Reviews  |  

Orchestre de Paris

“The programme for this concert has been very intelligently concocted … the conductor came up with the idea – at first sight absurd, but in truth vertiginous because of the connection it made – of linking, without a break, a Lachrimae Antiquae by John Dowland with Symphony No. 2 by Schumann … To go from four violins, two violas and a cello playing this poignant music by the old English master without vibrato, with an overwhelming spiritual elevation, to this symphony by Schumann that sounds like it was composed by an exalted and depressed Mendelssohn is more moving than surprising.”

Bachtrack.com, Alain Lompech, 16 November 2023


“We admire the ease of the sequences (in Schumann’s Symphony No. 2) , prepared and executed without ever losing clarity of articulation or rhythmic accuracy … And also, as proof of the strong bond Mäkelä creates with his musicians, the instant response of the latter when he engages his whole body in the expressive battle. The only thing missing was perhaps a hint of lyricism and extra abandon in the Adagio espressivo.”

Diapason, Rémy Louis, 17 November 2023


Programme:
Maurice Ravel: Shéhérazade – Fairy Overture
Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 (The Egyptian)
John Downland: Lachrimae Antiquae
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 2
Soloist: Alexandre Kantorow