© 2001 Nicole Ragetly
© 2001 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
| The Supreme, God the Sevenfold, Forces, Energies and Universal Power Control: 100 Questions and Answers (2) | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 20 — Winter 2000 |
A few days ago, I wanted to tell you about a concert that Chris and I attended last summer, thanks to a Swiss couple who are friends (he is a violinist in a chamber music group, she is a singing teacher). This couple, therefore, met a rather extraordinary character. He bought a huge estate very close to our home. While walking on his land, mainly made up of scrubland, he discovered a sort of large open-air cellar into which he managed to descend and where he found the remains of sculpted stone columns. Highly intrigued and very interested, he did some in-depth research and discovered that, on the site of this cellar, there had been a chapel called “the chapel of Pisa”. His research allowed him to reconstruct the plans of the chapel, and he decided to rebuild it on its original site.
He called on the “Compagnons du Tour de France”… and here they are embarked on a somewhat crazy undertaking that I’ll let you imagine. The work lasted more than two years. He cleaned the surroundings, kept the most beautiful trees, established the parking lot 500 m from the chapel, and you arrive on foot at this magical place by a small winding and marked path covered with white gravel.
The magic appeared when we discovered the chapel, alone, on the side of a hill which highlighted it, totally alone.
The first concert took place on August 2 at 9:30 p.m. It was still daylight, the chapel was lit by the setting sun. The audience was still outside to enjoy the last moments of the day.
We entered slowly, looking for our places and our affinities. Then, the “Swiss Consort” directed by Christophe Dorsaz came to join us. The first part included three concertos by Vivaldi. The first was for bassoon, the second for flautino, the third for lute. All three were captivating, because the direction and interpretation were perfect.
Intermission to go for a little walk outside, have a drink and admire the rising of the moon, which was full that evening.
In the second part, the “Stabat Mater” by Pergolesi.
The two singers: Cristiana Presutti — soprano, and Carolina Gauna — mezzosoprano, perfected by our Swiss friend, were directed by Christophe Dorsaz.
It was captivating. We left slowly, still imbued with all this emotion. There was a transcendence of time, a spiritual elevation that we had never felt before in a concert, whether in the summer festivals or in the large Parisian halls.
It was a sort of housewarming party, since it was the first concert given in the chapel since its restoration.
Nicole Ragetly
| The Supreme, God the Sevenfold, Forces, Energies and Universal Power Control: 100 Questions and Answers (2) | Le Lien Urantien — Issue 20 — Winter 2000 |