New season, new horizons: Salonen opens the Elbphilharmonie

Stefan Dohr and Esa-Pekka Salonen

Esa-Pekka Salonen

Stefan Dohr

By Mengguang Huang, 04 September 2025

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“Salonen illuminated the score’s logic without dulling its mystery”

Reviewed at Elbphilharmonie: Grand Hall, Hamburg on 3 September 2025

Strauss R., Don Juan, Op.20

Salonen, Horn Concerto

Sibelius, Symphony no. 5 in E flat major, Op.82

Stefan Dohr, French horn

Orchestre de Paris

Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor

Orchestre de Paris and Mäkelä wow Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw

Max Lima, 18th March

Under its Music Director Klaus Mäkelä, the French orchestra returns to the Concertgebouw for an exhilarating concert with pianist Anna Vinnitskaya.

****1

Rach 4 redefined: Mäkelä and Yunchan Lim set a new benchmark in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 11th June

In Yunchan Lim’s hands the score to Rachmaninov's Fourth Piano Concerto emerges as a small revelation, conspicuously succeeding where so many others have floundered.

*****

Klaus Mäkelä and the Orchestre de Paris paint vivid pictures in Vienna

Mark Pullinger, 23rd February

Maurice Ravel the orchestrator takes centre stage at the Musikverein in an evening of descriptive aural painting.

****1

Khatia Buniatishvili in search of her lost fingers

Alain Lompech, 30th October

Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto turns out to be a shipwreck for the Georgian pianist, despite an admirable Orchestre de Paris and conductor (Kirill Karabits).

*1111

Fresh and flamboyant: Mäkelä and the Orchestre de Paris at the Proms

Mark Thomas, 3rd September

Klaus Mäkelä presents fresh and dynamic takes on French masterpieces from Debussy and Berlioz, the Orchestre de Paris providing colour and vigour in Stravinsky.

*****

The Orchestre de Paris dazzles in Boston

Kevin Wells, 17th March

Yunchan Lim joins Klaus Mäkelä and the Orchestre de Paris for a Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto full of dynamic contrast.

****1

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Mengguang Huang

Mengguang Huang is a Hamburg-based project manager in the construction industry. With a strong passion for classical music, he was introduced to the world of early music during his time in the UK, where he developed a particular fondness for renaissance and Baroque vocal music. Driven by his love for this genre, he now makes it a priority to attend major Baroque opera productions and concerts across Western Europe whenever possible, continuing to deepen his appreciation for this rich musical tradition.