Orchestre National de France

The Orchestre National de France returns to Dijon under the baton of its musical director, Cristian Măcelaru, joined by the extraordinary mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, for an iconic program of German post-Romanticism.

Richard Strauss composed some of the most spectacular pages ever devoted to the symphonic poem, that orchestral “program music” in which sound becomes narration. Inspired by verses from Nikolaus Lenau, Don Juan shines with brilliance and exults in youthful ardour — the composer was only 25 when he wrote it. That same year, drawing on a poem by Alexander Ritter, Death and Transfiguration takes on a more mystical tone, probing the enigma of the hereafter.

Equally meditative, Gustav Mahler’s five Rückert Lieder unfold an unfathomable, love-tinged nostalgia. Mahler dedicated the last of them to his wife, Alma, who had given up her own career as a composer for him. A marital crisis later led her, in 1910, to revise her own Fünf Lieder — works that reveal a confident talent and a deeply expressive voice.

Musical Director: Cristian Măcelaru

Orchestre National de France

Mezzo-soprano: Joyce DiDonato

Richard Strauss
Mort et Transfiguration

Alma Mahler
Lieder (orchestration Jorma Panula)

Gustav Mahler
Rückert Lieder

Richard Strauss
Don Juan

Ce concert est donné dans le cadre du Grand Tour de l’Orchestre National de France

Avec le soutien de La Poste, Groupama et Covéa Finance