Cyrill Partners with Christie's to Combine Classic Art and Classical Music

“When I look at a painting, what happens in my mind… do I see colours, do I hear the sounds?”

Cyrill has partnered with Christie’s auction house in order to combine fine art with perfect classical music pairings. 

Cyrill paired Joseph Wright’s A Grotto With The Figure Of Julia with Beethoven’s 4th Bagatelle from Op.33, to which he said: “Julia is pictured here in exile on the Island of Pandataria, Ventone. As we can only guess what Julia is experiencing, I have found this contemplative but seemingly optimistic Bagatelle a pairing that focuses more on past joys and experiences of longing than moments of solitude and despair.”

The second pairing saw Cyrill combine Turner’s The Lauerzersee With The Ruins Of Schwanau And The Mythen with Chopin’s ‘Waterfall’ Etude op 10.1. 

“This artwork paired with Chopin’s Etude opens a new and dramatic perspective in which the watercolours and scene itself become dramatised,” said Ibrahim. 

Finally, The Marriage Feast of Peleus and Thetis painted by Gerard De Lairesse was placed alongside Debussy’s Toccata from Pour Le Piano. 

“All the gods are present at The Marriage Feast of Peleus and Thetis painted by Gerard De Lairesse - a feast with so many human interactions I found that Debussy’s Toccata from Pour Le Piano captures these expressions.”

Christie’s is an iconic British company that has been around for more than 250 years, with a track record of selling some of the finest art pieces and collections in the world. In 2015 alone, Christie’s sold a combined £4.8 billion worth of goods.

The auction itself, which took place in New York and launched on January 25th, put the paintings from Remastered: Old Masters from the Collection of J.E. Safra up for sale without reserve, totalling more than $18.5 million. All of Cyrill Ibrahim’s performances were recorded at Dean Street Studios in London.