Live music venue, Performing arts theater
La Seine Musicale
Set on Île Seguin in the Seine, this concert complex wraps its auditorium in a glass sail that glows over the river at night, staging everything from symphonies and jazz to ballet, musicals and ciné-concerts.
The story
The approach starts with a walk across the bridge to the island, and the building's scale becomes clear on the way. A solar sail moves slowly and quietly across the façade, a terrace looks out over the river, and stairs climb the hill around the complex. Inside are a warm, elegant auditorium with good sightlines and refined acoustics, and a larger, spacious arena with screens beside the stage. The programme runs from Tchaikovsky and Beethoven to jazz and world music, Ballet Preljocaj's Swan Lake, musicals such as La Cage aux folles, film-music shows and Sunday-morning ciné-concerts. Younger audiences get baby concerts and workshops. Restaurants occupy the ground floor, and an upper-floor bar serves cocktails before the show and during the interval.
Good to know
TAGGG AI- ✦Avoid seats at the very back of the large hall, where much of the stage is hard to see.
- ✦Come early for a drink at the upper-floor cocktail bar and terrace, which also suit an interval stop.
- ✦The venue is reachable by metro and bus, and rideshares and parking are also available.