Date: Friday, January 16, 2026
Time: 20:00 (CET) / 19:00 (GMT)
Venue: Liederhalle, Stuttgart
Streaming: YouTube (free)
Orchestra: SWR Symphonieorchester
Conductor: François-Xavier Roth
Soloist: Emmanuel Pahud, flute
Choir: MDR-Rundfunkchor
Programme:
- Claude Debussy – Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
- Philippe Manoury – Saccades for flute and orchestra
- Maurice Ravel – Daphnis et Chloé (ballet in three parts)
To open the year, François-Xavier Roth and the SWR Symphonieorchester present a purely French programme that moves fluidly between impressionism, contemporary writing, and orchestral colour at its most refined. At the centre of the evening is Emmanuel Pahud, who performs Saccades, a flute concerto written specifically for him by Philippe Manoury. The work unfolds as an almost theatrical dialogue between soloist and orchestra, marked by abrupt gestures and sharply etched contrasts.
Framing Manoury’s piece are two pillars of the French repertoire. Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune sets a dreamlike tone with its suspended harmonies and sensuous orchestration, while Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé brings the programme to a radiant close, its lush textures and expansive choral writing revealing the composer’s mastery of orchestral colour.
Broadcast live from Stuttgart’s Liederhalle and streamed free on YouTube, this concert offers a compelling journey through French orchestral music—from symbolist haze to modern rhythmic vitality and full-blown ballet splendour.
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