Wine and Music, harmony and dissonance

For its second major artistic exhibition, La Cité du Vin reveals the richness of the links between music and wine through a sensitive, audiovisual journey, which in turn calls to mind the arts of painting, music and the stage. From the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century, reminders of the association between wine and music, inspired by antiquity, are numerous and appear in renewed forms in all circles, whether princely, bourgeois or popular.

Dionysus (Bacchus for the Romans) is the god of wine and of creative inspiration. In its allegorical forms, music is itself frequently associated with wine, love and sensuality. Based on the custom of amorous meals in songs and the conviviality of banquets, taverns and cabarets, the alliance of wine and music goes back centuries and finds expression in all social strata. We find these mythical and symbolic references at the heart of great pictorial works, but also in popular imagery, the decoration of everyday objects, in ballets and operas as well as in repertoires of songs, either published or in the oral tradition.

The exhibition reflects this profusion through six themed sections and nearly 150 works from French and European collections. Recordings of operas, excerpts of ballets and unpublished drinking songs are offered for listening and form musical interludes along the journey.

The scenography has been designed by architect-scenographer Loretta Gaïtis, who has carried out projects for the Musée d’Orsay, the Grand Palais and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. For this exhibition, she has joined forces with graphic designer Savannah Lemonnier and lighting designer Philippe Collet.

In a warmly coloured atmosphere, progress through the exhibition is at the pace of each section, allowing time for pauses and musical interludes. Extracts from scores and illustrated music books become the backdrop of the scenography. Perspective and a play on transparency gradually reveal sets of objects staged in vast showcases, picked out by the light.

AUDIO TOUR

An audio tour is set up throughout the exhibition. Eight individual listening points and three collective listening stations play extracts from major musical works (Lully, Rameau, Massenet, Duvernoy...), video recordings of great operatic arias (Puccini, Verdi) and original recordings of drinking songs.

CHILDREN'S TOUR

A tour has been specially designed for young visitors (from 8 years old). Through the exhibition, with the help of a booklet and a selection of flagship objects, they discover the history of musical instruments and genres, and the variety of stage sets, costumes and costume jewellery.

THE 6 SECTIONS OF THE EXHIBITION

• Section 1: Dionysus: triumphs and bacchanalian processions
• Section 2: Dance: bacchanalia, ballets, popular dances
• Section 3: Love and Drunkenness
• Section 4: Character figures and Allegories
• Section 5: Concerts and Amorous meals
• Section 6: Banquets, Taverns and Cabarets