Peter J. Witchell - Blog

Peter J. Witchell - April in Paris

Peter J. Witchell - April in Paris

Peter J. Witchell - April in Paris

April in Paris

Just back from Paris - “April in Paris”, yes,  but more like midsummer with the temperature in the upper 70s.  The city’s music continues to thrive and I started with a ballet at the Bastille set to Mahler’s 3rd Symphony - the full works, choruses, orchestra, soloists.  Whatever next?!  

Sunday in the Park With George was truly spectacular;  but the beefing up of the orchestration for this opera house sometimes overwhelmed the mainly British cast at the Châtelet.  First ideas are often better....

Pianist Piotr Anderszewski’s [Image 1] recital was very distinguished, despite the excessive rubato in Schumann’s “Fantaisie, op.17- I learnt this piece at the RAM, so know how I would play it - not that my fingers could get round all those notes these days.

The brilliant Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos [Image 2] gave a superb rendering of the Sibelius - tall, lanky and with extremely long flowing hair, he looked as if he’d wandered in from the Latin Quarter - 50 years ago, that is : very Bohemian!  The Orchestre de Paris’ conductor, Paavo Järvi, [Image 3] manipulated the speeds to an exaggerated effect in the encore, Sibelius’ little masterpiece, Valse Triste . More like “Valse Vite” on this occasion - perhaps, like his father, he’s much in demand and had a plane to catch......