Orchestre de Paris

“The Adagio alone could sum up the (Leningrad) symphony with its mixture of tense lyricism, desolation and warlike march, whose alternation is perfectly organised by Klaus Mäkelä’s clear and precise conducting in a vast lamento where the strings in particular stand out, with magnificent double basses, a viola section that will bring tears to your eyes, a superb oboe-English horn duet and threatening percussion that underlines all the ambiguity.”

Resmusica, Patrice Imbaud, 12 May 2023

“The result is a monumental performance of the “Leningrad” Symphony. Monumental in its authority, strength, physical and sonic intensity (literally terrifying in certain climaxes), vertiginous dynamic scale, control of phrasing, holding and expressive coherence, without a moment’s drop in tension or sonic triviality. But also by the masterly finesse and clarity of the structure, the refinement of the nuances and transitions.”

Diapason, Rémy Louis, 15 May 2023

“Tonight, the extraordinary ovation that greets the last chord owes nothing to the weight of history and everything to the creative power of Shostakovich, which provokes one of those collective emotions that only music can bring. The way the musicians of the Orchestre de Paris and their conductor recreate this Symphony No. 7 gives the work a different face, no less intense but as if resigned at times, bathed in an embracing twilight.”

***** Bachtrack.com, Alain Lompech, 12 May 2023


Programme:
Sergei Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad”
Soloist: Beatrice Rana