In vino musica

From the opera, we know the innumerable philtres and miraculous potions that the tormented souls who inhabit the stage snatch from each other throughout the acts. From the melody, we taste the long sighs where the soul of the poet gets drunk of love and nature. From the tavern tunes, we retain the liveliness and the outbursts of mischief… But what an enchantment to note, in the heart of these scores, through a line, a recitative, an aubade, a song, the praise of wine!

In the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, censorship and propriety required, it seemed strange to display such a drink on stage. Beyond the fact that it was unseemly to show the degradation of a man under the influence of alcohol, the very act of drinking – a very common gesture intended to satisfy a purely physical desire – could not decently inhabit the musical art that claimed to elevate the spirits. Although widely consumed by the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie on a daily basis, wine could thus appear as a vulgar and, all in all, anti-aesthetic element…

This was without taking into account the importance of ancient culture in the inspiration of composers: in the stories coming from Athens or Rome, bacchanals, bacchantes, bacchanalian celebrations were an integral part of the decor! Bacchus, for his part, willingly invited himself into the concert of scores and interfered with malice and sometimes mischief in the melodies and drinking tunes. It was also without counting on the aspiration to libertinage which found in wine – and in the music of cellar, tavern, theater or court – a precious accomplice. Finally and above all, the buffa vein of many scores naturally invited the invitation to wine, whose effects on the organism could be a pretext for comical and hilarious scenes. In short, the combination of wine and music was a guarantee of laughter and good humor. All in all, composers and performers saw the prospect of success. Thus wine – young or old, delicious or infamous, adorned with praiseworthy virtues or symbol of depravity – would irrigate with passion many scores.

We have gathered here a delicious anthology.

And around music by Lully, Rameau, Clérembault, Bataille, Lambert, Boësset… the wine itself will be tasted at the end of the concert. Patiently selected to echo the notes, the wines will allow the audience to prolong the musical journey. In vino musica !

Laurent Croizier