This program transports us to a lively Parisian concert hall in the mid 1780s, just before the Revolution changed everything.

An accomplished composer, violinist, conductor, fencer, and dancer, Joseph de Bologne became the toast of Paris in the early 1770s. The son of a plantation owner and an African slave, the younger mixed-race Bologne acquired the title Chevalier de Saint-Georges thanks to Louis XV, in whose personal guard he briefly served, and eventually became a favorite of Marie Antoinette. The program features a tuneful violin concerto from Saint-Georges, a comparable work from a contemporary, and a symphony commissioned by the Chevalier.

This event is part of the French Cultures Festival coordinated by the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in Houston.

Concert broadcast replay information

The full concert broadcast video of An Uncommon Chevalier is available to in-person subscribers, digital subscribers, Single Event Pass holders, and Single Event Replay Pass holders.

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On the program

Joseph de Bologne, Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 3, No. 1

W. A. Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216

Joseph Haydn, “Paris” Symphony No. 83 in G Minor (“The Hen”)

Run time

1 hour and 40 minutes including intermission