L'Oreille de Proust

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The French Library is delighted to partner with the Boston Athenæum and the Consulate General of France in Boston to present an imaginative and varied performance by Les Amis de Vinteuil, an ensemble composed of gifted pianists Anne-Lise Gastaldi and David Saudubray and actor and theater educator Camille Deveranantes. Based on Gastaldi and Saudubray’s 2015 record L’Oreille de Proust (The Ear of Proust), the performance will feature four-hand piano arrangements typical of 19th-century French salons interwoven with excerpts from the author’s works, reflecting the musical tastes of an influential creative milieu.

L’Oreille de Proust weaves together themes in the author’s writings and offers a sense of the music he enjoyed. Music is one of the central themes of In Search of Lost Time, which Proust wrote throughout the First World War. L’Oreille de Proust is a unique and thoughtful tribute to Marcel Proust and is presented in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I as an ally to France.

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About Anne-Lise Gastaldi

Anne-Lise Gastaldi studied piano in Nice, France, before continuing her studies at the Conservatoire National de Paris, and has won international prizes at the Viotti-Valesia Competition in Varallo and the ARD Competition in Munich. Gastaldi conceives and performs in programs that combine music and other art forms, founding the biennial Journées Musicales Marcel Proust with Pierre Ivanoff in 2012. She is artistic director of ClassicalVal in Val d’Isère and a professor of pedagogy at the Conservatoire de Paris.

About David Saudubray

David Saudubray has performed at renowned festivals including Auvers sur Oise, Roque d’Anthéron, Nohant Chopin Festival, Festival of Saint-Dénis, Pianofolies, and Nancyphonies. He won the Concurs Maria Canals in Barcelona in 2004 and the Fondation Charles Oulmont Competition in 2009. From 2008 to 2010, he recorded music for France 2’s acclaimed series Au siècle du Maupassant (In the age of Maupassant). He was the opera coach for Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Opéra Bordeaux and Opéra Bastille, and currently teaches piano at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris.

About Camille Devernantes

Camille Devernantes is the founder of theatre company La Musaraigne, having previously worked in theatre education and for the French National Ministry of Education. Since 2010, he has worked with the theater company Le Bruit du Monde, appearing in multiple stage readings of Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time) and other classic literary works. He has performed dramatic readings of Proust at the Journées Musicales Marcel Proust in Cabourg, the vacation destination of Marcel Proust.

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