Paris Music: Salle Pleyel offers top performances in a stylish venue

Apr 17, 2007

Salle Pleyel in Paris. Photo: Mario

There are a lot of great concert venues in Paris but few can match the fine-tuned acoustics of the new Salle Pleyel. Recently reopened after an extensive two-year renovation, the Salle Playel is crisply minimalist in design and optimal in sound quality. The music hall is located at 252, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in the glitzy 8th arrondissement.

Those looking for an ornate, old-world concert halls experience like you’d find at the Opera de Paris, won’t find it here. The Pleyel is a venue constructed around its acoustic quality. Side balconies have been created solely to improve the hall’s sound distribution, resulting in a nearly 20% optimization of the room’s volume and reverberation time. What the Salle Pleyel lacks in belle epoque touches it makes up for in its cool contemporary design and unmatched acoustics–making it a must see (and listen) for any concert-goer in Paris.

The Pleyel welcomes orchestras, jazz and traditional performers from around the world with ticket prices ranging from cheapo (€10) to extravegant (€130).

Tip: €10 stand-by tickets are available an hour prior to concerts for those under 27, over 65, and unemployed.

About the author

Enchanted by maps at a young age, Michael's first voyages were of the unglamourous variety (think Florida, Subarus, and talking mice). It was in an Australian hostel, while sleeping on a bare mattress, that he discovered the value of quality budget travel. Following a six month sejour on Australia's Sunshine Coast, Michael finished his studies at Hunter College in New York and moved to Paris. In Paris, Mike edits and writes for The Paris Times and checks out cheap sleeps for EuroCheapo. When not walking the streets of Paris pretending to be Ernest Hemingway, Michael enjoys penning short stories and playing the didjeridoo.