Orchestre de Paris
“Klaus Mäkelä, true to his appetite for challenges, opens his final season at the helm of the Orchestre de Paris with Mahler’s cosmological Third Symphony … Two things are immediately apparent. First, Mäkelä remains true to himself in a work that suits him particularly well. Second, the improvement in the Orchestre de Paris’s playing is palpable when one looks back over the past two decades, an improvement made possible in part by its move to a concert hall with acoustics meeting the highest international standards.”
Resmusica, Jean-Christophe Le Toquin, 10 September, 2026
“Monumental! … A deserved triumph, because the Finnish conductor kept his forces under control with exceptional composure, an economy of gesture, and an absolutely clear beat, achieving a beautifully coherent result throughout this multifaceted score.”
Concertonet.com, Olivier Brunel, 10 September 2026
“Everyone who heard him in Die Frau ohne Schatten at Aix-en-Provence will remember the interminable ovation that greeted his performance … We found that same incandescent, even explosive conducting yesterday evening, but with a strong sense of nostalgia.”
Radio France, Roseylne Bachleot, 10 September 2026
“He shapes the trajectory of the work with an admirable sense of the long arc. One does, however, regret that he is not always sensitive to the Central European character of this music, with its strikingly contrasting moods. But the melancholy of the post horn solo, played offstage by Célestin Guérin, the poignant emotion of Nietzsche’s song, sung by Wiebke Lehmkuhl, and the patient, unhurried unfolding of the vast finale soon sweep away any initial impression that he is smoothing over the music’s rough edges, leaving us with a magnificent conclusion. Nine more months to enjoy this fully blossomed musicianship!”
Le Figaro, Christian Merlin, 14 September 2026
PROGRAMME:
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Chœur de femmes de l’Orchestre de Paris
Chœur de jeunes de l’Orchestre de Paris
Chœur d’enfants de l’Orchestre de Paris
Wiebke Lehmkuhl (contralto)
