A dedication to Paul Mauriat

RIGA - If you wanted to go to a concert which provides both enjoyment and fulfilment, look no further than at the most peaceful time of the year, as Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat visits the Baltics as one of its European tour destinations. Its excellence is a perfect messenger for Christmas.

The orchestra, established in 1965, has gained world fame by its virtuosity and melodic approach on everything it does. Celebrating its 45th birthday, the orchestra dedicates the current tour to superb French musician Paul Mauriat, founder of the Grand Orchestre, who passed away in 2006. With many original members still playing in the orchestra, the concert seems to be filled with beautiful emotional experiences. The program is conducted by Paul Mauriat’s student, Jean-Jacques Justrafre.

Music is the most diverse field of art, and Paul Mauriat’s orchestra has proved this value through the decades making music emotional and soulful. The understanding on the music lets the orchestra become unique on a musical platform having a huge fan base around the globe. This orchestra has always aproved its professionalism and high expectations in every melody it has performed.

The key to the success was obviously Mauriat himself. Being born into a musical family, from the very start he was surrounded by sound. His ability to hear every note of the melody made him a music sensation. No wonder that his talent was soon heard on the big screen. And not only was the French cinema aware of his artistry; Hollywood was also on the list of Mauriat’s employers. Many of his musical themes were then becoming world hits. The song ‘I will follow him’ alone was a part of the movies Goodfellas and Sister Act, blockbusters of the ’90s, proving Mauriat’s musical immortality. Some may call him a genius, some may not, but nobody can ever deny the contribution this French musician has made to the world.

However, Mauriat’s leadership would never work if the team that was with him wasn’t eager to play music. Listeners evaluate an orchestra’s performance as great because of its capability to be as one organism, where all parts are unified while still functioning independently. In the hands of orchestra members music becomes pure and magnificent as the harmony of the melody is always the top priority for them. This is why the Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat could endure more than 40 years, being in demand around the planet. Everyone who has ever witnessed the performance of this orchestra has had a completely new impression on serious music.

Even more – Mauriat’s orchestra did something unbelievable at that time – it combined serious and popular music, proving there is no gap between the two. The biggest proof for that is the Eurovision song contest.  In 1967 Luxembourg participated in the competition with “Love is blue,” and Paul Mauriat’s orchestra played the instrumental part. Many critics then stated that the orchestra’s performance was to blame for the song’s later success. If that’s not enough – according to the British guardian.co.uk, European pop music flourished in the ’60s, and Paul Mauriat’s orchestra was one of the reasons for this.

The concert program is made to drag listeners into an exciting journey of Paul Mauriat’s creations and thus contains the most popular orchestra melodies, mostly movie and television music from “The Godfather,” “Love Story” and many others.

On Dec. 10, Vilnius’ Siemens Arena will be the first to host the orchestra’s Baltic concerts.  Then the orchestra will provide two concerts in Latvia – on Dec. 11 they will play at the Culture House of Daugavpils, but on Dec. 13 the orchestra will perform at Arena Riga. Between these two performances in Latvia, the orchestra is also scheduled to perform at Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn on Dec. 12.

Don’t miss your chance to witness an amazing musical event – the world known Grand Orchestre performs the program Hommage De Paul Mauriat!