Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Ligeti's Requiem and Bruckner's Symphony No. 4

Finnish maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen will officially take the reins as the Orchestre de Paris's principal conductor in 2027, and the evidence of their easy rapport is already abundant in this concert of epic-scale contrasts, featuring Ligeti's Requiem and Bruckner's "Romantic" Symphony No. 4! Celebrated for his ability to make lesser-heard repertoire accessible to large audiences, Salonen begins with the Ligeti — a work of interlocking polyphonies and aural friction, already known to many for its memorable use in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but consistently haunting over the entirety of its four spectral, implacable movements. Bruckner's Fourth, to which the composer himself applied the "Romantic" moniker, is one of his grandest and most memorable scores, boasting richly imagined scenes of a medieval city resounding with horn calls, birdsong, and valiant knights.

Photo © Denis Allard