The silent film accompanist pianists disappeared at the dawn of the 1930s, when talking movies became widespread.
Nowadays, the few who still dare to take on the challenge do so during unique screenings of historic feature or short films, shot during the first three decades of the 20th century.
This will be the case this Sunday, from 8 PM, with the screening of the legendary Faust, an old German folk tale, by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, while Jean-François Zygel will be seated at the piano, whose popularity is widely established thanks to his radio and television shows.
At the National Conservatory of Paris, Jean-François Zygel teaches the discipline of piano improvisation. Here, he will showcase his talent by accompanying a film dating from 1926, with a duration of 1 hour 47 minutes, whose storyline has nothing to do with the works of Gounod or Berlioz. It is inspired, in fact, by the Faust legend dating back to the 16th century.
At the heart of the story is a wager between the Archangel and the Devil: if the latter manages to prove that man is as dark as he claims, then the Earth will be his; otherwise, he must renounce it. The Devil, also known as Mephisto, takes Faust as his test subject…
