Orchestre de Paris at the Aix en Provence Festival
“By its virtuosity, conviction and evocative power, the interpretation of the Orchestre de Paris and its conductor Klaus Mäkelä is indisputable … The brilliance, liveliness, sense of contrasts, the suppleness of the line animated and made The Firebird shine with a thousand colours. The imperious precision of the rhythm, the panache, the humour gave wings to Petrushka. A telluric force, the mystery of the depths of the ages, the threat of catastrophe disputed the conduct of a disturbing and screaming Rite of Spring.”
Les Echos, Philippe Venturini, 9 July 2023
“Let’s talk about performance when it comes to playing three works in a row as complementary, demanding and different as The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, even requiring a rotation of certain desks during the evening. Lyrical in the first, festive to perfection and on the lookout for the slightest detail in the second, powerfully telluric in the third, the conductor takes the Parisian orchestra on a marathon that does not allow for any downtime, any call for air, in a homogeneity of desks which commands admiration.”
Bachtrack.com, Romain Daroles, 10 July 2023
“ … the Orchestre de Paris and its conductor are the real heroes of the evening. Virtuosity, brio, cohesion: this supple, lively and lush Firebird will remain in memory, this Diabolical Petrushka of precision, dressed in laughter and sorrow, and of course a totally free Rite of Spring, filling the space with an imperious force, coming from the depths of the ages, with a thirst more essential than water, under the vital direction of a simply magnetic Klaus Mäkelä.”
Le Monde, Marie Aude Roux, 11 July 2023
“Throughout the evening, which begins at 9 p.m. and ends at midnight, the muggy, sweltering heat of this impossible-to-climatize venue is barely an obstacle, as you are held spellbound by Stravinsky’s absolute genius, and captivated by the counterpoint between projected image and live sound. All the more so when the Orchestre de Paris, under the direction of the sensational Klaus Mäkelä, confirms the grandiose level at which the orchestra is now evolving. Under extreme conditions, the musicians rise to the challenge of playing these three virus scores in one evening, constantly sustaining and relaunching the narrative thread. Mäkelä’s gestures are freer and more flexible than ever, proof of the relationship of trust that exists between this extraordinary conductor and an orchestra that has never been so close.”
Le Figaro, Christian Merlin, 12 July 2023
“Mäkelä’s objective approach insists on little yet actually pays off when he is leading top-tier players, like those of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam or the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — less so the New York Philharmonic, where he debuted last year, and, for the purposes of this festival, the Orchestre de Paris.What Mäkelä elicited from the Parisians was cleaner and more decisive than on their recording of “Firebird” and the “Rite” earlier this year. But it was still marred by a muddled Infernal Dance, for example, and an overly tentative bassoon solo at the start of the “Rite.” The “Petrouchka” struggled to define its episodic style clearly, and flattened its layers of unsettling counterpoint as if polishing over them in one stroke.”
New York Times, Joshua Barone, 11 July 2023
Programme:
Igor Stravinsky: “Ballet Russes”
The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring
