Last night we went to a Mozart concert performed in the Salle des Pas Perdus in the Palais de Justice, Poitiers. The Ensemble Josquin des Prés de Poitiers under the direction of Thierry Vallet played the Haffner Symphony and Concertos 20 and 21. The pianist was Jean-Claude Pennetier. The music was played to a standard that made the trip to Poitiers well worth while and the setting added a real something to the evening.
The dining hall of the Palais de Justice was built by Eleanor of Aquitaine between 1191 and 1204. Named the salle des pas perdus (the hall of lost steps) because footfalls simply disappear in the enormous space (50 metres by 17 metres and the largest enclosed space in Europe at the time). The chestnut ceiling was a later addition being built in 1862.
