SAN DIEGO — A Paris Love Story, Hershey Felder’s one-man play, streamed from Florence, Italy, takes its place beside his other memorable dramas with music based on the lives of famous composers. This time, the main character is the French Impressionist, Claude Debussy. In addition to the life of Debussy, Felder manages to weave two additional threads into the story, his personal Paris Odyssey, pursuing Debussy’s footsteps, and Felder’s love for the City of Lights. Much of the story takes place as the 19- year-old Felder strolls along the Champs Ellysees, and the Seine River, to beyond the Arc de Triomphe, in pursuit of the residence where Debussy once lived.
Felder has the awesome ability to fit the musical examples into the narrative. Debussy’s piece, “Fireworks,” connects to the onset of World War II, “Gollywogs Cake Walk” delightfully illustrates baby daughter Shu Shu’s play time, and “Snow Flakes” reflects Felder’s getting caught in a snow flurry. “Afternoon of a Faun” shows Debussy’s use of the augmented fourth interval and the whole tone scale, and a selection based on the pentatonic scale displays the influence on Debussy of Indonesia’s Gamelan Orchestra that he heard at the 1899 World’s Fair in Paris. There were selections which reflected the composer’s fascination with water, including, “Sirens” and of course, “La Mer.” The poignant rendition of “Claire de Lune” at the end of the play, linked Debussy’s death, leaving a young daughter, to the death of Felder’s mother, when the playwright/pianist/actor was thirteen.
The story touched on Debussy’s affairs and marriages and also emphasized his disdain for the German composers. Although he considered Bach to be a genius, he found Beethoven and Brahms’ music full of “pounding,” and Wagner’s operas were filled with “shrieking.” Also, he disliked Wagner because of his anti-Semitic views. Debussy’s wife, Emma, was Jewish.
With Felder’s outstanding acting and piano artistry, A Paris Love Story takes its rightful place beside his other acclaimed pieces about composers such as Gershwin, Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikowsky, Bernstein, Berlin, and Foster.
Tickets to A Paris Love Story are still available for Wednesday evening, Nov. 25, via the Lyceum Box Office at 619-544-1000.
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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com