Francis Kurkdjian x Yuja Wang, Pierre-Alain Giraud
Inaugurated at the Musée de la musique in Paris in November 2025, Playing with fire is a visual, musical, and olfactory experience that blends augmented and virtual reality to celebrate the brilliance of Yuja Wang, an internationally acclaimed Chinese-American pianist and Friend of Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
The piano, an instrument of the Maison played by Francis Kurkdjian since his youngest age, is subtly linked to his profession as a perfumer. Like the raw materials used in perfumery, it relies on a limited range of notes with which the composer plays to create new territories of expression.
The experience begins as a concert where visitors are seated around a Steinway & Sons Spirio piano, the world's most refined high-definition automatic piano, on which the pianist performs in augmented and then virtual reality. Through the notes and pieces, they are drawn into a succession of fantastic scenes designed by Icelandic artist GabrÃela Friðriksdóttir, echoing the different pieces interpreted by the pianist: Jeux d'Eau by Maurice Ravel, L'Oiseau de feu by Igor Stravinsky, or Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy.
Each of these musical and visual universes is complemented by a specific olfactory accord composed by Francis Kurkdjian and diffused throughout the space. Inspired by his exchanges with Yuja Wang and then immersed in her interpretations, he sought to capture the nuances and intentions of her playing to create an 8-part olfactory score that can be played in harmony with the other senses.
Playing with fire is unveiled to the general public for the first time at the Musée de la musique in Paris before an international tour.
Practical Information:
- From November 14, 2025, to May 3, 2026
- Musée de la musique, Paris
- Reservation on the Philharmonie de Paris / Cité de la musique website
©Courtesy VIVE Arts and Atlas V
