ConcertPulse
Orchestre Français des Jeunes / Elisabeth Leonskaja / Kristiina Poska
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
It is the counterpart to the German National Youth Orchestra and therefore the best youth orchestra in France: the Orchestre Français des Jeunes. Every summer, the young musicians go on a major tour of Europe and this year their first stop will be at the Elbphilharmonie. Alongside their designated chief conductor Kristiina Poska, they will accompany Elisabeth Leonskaja, a true piano legend, and explore the soundscapes of Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Schumann with youthful vigour. In complete contrast to the rest of the opera, the overture to »Benvenuto Cellini« by Hector Berlioz was a great success at its premiere and remains so to this day. Full of variety, the music sets the mood for colourful carnival hustle and bustle and a dramatic love story. Piotr I. Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto, on the other hand, tends to lead a shadowy existence in the concert world. And yet the work is full of pianistic discoveries and beautiful melodies, with several highly virtuoso piano solos in the first movement, a dialogue between piano, violin and cello in the second movement and a typically lively Tchaikovsky finale. In the second half of the concert, the orchestra will present Robert Schumann’s »Rhenish« Symphony, which was given its nickname by a friend of Schumann. The composer had recently moved to Düsseldorf and travelled from here to other places on the Rhine. He probably captured many an impression of the river, paddle steamers, dancing country dances and even the towering Cologne Cathedral in music.