He is 21, she is 78. He is a former dancer, she a former minister. Every Friday in a “Round Table” on France Musique, Hippolyte Pérès and Roselyne Bachelot exchange their cultural favorites.
Roselyne Bachelot and Hippolyte Pérès, on France Musique Photo Christophe Abramowitz/Radio France
Published on December 5, 2025 at 7:30 a.m.
L‘one has thousands of CDs, the other has none “not a single one” and even admits not being equipped to listen to it. At 78 and 21 years old respectively, Roselyne Bachelot and Hippolyte Pérès have fun with their age difference every Friday in their Table rondethought as “a bubble of lightness” to close Morning music. If several decades separate them, their “gluttony of culture” brings them together and gets along through their favorites (books, albums, shows, etc.) and chronicles that look like carte blanche. The former dancer, producer ofAt the heart of ballet on the station, confides having first had “very scared” of not finding her place opposite the former minister, already a columnist in Saskia De Ville’s morning show from 2016 to 2020. “Did you have the kittens?” »she teases him. It takes a huge dose of musical culture and confidence to deal with such an encyclopedia of opera, with the banter and outspokenness known to all. Verdict after more than two months: he is doing wonderfully and does not hesitate to gently winnow his elder sister. “There is no question of falling into flattery”he asks.
He does not claim to represent “young people” either and is interested in the dancer and choreographer Germaine Acogny, as well as in the publication of 70 bis, artists’ entry by Patrick Modiano, associated with the guitarist of the group Phoenix Christian Mazzalai (ed. Gallimard, 2025) or with L’Antidote, a trio with Lebanese, Albanian and Iranian sounds. Roselyne Bachelot highlights Zaho de Sagazan’s symphonic album — “who would have thought it” pretends to be surprised by his acolyte -, recommends a “fabulous documentary” devoted to La Scala or analyzes the representation of madness in opera. Often prepared or even written, their dialogue, directed with talent by morning worker Jean-Baptiste Urbain, sometimes leaves room for spontaneity. And to everyone’s sensitivity: when the ex-minister recalls the difficulties faced in the 19th centurye century composer Louise Bertin, disabled by poliomyelitis, a debate begins on the prevalence of discrimination at the Opera today.
