Orchestre de Paris – Strauss Oboe Concerto

Between the limpid classicism of Strauss, the bounding energy of a more Broadway-esque than ever Bernstein, the serenity of Saariaho, and the most cheerful of Shostakovich’s symphonies, this program offers us four faces of joy.

How can one resist the neoclassical charm of Strauss’s Oboe Concerto? The spirit of Mozart lives on in these melodic and humorous passages, whose sustained singing nevertheless remains a formidable test for the soloist.

Linked to the ballet Fancy Free, the three dances from On the Town embody all of Bernstein’s hedonism: in the last, the frenzied sailors converge on Times Square for an unforgettable night of fun.

More peaceful, almost mystical in their quest for the suspended moment and the ephemeral, are the Seven Butterflies by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, whose cello, which she uses in innovative ways, is her preferred instrument.

To conclude, this is the most elliptical of Shostakovich’s symphonies, and one of the most surprising in that it lacks—except in the Largo—the power and dark drama of the others. It is said that Stalin, expecting more grandeur, flew into a rage at such frivolity!