Live from Paris: Dudamel and Mäkelä, Saint-Saëns’ oratorio from Strasbourg

ORCHESTRA OF PARIS | CHOIR OF THE ORCHESTRA OF PARIS | KLAUS MÄKELÄ, CONDUCTING | GUSTAVO DUDAMEL, CONDUCTING | ELSA BENOIT, SOPRANO | RICHARD WILBERFORCE, CHOIRMASTER
Recorded on January 10, 2025 (Grande salle Pierre Boulez – Philharmonie) Available in full until July 10, 2025 | Free to watch by clicking here

On January 10th, the Philharmonie de Paris celebrated its tenth anniversary with a special live broadcast. Klaus Mäkelä, music director of the Orchestre de Paris, conducted a program that included works by Pierre Boulez, Francis Poulenc, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. In a gesture of collaboration, Mäkelä invited Gustavo Dudamel to conduct Beethoven’s The Consecration of the House, offering a distinct and memorable moment during the evening.

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ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE STRASBOURG | CHOIR OF THE OPERA NATIONAL DU RHIN | AZIZ SHOKHAKIMOV, CONDUCTING
Recorded on December 20, 2024 (Palais de la Musique et des Congrès, Salle Érasme, Strasbourg, France)
Available until January 31, 2025 | Free to watch by clicking here

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, under the baton of Aziz Shokhakimov, presents a rare work by Camille Saint-Saëns: the Oratorio de Noël. Composed when the he was just 23 years old, this piece, reminiscent of a cantata, is rarely performed, making its live presentation a significant event.

OVERVIEW
With the “Oratorio de Noël”, the young French composer Camille Saint-Saëns taps into the grand Baroque tradition of celebrating the Nativity through a special Christmas mass. The prelude stylistically echoes the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. Like his illustrious predecessor, who left a rich legacy of sacred music, Saint-Saëns draws on excerpts from the Old Testament (books of Jeremiah and Isaiah, psalms) and the Gospels of Luke and John. Saint-Saëns conducted the work’s premiere on December 24, 1858, at the Church of La Madeleine in Paris.