Date Night

Last night we went on a date to a concert at the Lausanne cathedral – we saw Giampaolo Di Rosa, from Rome, who is apparently an international rock star in the organist world.  He’s also a pianist, composer, researcher and professor with a doctorate in music – and looks surprisingly young with a big mop of curly hair.

The setting and acoustics were incredible – we were facing the front of the church and the world famous organ.  The organ in the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Lausanne is the only one of its kind in the world and has over 7000 pipes.  The music ranged from light Mozarty pieces to a heavy baroque, want-to-cover-your ears “Adams Familyesque” style.  He ended the concert with 15 minutes of melodious and light improvisation that left us wanting more (except for the uncomfortable chairs).

Speaking of rock stars, we had been to another concert at the cathedral two weeks before to hear our friend, Francois Maniez, from Vourles (the French village near Lyon where we lived 10 years ago) sing with the Ensemble Var’s Musica for the last night of the Festival de la Cité Lausanne.  This time we were facing forward and the sound of the three voices filled the cathedral – almost like a musical bath.  Francois was kind enough to come and talk to us after the concert.  We felt like we had a backstage pass to meet the stars.  Here’s a little sample of their music:   http://2012.festivalcite.ch/programme/spectacles/ensemble-vars-musica/

We finished the evening by taking the elevator at the Metro Bessières down to the Rue Centrale, past Globus (a fancy grocery store in the heart of Lausanne that helps us know where we are), to a trendy area of Lausanne called Flon.  It was bustling with people – helped by the warm evening after a 90+ degree day.  We went to Nomade  (www.restaurantnomade.ch) a vinothèque restaurant that we had seen on one of our many trips to the Controle Des Habitants.   We had eaten before the concert so we went for a glass of wine and some dessert.  I think it will become one of our favorite restaurants in Lausanne.  We had some delicious French and Swiss wine, an appetizer – a small bit of chèvre in a thin pastry cup, with figs and honey,  followed by poached peaches with balsamic sauce.  The peaches were served with a “crumble”- layered almond cream and a paper thin layer of chocolaty crust, with a side of the most heavenly scoop of cinnamon ice cream.  When our pleasant and friendly waitress said, “a la prochaine” she was right, we’ll definitely be back.