Welcome to Noeple Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Erin Manky,

listener discretion advised.

As the sun dimmed over the river Sen, Paris's best and brightest were gathering for a duel.

Powering wigs and tailored suits poured out of horse-drawn carriages onto cobblestone streets.

Each new arrival with one name on their lips, the Chivalier des Sainzords.

By 1775, tales of the Sainzords' fencing prowess had spread far beyond France's borders.

Though tonight, he stood before his opponent not with a sword, but with a bow, more specifically,

a bow and a violin.

The audience gathered outside the hall for a performance by one of Paris's premier orchestras,

the Concerto Amateur, who, contrary to the way their name sounds, were anything but amateur.

The orchestra was composed of the city's foremost professional and semi-professional musicians,

born from within the carefully curated ranks of the city's social elite.

Sainzords had initially entered into the Amateurs upon his reputation playing salons across Paris.

But in just four short years, he had worked his way up from Meir,

well amateur, to the director of the entire ensemble.

And tonight, he was debuting his newest composition that had the whole city abuzz, a symphony concerton.

The late 18th century was the height of the classical music era,

and symphony concertont were just one of the many innovations made within the genre during this time.

Unlike a typical orchestral performance with an ensemble supporting a single soloist,

these concerts featured not one, but two soloists.

In this case, violinists playing off each other in tandem,

each almost trying to outplay the other, as if dueling within the piece itself.

...