Sitting in a corner listening to him play Bach's Prelude to the 1st Suite, we would let ourselves go and close our eyes.
History to soak up completely the notes coming out of his Stradivarius of 1730 and to escape far from Paris.
Before changing his mind.
It would be a shame to miss out on the spectacle offered by Camille Thomas, sparkling in her black dress and literally inhabited by music, in the majestic setting of the 1900 lounge at the Musée des arts décoratifs.
During a meeting with the press organized this Thursday, the cellist returned to play in the museum where her first video was filmed and broadcast on her social networks.
VIDEO. She plays the cello in museums emptied of their public by confinement
The day before, the 32-year-old Franco-Belgian was filming at the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution.
The sequence dedicated to UNICEF, partner of his album “Voice of Hope”, will be unveiled on December 18.
On the 5th, she will build another under the nave of the Grand Palais.
“During the scouting, I felt very small,” she smiles humbly.
His solos at the Institut de France, the Institut du monde arabe and the Nissim de Camondo museum are also already in box.
To be patient, we can already revel in this Friday's performance at the Queen Marie-Antoinette Theater at the Palace of Versailles.
Discussions are underway with the Comédie Française, the Musée d'Orsay and the Opéra Garnier to achieve the goal of publishing nine videos by February.
Since the start of the second confinement, Camille Thomas has decided to invest in and wake up closed and empty museums and monuments with her cello.
Their reopening scheduled for December 15 has changed nothing in his project.
“Artists are the first to stop their activity and the last to resume.
This is a mistake because France is a country of culture.
We cannot let culture die.
We are in a fight to make people understand how essential art is.
We need caregivers for our body, but also music for our soul.
My weapon is my cello, ”explains the one who created a #artisessential logo to be affixed to profile photos.
"I had the impression of being useful for something"
The Parisian by birth - of Belgian parents - and of heart had this bright idea at the exit of the first confinement in front of the success met by her videos where she played on the roof of her building.
Videos viewed by millions of people around the world.
#VoiceofHopeinMuseums #Ravel #Kaddisch #FeuermannStradivarius @DGclassics @InstitutFrance
🎻 pic.twitter.com/z1CdvLeK9f
- Camille Thomas (@CamilleThomasOF) November 12, 2020
"In March, I was preparing to go on tour for the release of my album, everything was canceled," laments the first woman cellist to sign a contract with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon.
I felt a huge void because the moment when art is created is when there is this contact and this sharing with the public.
My refuge during confinement was my roof.
It has become my concert hall.
That's where I applauded the caregivers at 8 p.m.
I felt helpless, and I wanted to play for them.
"
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And to maintain the link with his audience.
“The reactions touched me enormously.
People wrote to me:
your videos do me good and bring me hope
.
I had the impression of being useful for something ”, estimates the prodigy who took hold of her first cello at 4 years old.
Despite the deconfinement, she could not stop there.
“When life resumed in May, museums were still closed and concerts banned.
I wanted to get off my roof to continue creating beauty, sharing it and bringing museums to life.
"
An approach magnified by director Martin Mirabel behind his camera.
“It's wonderful to play in these places, but I feel a great sadness because they are not made to be empty.
They also show that art is eternal and universal.
I hope to make people want to go to these museums when they reopen ”, ambitions the ambassador of classical music, which she wishes to make accessible to as many people as possible.
“I always wanted to take it out of an environment that is said to be closed when it is false.
"
However, few can boast of having had the Stradivarius in hand, which accompanies it everywhere. "I carry around a treasure that is normally exhibited in a museum and which has inestimable value," she admits, proud of the loan granted by the Nippon Music Foundation. “It’s incredible luck and a huge responsibility. I have nightmares about it, she laughs. Every morning when I open the box, I get goose bumps. It's a part of my body. "
