Franck’s “Le Chasseur Maudit” (The
Accursed Huntsman) – what a curtain raiser! And not just because it has
fabulous horn licks. It opened the first
concert I attended at the Philharmonie de Paris this trip and I wasn’t the only
one shouting bravos for the horn section!
If you don’t know this piece, here’s a YouTube recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVMwSeI1kjg I must try to talk one of the community
orchestras I play in to program it! |
| I got there early! |
This time I was sitting up in one
of the balcony “clouds” on the left side. The view was great and the seat was
comfy, but the sound was a bit muddy and the balance was uneven (the brass and
woodwinds overpowered the strings). The sound was much clearer on the main floor, where
I sat last trip (that report, including info about the Hall, is here: http://mariellen-musing.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-new-philharmonie-de-paris-imagined.html ).
Up next was Listz’s Piano Concerto
No. 1 with 34-year-old Toulouse native Bertrand Chamayou. Not only was he a
very expressive player, he was quite easy on the eyes! There seemed to be some synchronization
issues between piano and orchestra – I’m pretty sure it was the conductor, not the hall (and
the place I was sitting) – but it was still a good performance.
 |
| Chillin' at intermission |
After intermission we got Pierné’s
Concertstück for Harp (I’m glad I heard it, but I won’t go out of my way to
hear it again) and a fine performance of Mahler’s Symphonic Poem “Totenfeier” (“Funeral
Rites”), which became the first movement of his Second Symphony.
Although this concert of Romantic
and Late Romantic period music in a gorgeous venue didn’t include romance in
the conventional sense, it was still a very lovely way to spend the evening!
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