In Barbizon, there is the forest, the painters, and, since 2025, L’esquisse evenings. The cultural hotel on the Grande Rue, which is also a museum and a café, is opening its lounge to music on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm, and this autumn three Sundays at 6.30 pm. A piano, a fireplace, musicians just a stone’s throw away: it feels more like an evening at a friend’s house than a concert hall. The very first event, in February 2025, brought together around fifty people to enjoy some jazz, and the format has caught on.
We’ll start with a duet: Marion Frère on the cello and Théo Penven on the piano are performing sonatas by two female composers whose works are all too rarely heard, Henriette Renié and Marie Jaëll. The following Sunday, drinks and piano music by the fireside with Armand Frydman, which invites the flautist Claude Campenet featuring works by Bach, Chopin and Debussy. Then it’s time for French chanson with the trio Her name is Cécile : Cécile Devautour on vocals and lyrics, Rémi Combaz on piano, Clément Keller on double bass.
November kicks off with a jazz performance by the students of the Didier Lockwood Music Centre, as is our custom on the first Friday of the month, with Nona Nuvem. Next up is the saxophone quartet Saxenseine, ranging from Shostakovich to the Beatles via Gershwin, and then Mar & Balt, a project in which Marion’s cello interacts with Balthazar’s electronic instruments. The ensemble the Promenoir brings the month to a close with a blend of Baroque music and Japanese koto, featuring the musician Gaho Takahashi. And in December, Liouba Frydman sings her own songs, accompanied on the cello by Clara Achour.
Because you can listen to the music up close, glass in hand, in a house that has breathed new life into one of Barbizon’s first hotels. And because the evening can start earlier: L’esquisse, Barbizon’s cultural hotel, is also home to a small, free museum dedicated to the artists’ colonies that sprang up in the wake of the Barbizon School.
Prices vary depending on the evening, ranging from free admission for the piano aperitif to €20 for certain concerts. Booking is recommended, either by telephone on 01 85 45 01 00 or by email, and tickets for some evenings can be booked online at the news page on L’esquisse.
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