Orchestre Français des Jeunes

The Orchestre Français des Jeunes once again takes up winter residence at the Opéra de Dijon to welcome the legendary Elisabeth Leonskaja in Beethoven's L'Empereur
before displaying her virtuosity in Bartók's extraordinary Concerto for Orchestra.

First performed in Hanover in 1954 for an orchestra of young musicians, Dallapiccola's Petite musique de nuit pays homage not only to Mozart, but also to the Spanish poet Antonio Machado, author of Une Nuit d'été. Its simple, transparent serial writing and suspenseful conclusion provide a superb prelude to Beethoven's Concerto No. 5. This concerto, known as the Emperor in reference to Napoleon, is also, as the saying goes, 'the Emperor of Concertos': heroism and mystery in the first movement, sublime cantilena in the Adagio, whose nocturnal religiosity enchanted Bernstein, and leaping virtuosity in the Finale. And when the orchestra itself becomes its soloist - and its own accompanist - the result is Bartók's thrilling Concerto for Orchestra, whose five movements, progressing from shadow to light, take pleasure in isolating the instrumental timbres, allowing each section to shine in a decanted, subtle and hedonistic modernity.