From Paris with Love by Ravel, Chausson, Franck, Sat 25 Feab 2023, Ó (2023/2023), Seoltóir Bertrand de Billy, South Bank Centre, London, United Kingdom

The London Philharmonic Orchestra conjures the city of light with César Franck’s towering Symphony in D minor – for decades, one of the world’s most popular classics. Imagine a Gothic cathedral looming out of the mists. Picture an impressionist landscape beneath pastel skies. And now think of belle époque Paris in all its ritzy, raucous colour. That’s a very rough idea of what it’s like to hear Franck’s symphony. Paris-born guest conductor Bertrand de Billy puts it back up where it belongs tonight: the summit of a Gallic-flavoured concert. The evening begins with Ravel’s haunting evocation of a vanished world and stars the phenomenal Danielle de Niese in Chausson’s ravishing Poème: a flood-tide of sensuous beauty.