Over a hundred.
This is the number of pianoforte found in the apartments of the Palace of Versailles during the Revolution, according to the artistic director of the Baroque Music Center of Versailles, Benoît Dratwicki.
Almost triple the number of harpsichords listed under Louis XIV!
Suffice to say that music was omnipresent at the court at the time of Marie-Antoinette.
"Music is a need for her as vital as the air she breathes"
, confirms Patrick Barbier.
In his book
Marie-Antoinette and music
(Grasset), which has just received the Château de Versailles prize for history books, this specialist goes into detail on this passion.
And its decisive role in the development of French opera.
"An anecdote says it all,
" he says.
A columnist mentions that when she lost her 11-month-old daughter, for twenty-five days, she no longer played music.
Read alsoOur review of the Marie-Antoinette series on Canal +: the contempt of the queen
This taste, inherited from his Austrian education, will modify cultural life in France.
And not only at Versailles.
"There's…
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