American stories by Bernstein, Barber, Copland, Od (2017/2017), Dirigent Alexandre Bloch, Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France

In 1960, Bernstein took from West Side Story a suite of symphonic dances in which the drama of Maria and Tony resonates, without words. It's a completely different story that we hear in Copland's Lincoln Portrait in 1942, with its reciter repeating the speeches of the sixteenth American president. If we wanted to paint a musical portrait of America, we would offer this concert: a best of great pages which shows how the vitality of orchestral music is nourished by dance, spectacle, musical comedy and singing. New York was the beacon of this America: the city where Leonard Bernstein triumphed, as a conductor and as a composer. Candide (1956) is a whirlwind operetta, inspired by Voltaire. Virtuoso, scintillating and rhythmic, its opening is a real “hit”. West Side Story (1957) is no less famous: this splendid modern love story inspired by Romeo and Juliet has remained a breathtaking orchestral suite that makes everyone want to dance. The works of Barber and Copland are more interior and resonate with the deep roots of the American ideal: freedom and the great outdoors.