior pictures, opting to buy slides from the gift shop instead. I did take pictures from the roof (I took a tour) of the gargoyles, architecture, fleche, etc. Oddly, I don't remember the interior all that much. (Maybe because I'd spent much more time in NY's St Patrick's Cathedral being so close by and all, and that sticks in my mind.)
As I watched Yo-Yo Ma performing I got to thinking that it might be harder for him to play that prelude now, after having played it so many times over a lifetime. Or not. I have heard cellists who've played it a lot lose spontaneity and start doing weird things with tempo.
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Sweet!
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@wtg thanks for posting the Yo-Yo Ma video, truly sublime.
@Bernard said in What was found during the restoration of Notre Dame:
As I watched Yo-Yo Ma performing I got to thinking that it might be harder for him to play that prelude now, after having played it so many times over a lifetime. Or not. I have heard cellists who've played it a lot lose spontaneity and start doing weird things with tempo.
Bernard, interesting. I would imagine there might be times that happens… recently, during a lesson we were working on one of the pieces I was to play in the concert, so I’d been playing it for a very long time, I was struggling with parts I don’t usually struggle with and it was going weirdly wrong. I couldn’t figure out why. My piano teacher asked me if I was getting bored. At first I was shocked at the idea that I could be bored with music I love so much, but then I realized there was probably something to that. I think that was when we talked about “finding more things to pay attention to in the music.”
For Yo-Yo Ma, besides the fact that he is consummate professional, there is so much to pay attention to in Bach, and then there’s the location of this performance… I can’t imagine him “getting bored”
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Very nice pictures. I can’t wait to see the cathedral again. I was last in Paris in 2021 when it was under reconstruction. We actually had an Airbnb right around the corner from there on Ile de la Cité.
Last time I saw it for real was January 09. I remember the dates because we watched Obama’s inauguration from a crowded bar there.
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My last trip to the Notre Dame predates digital photography. So even though I took pictures, I don't have any that is convenient to share online.
Not sure if I like the brighter/cleaner Notre Dame post-restoration. I have always thought of it as being old. Now all that bright, even pastel, colors give me that Hello Kitty vibe.
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I was in a hotel close to the cathedral in 1977. Once I visited there, I was so captivated, I went there every single day of my Paris visit. I even attended services there. I found the atmosphere in Notre Dame just very powerful and inspiring. Yes, I did explore a lot more of the city, but the Notre Dame Cathedral was my daily touchstone. Have no idea if I would feel the same way about the rebuilt cathedral, from looking at the broadcasts. I don't think the qualities that moved me could be captured on film.
