PRESS CLUB—

CELINE 22

CELINE 22
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

IN 1969, BERNSTEIN DESCRIBES THE "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE" AS THE FIRST PSYCHEDELIC SYMPHONY EVER COMPOSED, AND MORE THAN 100 YEARS BEFORE THE DAWN OF THE MOVEMENT IN THE LATE 1960’S.

"(...)THOSE SOUNDS YOU'RE HEARING COME FROM THE FIRST PSYCHEDELIC SYMPHONY IN HISTORY, THE FIRST MUSICAL DESCRIPTION EVER MADE OF A TRIP, WRITTEN ONE HUNDRED THIRTY ODD YEARS BEFORE THE BEATLES, WAY BACK IN 1830 BY THE BRILLIANT FRENCH COMPOSER HECTOR BERLIOZ. HE CALLED IT "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE", OR "FANTASTIC", AND FANTASTIC IT IS, IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD, INCLUDING PSYCHEDELIC".

HEDI SLIMANE DISCOVERED THE "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE" AT THE AGE OF 11 AND BECAME PASSIONATE ABOUT THE ROMANTIC MUSICAL PIECE BY THE YOUNG BERLIOZ.

HECTOR BERLIOZ WAS ONLY 26 YEARS OLD WHEN HE WAS IN AN OBSESSIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH ENGLISH ACTRESS HARRIET SMITHSON, WHICH LED HIM TO COMPOSE THE "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE" ON DECEMBER 5TH 1830 IN PARIS.

"NOW I'M SURE THAT ANY OF YOU WHO HAS EVER HAD A CRUSH ON SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T RETURN YOUR FEELING WILL UNDERSTAND THAT PASSIONATE MELODY PERFECTLY; AND YOU CAN EASILY SEE HOW A LOVESICK MUSICIAN COULD BECOME OBSESSED BY IT. AND IF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU'RE READY TO HEAR THE SYMPHONY". - LEONARD BERNSTEIN, MAY 1969

"THERE IS SOMETHING NEW TO BE DONE" WROTE BERLIOZ IN 1830 "AND A LOT OF IT, I FEEL WITH EXTREME ENERGY".

BERLIOZ DEFINED HIS MUSICAL DRAMA "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE", WRITTEN BETWEEN FEBRUARY AND APRIL 1830, – AS AN "IMMENSE INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION OF A NEW GENRE". COMPOSED IN THE MIDST OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD, HECTOR BERLIOZ EXCELS IN THE SPACIALIZATION OF HIS ORCHESTRATION.

IN THE AFTERMATH OF ITS FIRST PUBLIC PRESENTATION, CRITICS WERE TAKEN ABACK BY ITS MODERNITY AND REVIEWED IT AS "THE ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE STRANGENESS THAT ONE COULD EVER IMAGINE".

HEDI SLIMANE TAILORING FOR CELINE

THE "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE" COLLECTION MARKS THE RETURN OF TAILORING, IN HEDI SLIMANE’S PURE SARTORIAL TRADITION. THE "I" LINE IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF HIS SILHOUETTE AND OF THE 1960S TAILORING INSPIRED BY THE ANGLOMANIA OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THE FROCK COATS, 3 BUTTONED SUITS, AND HAND EMBROIDERED WAISTCOATS, ARE EXCLUSIVELY CUT FROM THE UTMOST PRECIOUS AND LUXURIOUS FABRICS SUCH AS SILK, CASHMERE, AND VICUNA. MATTE BLACK, SATIN AND LACQUERED DOMINATE THROUGHOUT THE COLLECTION.

DOUG WESTON’S TROUBADOUR

THE ICONIC TROUBADOUR CLUB IN WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA FIRST OPENED IN 1957. THE VENUE HAS HOSTED LIVE PERFORMANCES FROM SOME OF THE BIGGEST ARTISTS OVER THE LAST SIX DECADES, INCLUDING JONI MITCHELL, NEIL YOUNG, CAROLE KING, JAMES TAYLOR, TOM WAITS, THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, METALLICA, GUNS N ROSES, PEARL JAM, RADIOHEAD, FRANZ FERDINAND, THE STROKES AND MORE. NOTABLY ELTON JOHN GOT HIS U.S. BREAK AT THE TROUBADOUR IN 1970, INTRODUCED BY NEIL DIAMOND. DOUG WESTON, THE CLUB'S FOUNDER, ONCE REFERRED TO THE LINE-UP AS "MODERN-DAY TROUBADOURS", A TERM USED TO DESCRIBE FRENCH POETS AND MUSICIANS FROM THE 11TH TO 13TH CENTURY. THE TROUBADOUR CONTINUES TO BE A LANDMARK DESTINATION FOR ACTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

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