Mozart in London, Chopin in Paris…

One of the great magic of getting to know Europe is being able to get in touch with art in such a simple way. To see a painting by Monet, just go into a large museum like the National Gallery in London and there will be several.

In 2012, I had the opportunity to visit London and I was able to see a little bit of this wonderful city and see how art, especially music, is manifested there. On the day we visited the National Gallery and saw this wonder up there, we entered the church of Saint Martin in the Fields, which is right next door. The current building was built between 1721 and 1726 (although a church is known to have existed on the site since the Middle Ages), with Handel playing the organ at its inauguration in 1726. The church maintains an active concert circuit, which ranging from jazz to classical music concerts. It is worth setting aside a few pounds to be able to attend a concert there and the website has a concert schedule, so it is possible to schedule a trip to attend a certain concert. (http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/music/)

On the day we visited, we decided to buy a ticket for a concert commemorating Mozart's 256th birthday, on January 27, 2012, played by the Trafalgar Sinfonia. It was a fantastic experience! I had never heard an orchestra, live, so coordinated and with such beautiful sound before.

After London, we went to Paris and, as the big fan of Chopin that I am, I had to visit his tomb in the Pére Lachaise cemetery. Before, I took a walk on Rue de Rome, a well-known street in Paris that concentrates instrument, CD, record and sheet music stores and found some gems.

Arriving at the cemetery, I went straight to his tomb, small and simple, with his face in profile and a marble muse sculpted by Auguste Clésinger. Chopin was a Polish composer born in 1810 in the city of Zelazowa Wola, having left the country in 1830 during the Revolution in Warsaw, settling first in Vienna and then in Paris, never having returned to his native country. He was one of the great piano composers of the Romantic period and his best-known works are Grande Valsa Brilhante opus 18 (those who have seen Bugs Bunny will recognize this piece quickly), Noturno opus 9 n.2 and Sonata n.2 opus 35 (in it , the well-known Funeral March appears).

Finally, a playlist with a bit of Mozart and Chopin.

https://open.spotify.com/user/12184392027/playlist/4NGR6tvDmvkIQDJeNjC9Fg