|
YORKSHIRE POST November 23, 2007 Orchestre National de France -- Leeds Town Hall David Denton We are extremely fortunate that the French National Orchestra has thus far avoided the globalisation that is progressively robbing us of that joy of hearing orchestras from around the world with their own intrinsic "National" sound quality. The horns retain that silky smooth sound, mellow trombones melt together while the woodwind are as pithy as ever, factors that came together in an expansive and warm reading of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony from their great German conductor, Kurt Masur. Never seeking out passing moments of spine-tingling brilliance, Masur's deeply thought through reading is much more akin to the creation of a large cathedral, where the total vista is far greater than the sum of its many parts. His Masterstroke was to have eight double basses raised at the back of the orchestra, their weight adding the final element to his hardworking strings. The Canadian pianist, Louis Lortie, was the soloist in Mozart's Twenty-third concerto, and after a rather nervous sounding opening delighted with the agility and delicacy of his performance. Using a large body of strings, Masur obtained a surprisingly light accompaniment. |
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
