Salle Gaveau

The Salle Gaveau, named after the French piano maker Gaveau, is a classical concert hall in Paris, located at 45-47 rue La Boétie, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It is particularly intended for chamber music.
Construction.
The plans for the hall were drawn up by Jacques Hermant in 1905, the year the land was acquired. The construction of the Gaveau building took place from 1906 to 1907. The vocation of this hall was chamber music from the beginning, and its seating capacity was a thousand, just as it is today. The hall was home to a large organ built in 1900 by the Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll firm. This instrument with 39 stops (8 on the positive, 12 on the recitative, 12 on the grand organ and 7 on the pedal) was subsequently installed in 1957 in the commune of Saint-Saëns in Normandy. The hall is a concert venue renowned for its exceptional acoustics.
Beginnings.
The hall opened its doors on 3 October 1907 for the concert of the Lehrergesangverein (Teachers' Choir of the city of Bremen with one hundred and forty performers). It immediately became a prestigious hall. Camille Saint-Saëns' concert in the Salle Gaveau [audience and orchestra from the stage]; then other famous musicians gave concerts there from the first months after the opening. The concerts Lamoureux, conducted by Camille Chevillard, Vincent d'Indy and André Messager, moved to Gaveau. On 5, 8 and 12 November 1907, Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals performed the complete trios by Beethoven. In the following years, the Salle Gaveau hosted Eugène Ysaÿe (21 January 1908), Lazare-Lévy (27 January 1909), Marguerite Long (11 December 1911), Georges Enesco (8 February 1912), Fritz Kreisler (21 and 28 April 1912), Wilhelm Backhaus (15 May 1912), Claude Debussy (5 May 1917).<ref name="resmusica 2018/02/19">Claude Debussy, martyrisé par un cancer (in French) resmusica.com 2018</ref>
World Wars.
During the First World War, the Salle Gaveau was used to give shows to soldiers and victims. However, it continued its original activity. During the interwar period, the hall hosted Charles Munch (28 October 1933), Wanda Landowska (7 November 1933), Rudolf Serkin (2 December 1933), and Yves Nat in 1934. The Lamoureux concerts continued to be held there.
The same scenario occurred during the Second World War, when Gaveau was once again used as a gala venue, while hosting famous musicians such as Jacques Février, Pierre Fournier, Samson François, Paul Tortelier, and Raymond Trouard. The concert season continued after the war. In 1955, for example, the hall welcomed Reine Flachot, Pierre Bernac, Francis Poulenc, and Alexandre Lagoya.
Purchase by the Fournier couple.
In 1963, Gaveau went bankrupt. This led to the sale of the Gaveau building to an insurance company, and it was destined to be destroyed for the construction of a car park. Chantal and Jean-Marie Fournier, a couple of passionate musicians, bought the hall in 1976.
In 1982, the house was listed in the inventory and then classified as a Historic Monument in 1992. Chantal and Jean-Marie Fournier then sought to have it restored, the condition of the venue gradually declining. Subsidies were obtained, and the work was carried out by the chief architect of the Monuments Historiques. The hall reopened on 8 January 2001. It was restored in a more sober way than before, i.e. by seeking to recover the colours and ornaments of 1907.