"Niedermeyer was above all a precursor; he was the first to break the mold of the ancient and insipid French romance, and, inspired by the beautiful poems of Lamartine and Victor Hugo, created a new genre of superior art analogous to the German Lied; the resounding success of Le Lac paved the way for Monsieur Gounod and all those who followed him on this path." It is in these terms that Camille Saint-Saëns, the brand new piano teacher of the young Gabriel Fauré at the Ecole de Musique classique et religieuse de Paris – founded by Louis Niedermeyer – pays homage to this discreet innovator, who was Moscheles's pupil in Vienna.

The great French pianist Michel Dalberto, renowned interpreter of the works of Gabriel Fauré, will accompany Benoît Capt for this recital that will highlight emblematic melodies by Fauré, his friend and elder Camille Saint-Saëns and his master, the Swiss Louis Niedermeyer, pioneer in the art of Melody. Three pieces by another charismatic pedagogue of the time, the Germanophile César Franck, will complete the recital. This program will be presented to you at 7 p.m. in the hall by the young musicologist Aurore Cala-Fontannaz, scientific collaborator at the Louis Niedermeyer Institute in Nyon.