Cat R.
Google
Do not miss this gorgeous museum! The best museum experience we had in a week in Paris, and we went to all the famous art museums. I’d give it more than 5 stars if I could!
The building itself is beautiful, and all the instruments are displayed and lit in a lovely way. The best part is the audio recording of the instruments so you can hear what they sound like. The recordings are gorgeous… I was immediately transported.
5 different Stradivarius violins on display! And excellent examples of rare old instruments restored to playable condition. And a wide variety of world instruments.
Depending on how much of a fan you are of historic instruments and classical/world music, you can easily spend the whole afternoon here. The full tour of all the instruments takes 4 hours, and the highlights tour 90 minutes. It was not at all crowded.
One difficulty we experienced is that the acoustics don’t allow for hearing the audio recordings well at the same time as the artist in residence is performing, so it is best to arrive right at opening and complete the highlights tour before the live music starts. You can also wander around and call up the recordings of additional instruments as you please afterwards.
I also loved the stories connecting paintings with the musicians pictured, including Paganini thanking Berlioz for composing Harold in Italy and the singer and gamba player painting with a recording of the same piece pictured! Sublime.
Easily accessible by metro.