Oeuvre: DoReMi, for violin and orchestra

L’Orchestre de Paris s’adjoignait mercredi la violoniste Patricia Kopatchinskaja pour un concert consacré à deux maîtres de la musique hongroise : Béla Bartók et Péter Eötvös, au pupitre de direction ce soir.

The most memorable thing about this concert for me was the sheer glory of the Philharmonia’s playing. Whether it was in the winning, sprightly Mozart overture, or in all the glinting colours of Peter Eötvös’ new work, or in the full and rich late-Romantic orchestral tones of the Bruckner, these musicians, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, were magnificent.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s January 20 concert, the last in its “Focus on Eötvös” mini-residency, may as well have been called “Focus on Hungary.” The small, landlocked country, with barely over 9 million residents, has exerted – and continues to exert – a powerful influence on music.