By Maddy Shaw Roberts
Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel directed soprano Pretty Yende and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, as the doors of Notre-Dame reopened to the sound of glorious music.
The world was moved yesterday by a soprano’s spectacular ode to Notre Dame, which has reopened its doors after a fire devastated the cathedral in April 2019.
Following a frenzied five-year renovation project, the Parisian monument is now fitted with a new roof and spire, and it hosted a magnificent concert on Saturday (7 December) to mark its reopening.
Pretty Yende, a South African operatic soprano who also performed at the coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey, sang a note-perfect rendition of much-loved spiritual ‘Amazing Grace’.
After performing the first verse a cappella in the resonant cathedral acoustic, Yende was backed by a sweeping accompaniment from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, under the baton of Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Yende sang of “toils and snares” as France celebrated the return of a cultural treasure, after a fire that nearly burned it to the ground.