14.6.10

Playing in the metro

There is autorised and non authorised music in the Paris metro. Some 300 musicians or groups have got a permit to play in the corridors; not on the quays or in the coaches. In order to get this permit, they have to pass a selection in front of a jury. They are then given six months’ permits to play, which can be renewed. Some artists seem to be around since years, some even since 15 years. It seems that some make a fairly decent living on this.

You often meet musicians also in the cars, but they risk to be caught for illegal playing.

In the Châtelet metro station you often find groups of Russian, South American musicians … and certain days also this little orchestra – “Classique Metroplitain”. The members may vary from one day to the other, but the young musicians always perform extremely well. I took some photos and was particularly impressed by the “first violin”.
Someone also made a short video (from another previous concert).

26 comments:

Starman said...

I came across Classique Metroplitain playing in Place Collette. I liked them so much, I bought a CD.

Starman said...

I noticed you didn't have a link to Paris Avant. I'll bet you'll like it. http://parisavant.com/

Thérèse said...

Peter se lance dans la vidéo, bravo!
Vive la bonne musique qui détresse les métro/boulot/dodo...

Dianne said...

Thanks Peter for that bit of info about the "music in the metro" I loved the ambiance it added to the hustle and bustle of the un der-ground- top pic is music in action !!
Dianne xxoo

SusuPetal said...

We have a lot of Russian musicians playing on the streets in Helsinki. They come here during their summer vacation of musical schools and they are so great! It's like having a concert while listening to them.

Olivier said...

samedi, a bastille, il y avait u groupe de blues 'Cotton belly's" (des amis) qui faisait un concert. Ces musiciens du métro sont courageux, pas facile. belle série de photos

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wow! This must be awesome! So musically rich!

hpy said...

La musique adoucit les moeurs! Parfois utile dans le métro, quand tout le monde est pressé. Et il me semble qu'il y a toujours des gens qui s'arrêtent pour écouter, ne serai-ce qu'un court moment.
(Depuis quelque temps tu te lèves plus tôt pour commenter, es-tu devenu insomniaque?)

Cergie said...

J'ai moi-même pris des photos du haut de cet escalier mais il faut être toi pour oser celels prises sous le nez des musiciens, avec ton air goguenard de touriste suédois je suis sûr que tu parles en english ou en swedish et hop tu as tous les droits.
Autrefois ce n'était pas si reglementé, le frère de ma meilleure amie jouait (parfois) dans le métro. Il a fait polytechnique ensuite, tu vois ça mène à tout...

BlossomFlowerGirl said...

A wonderful post. Some of the best artists are street prformers - they play from the heart. Thanks for the video, Mozart has always been one of my favourite composers. His music is joyful.
Cheers.
Melbourne Daily Photo

Nathalie H.D. said...

J'aime bien la musique dans le métro. Je trouve que c'est quand même dur, ce décalage entre voyageurs pressés et musique de qualité jetée dans les couloirs. Pourtant ça fait une différence positive dans la vie des gens, j'en suis persuadée.

J'ai écouté la vidéo, c'est vrai qu'ils sont bons !

Ta première photo est excellente.

Bettina said...

Lovely photos. You really captured the feeling and I can almost hear the music.

I didn't know about this permit thing. I actually thought that all performences vere "illegal". How interesting - thank you for sharing.

Cezar and Léia said...

How cool, they are talented indeed!I like a lot!
Lucky Peter, you have wonderful musicians performing at the metro there, by my side here, for instance last Saturday for listening good music I had almost to fight (in advance)to get some tickets for the Philharmonic and then lots of traffic, headache about the parking and so on... LOL
Kidding! But it's really nice to have this opportunity to listen good music at the metro!
Have a nice week dear friend,
Hugs
Léia

claude said...

Je me souviens d'un jour un clochard joait dans un couloir de la scie musicale. Il jouait super bien, un truc qui vous transperçait et qui vous poursuivait sur le quai. C'est tout juste si je voulais monter dans la rame afin de l'écouter encore.
Puis un autre jour un groupe est montée dans un wagon et a joué du jazz. Belle ambiance un cours instant dans ce wagon.
Je vois que le classique fait son entrée dans le métro.

Catherine said...

Conclusion. Tu as loupé combien de métros ?
Et l'accoustique n'est peut-être pas si mauvaise sous ces voutes....

Un Quidam Non Mélomane aux Violoncellistes said...

Poussez vous, svp....J'ai besoin de consulter le plan. C'est un monde, ça tout de même !

sonia a. mascaro said...

Just great Peter!
I thought that all performances were legal.

Thanks for your comment about my view. Anyway I think you have a great view, because you have a view of a street in Paris! Can be better?

Have a nice week ahead.

Cheryl said...

Wow, they are really good! I love street musicians, their immense talent, how much they seem to love their craft, how they can make a boring or stressful commute suddenly enjoyable. Wonderful.

The Sabbatical Chef said...

bought one of Classique Metropolitain's CD last year after hearing them in the métro! It is one of my favorites! Merci, Peter, for writing about this wonderful talented group of musicians. I miss Paris and can't believe I will be France-less this summer...

joanna said...

"Music in the metro" How delightful no wonder they call Paris the city of light and love -- every where you go it seems there is beauty and good food and music filling the air. Thanks for having the video so we can enjoy the listening pleasure with the visual feast of your great photo displays.

Joanny

Unknown said...

The top shot is fantastic, great portrait!

Peter, did you rent the house at Sesimbra?

Catherine said...

it would be lovely to stop here and listen to some soothing classical music whilst travelling on the metro...

Kate said...

This reminds me of the time a few years ago when Joshua Bell, a fantastic violinist, played anonymously in a US subway during morning rush hour. Few people stopped to listen to him...their tremendous loss. We buy tickets to his performances whenever he come to our town.

Trotter said...

Great advantage of taking the Metro in Paris

Vagabonde said...

This is one of the things I like about the metro – the different group of musicians playing – some of them are very talented.

Virginia said...

P
Found this post that I'd missed through Travelavenue!
I love the musicians in the Metro as you know. I think it's nice to hear the music as you snake your way through the halls!
V