logologo
HelpLoading...
16 and 17 September 2023Passed
September 2023
Saturday 16
10:00 - 19:00
Sunday 17
10:00 - 19:00
7 to 107 years old

Théâtre de Bligny - Compagnie du Théâtre de Bligny

Centre hospitalier 91640 Fontenay-lès-Briis
  • Essonne
  • Île-de-France

Free access to the ivory & ebony keyboard of the historic Pleyel piano Grand concert AL1928 of the Théâtre de Bligny only once a year...

**The historical piano of Bligny Hill is as well protected as the Queen of Denmark: We do not approach; we do not touch! Except for the European Days of Patra...
16 and 17 September 2023Passed
CTC - 2023

The historical piano of Bligny Hill is as well protected as the queen of Denmark: We don’t approach; we don’t touch! Except on the occasion of the European Heritage Days...

In 1930, Maison Pleyel decided to change the design of its concert pianos and to move from the big round feet that were its signature until then to the fine square feet art deco that we all know.
But what to do then with the "old-fashioned" pianos, all of high quality that remained in its warehouses?
Not wanting to put them on sale, Pleyel decided to give these pianos in concert to charitable works, and so in 1930, the old "Œuvres des Sanatoriums Populaires de Paris" Of which the Bligny Hospital is the direct heir received in donation the famous piano Pleyel Grand-Concert AL 1928, the one that is today at the Theatre of Bligny.
You can see it in a few rare photos from the '50s in the theater, but that’s about it.
We know he "lived" in different parts of the hospital until the theater closed in 1971, and then we forgot about him
.

In the first months of the twenty-first century, he was "found" on the wall at the bottom of the orchestra pit, buried under a mountain of old mattresses, the theatre serving in those years as a warehouse for hospital scraps.

But what then to make of this sublime instrument, relatively degraded by years of sleep?
The President of the Bligny Hospital Center had it examined by the Maison Labrousse - a world reference - who, after a long and meticulous examination, declared it "alive".
Indeed, the burial under old mattresses "saved" it by protecting it from thermal shocks in an abandoned building and not heated in winter.
It was still necessary to invest €20,000 to restore it: the fonts were rebuilt according to Pleyel’s plans; the wooden crate was sent to Poland to be revernie in the rules of art, and finally, after many adventures and expert work, he made his triumphant return to the hospital from which he had left two years earlier.
Just in time for the reopening of the Théâtre de Bligny, also saved from oblivion after two years of work and the complete redesign of the interior spaces: the theatre we know today.

It is an exceptional musical instrument.

An instrument as we make more, with a mechanism called "nose" (note by note) as opposed to the contemporary model called "drum" (octave by octave) which equips all contemporary concert pianos.
It is an exceptional historical and heritage instrument,
There are only four left to run in the world: One at the Brooklin Academy of Music in New York; one in the Pleyel collection; one in a private home, and one in Bligny.
This historic Grand-Concert Pleyel AL 1928 piano is the main treasure of the Bligny Theatre. He is as well protected as the Queen of Denmark: "We do not approach, we do not touch!"
Only virtuoso musicians who have tamed the instrument have the right to touch his ebony and ivory keyboard for study sessions or concerts.

Except during the European Heritage Days where musicians of all ages have the right to play on it in maximum increments of 40 minutes!

Types d'événement
Visite libre
Thèmes 2023
Patrimoine vivant
I agree that the image may be freely used, provided that it is attributed to the author by name and shared under the same conditions.
Conditions de participation
Gratuit
Type de public
Tout public

About the location

Théâtre de Bligny - Compagnie du Théâtre de Bligny
Centre hospitalier 91640 Fontenay-lès-Briis
  • Essonne
  • Île-de-France
The theatre of Bligny was built within the sanatoriums of Bligny to "educate and entertain the residents of the sanatoriums", high point of a project "artistico-pedagogical" engaged in 1903.
The Théâtre de Bligny (architect: A. Colin) was inaugurated on Tuesday 19 September 1934\. Dr Urbain Guinard, who became physician-director at the end of 1939, greatly appreciated the cabaret singers; in his youth he had dreamed of becoming one of them.
From 1942, on his initiative, the theatre was regularly transformed into "Cabaret de la Longue Chaise".
Since the war, artists regularly "try" their new shows on the Bligny public.
Apart from the plays and the cabaret, it serves for the patronal feasts of Saint Louis, for Saint Catherine, the reception of the generous donors of the sanatoriums with the complicity of the stars, and for some feasts of Saint Nicholas.
It is also a cinema since its opening. In Bligny were held several film premieres by the authors Noël-Noël and Pierre Cardinal as well a
Tags
Château, hôtel urbain, palais, manoir, Édifice hospitalier, Espace naturel, parc, jardin, Lieu de spectacles, sports et loisirs
Access
By car or bus (Monday to Saturday, by the Briis-sous-Forges motorway station: Bus 9103 from the Massy-Palaiseau and Orsay stations. All times: [www.savac.fr](http://www.savac.fr)) Guide and map to download from the theatre website: [www.theatre-de-bligny.fr](http://www.theatre-de-bligny.fr)
©Compagnie Théâtrale de la Cité / Théâtre de Bligny