Friday 1 January - New Year Day, La Madeleine Organ Concert

We got off to a pretty late, slow start today.

On the top of the dome of Saint-Augustines church.

There was an organ concert at La Madeleine and we walked there and back along Malsherbes and past Saint-Augustines.

The organ at La Madeleine

We were prepared to be disappointed bearing in mind how poor the concert was on Christmas Day but we took seats right at the back where the acoustics seemed much better.  Perin, the organist, chose some interesting music and was not heavy on the volume so that the organ could be heard easily without any muddiness or distortion.  The opening piece by Daquin was excellent and we enjoyed pieces by Cesar Franck and Louis Lefebvre-Wely.  By far the best were pieces by J.S. Bach, the Prelude and Fugue BWV 547 was wonderful, the prelude being exceptional. The music built up to a crescendo so the nots hit the roof and came tumbling around us down to the floor.

The final piece we heard was Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1.  This came over well although the "Land of Hope and Glory" finale was a little too loud and became somewhat distorted.

We left before the last piece, Variations on Christmas themes by the organist.  We had heard this before - and disliked it.

We sat under one of the domes towards the back and it seemed the sound was better here.