Saturday 22 August 2015

Museum collection on a kitchen chair

The museum is open between April and Oktober, Saturdays and Sundays from 15h00 till 18h00, and is free as well.

The museum
The collection of this tiny museum consists of amongst others a Merovingian sarcophagus from Curtil-sous-Burnand, a number of small and larger pieces of flint stone and some old coins, whilst the first floor is dedicated to Romanesque architecture.
The first time we visited this museum was with a big group of people of the Tourist Office in Saint-Gengoux.

Open!
During this first, very brief visit we thought that the first floor had not much more but a collection of scale models, drawings and photographs of the churches of Mont-Saint-Vincent and Gourdon. Still, the maker of Bourgogne Romane thought that there might be more Romanesque stuff in this museum.

Ground floor
From an earlier blog it may be clear that we already had undertaken another attempt to pay a second visit to this museum.

First floor
Finally we decided to try out luck once more, this time on our way back from a visit to a former brick factory in Ciry-le-Noble. This time we hit the jackpot. The museum was open, and the ground floor certainly had no Romanesque items, hence we decided to look upstairs. At the bottom of the stairs there were two light switches, taped off with cello tape and a notice saying "Do not touch!".

The chair
It looked as if switching on the lights might cause a short circuit somewhere. Hence we had to investigate the top floor with the light shining through the windows. The scale models, drawings and pictures were still there, but in a dark corner we found a kitchen chair with three pieces of stone and a sign telling us that these were "Rare remains of the priory". Next to it, on a wooden pedestal, there was a modillon with an Atlante.

75 % of the collection
According to Wikipedia: In classical European architecture, an atlas (also known as an atlant, or atlante or atlantid; plural atlantes) is a support sculpted in the form of a man, which may take the place of a column, a pier or a pilaster. The term atlantes is the Greek plural of the name Atlas – the Titan who was forced to hold the sky on his shoulders for eternity.
So this appeared to be the whole Romanesque collection of the museum. However, one has to admit that a museum where the Romanesque remains easily fit on a kitchen chair is certainly something special!

The remaining 25%
Click here for the website of La Tuilerie de Chazelle.

Saturday 8 August 2015

Guitares en Cormatinois 2015

The festival is over; the preparations for the next one (2016) will no doubt commence very soon.
Below an overview of this year's concerts. Only the concerts which were distinctly different or much better than the other ones will get a few more lines than the (also good) remaining concerts.

Philippe Mouratoglou & Ariane Wohlhuter
Philippe Mouratoglou – guitar & Ariane Wohlhuter – soprano
A thorough program with music of Purcell, Dowland, Britten and amongst others Sor, Rodrigo, de Falla.


Franceries Sound Connection
Franceries Sound Connection – guitar, flute, percussion
An interesting program with what I for convenience's sake call World Music. A random selection: Roumanion music (such as the Hora Staccato), Brasilian music, an occasional tango, Zawinul's Mercy, mercy, mercy, etc.


Jérémy Jouve
Jérémy Jouve – gitaar
A sparkling program with works of (amongst others) Mompou, Rodrigo, de Falla and the contemporary composer Duplessy. Jouve stood in last year for a colleague who fell ill, and turned out to be by far the best guitar player of the festival. This year, 2015, he lived up to that reputation as well.


Eric Sobczyk & Agnès Abiton
Eric Sobczyk – guitar & Agnès Abiton – guitar
A guitar recital played on romantic guitars, with works of Carulli, Sor and Coste.


Irish Kind Of
Irish Kind Of – guitar, violin, flute, vocals
As the name of the band suggests this was a concert with mainly Irish reels and jigs. That Irish music is quite popular in France might be deduced from the band's origins (Grenoble) and from the fact that the concert was more than sold out. A number of people had to be send away, and the team of volunteers had to stay outside and listened in through the church doors that were kept ajar….

The team of volunteers outside the church
Click here for the website of La Tuilerie de Chazelle.