Orchestre de chambre de Paris by Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns, Alkaen (2023/2023), Musiikinjohto Maxim Emelyanychev, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, France

Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns have many points in common: conductors and virtuoso pianists, they embody the musical aesthetics of their respective countries without forgetting to look at the other side of the Rhine. In his Symphony No. 5, composed in 1830 for the tercentenary of the Augsburg Confession of Faith, Mendelssohn quotes Luther's famous canticle Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott and affirms his Protestant faith. Three years later, on the other hand, it is a Poitevin legend that inspires him with the magical atmosphere of his symphonic overture La Belle Mélusine.As for Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3 (1880), although its typically French clarity is tinged with a few Hispanic accents (a reference to the violinist Pablo de Sarasate, his first interpreter), it was premiered in Hamburg, the city of his birth. by Mendelssohn.