Salle Gaveau, Concert hall in 8th arrondissement, France
Salle Gaveau is a concert hall on Rue La Boétie designed by architect Jacques Hermant with approximately 1,020 seats and carefully crafted acoustics. The space was built specifically for chamber music performances and maintains this focus today.
The hall opened its doors in October 1907 and witnessed major historical events across two world wars. It nearly faced demolition in 1963 before the Fournier family purchased it in 1976.
The hall takes its name from the Gaveau piano manufactory, not from a pianist: Étienne Gaveau, who ran the family firm with his brother Gabriel Eugène, built the building to house the company's head office and a concert hall promoting its instruments. Gaveau grand pianos, notably the Grand Queue de concert n° 5, were played on this stage until the 1960s.
The hall sits at 45-47 rue La Boétie in the 8th arrondissement, served by Miromesnil and Saint-Philippe du Roule metro stations. Seating for 1,020 people is arranged over three levels, so check which level your seat is on before climbing. The shallow balcony and flat pale-wood floor mean sightlines differ between the floor and the upper tier.
The organ heard at the 1907 opening was built in 1900 by the Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll workshop and had 39 stops. It left the hall in 1957 for the church of Saint-Saëns in Normandy, so no organ remains in the hall today. The Gaveau grand piano No. 5 returned to the stage in November 2013 for a recital by Laurent Cabasso.
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