All music lovers know – if only by reputation – the Boston Symphony Orchestra, colloquially known by its acronym – BSO. Here he is in France, where he comes to complete his European tour. It will be in Paris, but also in the best acoustic setting there is: the Philharmonie. The BSO will give a unique concert there, and exceptional for the happy public: it is because the orchestra is draped in all the superlatives and the evening promises to be remarkable.
Under the direction of the Latvian Andris Nelson, the orchestra will perform Gershwin’s Concerto in F, interpreted on the piano by the Frenchman Jean-Yves Thibaudet, whose delicacy of touch is constantly applauded. Despite his fifty recordings, this soloist continues to travel the world, never getting tired of the irreplaceable magic of concerts.
After the intermission, Andris Nelson, who made his debut as a trumpeter in the Riga National Orchestra, will attack Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, where he excels. But it is undoubtedly the opening of the concert that will be the most anticipated with “Four black American dances”, by composer Carlos Simon, a French premiere.
The work was commissioned by the BSO in 2022 and if it has already been programmed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where we heard it, it is in Paris that the public will grasp all its subtlety. so much this composition, both nuanced and very Gerschwinian, will be able to find the right colors there, thanks to the perfect acoustics of the Philharmonie.
These four Dances connect the origins of American music – which Dvorak, without mincing words, said came from the black minority – and the aerial side of contemporary compositions. A will of Carlos Simon who loves eclecticism. They begin with a slightly dissonant sound that surprises, then seduces the ear and finally ends with great flights based on rhythms that have always been known, such as the waltz. A wonderful musical encounter.
Philharmonie de Paris, September 8.
