The Guy’s Guide to Culture

Presenting Parisian culture in terms so basic that even a man can understand.

13 08, 2012

A Guy’s Guide to Culture: Ensemble Almeida – World Music? Classical!

By |2013-04-26T06:53:13+10:00Aug 13, 2012|1 Comment

Four musicians bearing instruments streamed out single-file from the side stage door like clowns piling out of a tiny VW. Ensemble Almeida should be a nice change of pace as they don’t play classical music but 'latin' music, and I don’t mean 'veni, vidi, vici'. At least I hope I don’t.

12 07, 2012

A Guy’s Guide to Culture: Pidoux, Jaupart & Ueyama Bach it up

By |2013-04-29T03:52:09+10:00Jul 12, 2012|1 Comment

In March, I attended a Classical Musical Festival at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Think of it as Woodstock without the ‘wood’. Three days of Peace and Quiet. The opening act of this extravaganza was a threesome formed by Raphaël Pidoux (cello), Pascale Jaupart (cello) and Kay Ueyama (harpsichord).

12 06, 2012

A Guy’s Guide To Culture: Vassilena Serafimova beats it

By |2013-04-29T04:38:28+10:00Jun 12, 2012|2 Comments

Ms Serafimova is not the author’s rock and roll, in fact she’s not even rock and roll at all. This charming percussionist put on a whole show of jazz and classical drum solos that kicked it in all the right places and helped me to make my peace with drummers.

12 04, 2012

A Guy’s Guide to Culture: Sylvain Blassel, harper bizarre

By |2013-06-28T16:34:44+10:00Apr 12, 2012|0 Comments

Mostly what I know about the harp is that it’s a musical instrument that plays classical music, and I know harpist Sylvain Blassel recorded a very soothing CD with the harp called Bach – Goldberg Variations. I also know I saw him live, and here’s the proof of that…

12 03, 2012

A Guy’s Guide to Culture: Creatures

By |2013-04-30T03:46:25+10:00Mar 12, 2012|1 Comment

I’ll try anything once, and that’s just one of the many things I have in common with all the arty types here in Paris. The inability to afford French cigarettes and a belief the day starts at night are others ... Artists and I will try anything once and we were all in deep at The Balzac the other night.

18 01, 2012

A Guy’s Guide to Culture: Painful Piccolo

By |2013-05-01T00:00:48+10:00Jan 18, 2012|3 Comments

I get absolutely, freak-all nothing about classical music—and even less about the piccolo. I’m sure those of you who appreciate the unique brand of “music” that is the piccolo will love Jean-Louis Beaumadier’s latest effort, Pastoral. Point being, I did not care much for the music in this concert [...]

12 12, 2011

A Guy’s Guide to Culture: A Quadriplegic Takes On The Artist

By |2013-07-02T16:23:06+10:00Dec 12, 2011|5 Comments

Like The Artist, Intouchables is very American for a French flick. It has dialogue, for example. Plus, the dialogue isn’t some obscure, existential discourse symbolizing the relation of the royalty to the clergy in post-inquisition rural France—it’s about stuff normal people care about.

8 11, 2011

A Guy’s Guide to Culture: Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Pierre-Alain Volondat Play Schuman

By |2013-07-02T17:03:04+10:00Nov 8, 2011|0 Comments

Better men than I will write more insightful articles than I ever could explaining the nooks and crannies of culture. Those erudite treatises, however, are so far over most people’s heads as to cause nosebleeds. I’m here to present Parisian culture in terms so basic that even a man could understand.

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