Cristian Măcelaru/ Orchestre National de France
Maison de la Radio, Paris, 23rd July 2020
Let’s hear it for the percussion department! They literally take a back seat in the orchestra and, in these days of slimline orchestral performances, are often reduced in the ranks to an isolated timpanist. So bravo to Cristian Măcelaru, music director designate of the Orchestre National de France, for programming Rodion Shchedrin’s deliciously subversive Carmen Suite for the final concert in the Maison de la Radio’s Le Temps retrouvé season. Bizet’s music is rescored for strings and five percussionists, who tackle a battery of drums, marimbas, gongs, guiros and castanets – more percussion than you could shake a stick at.
Orchestre National de France
© France Musique
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