Radio France

Leonore disguises herself as a man, "Fidelio," to infiltrate a prison and rescue her husband, Florestan, unjustly imprisoned by the tyrant Pizarro. Gaining the trust of the jailer, Rocco, and his daughter, Marzelline—who unknowingly falls for Fidelio—Leonore’s courage is tested when Pizarro orders Florestan’s execution. In a climactic moment, she reveals her identity and saves Florestan just as the king’s minister arrives, restoring justice. The opera celebrates themes of love, sacrifice, and freedom.

Since William Christie founded Les Arts Florissants in 1979, they have strengthened year after year their reputation as one of the world’s premiere ensembles for early and Baroque music. For this 40th anniversary concert from 2019 at the stunning Philharmonie de Paris, core artists from “Les Arts Flo” reunite to perform some of the ensemble’s trademark pieces, from Lully’s Atys—a long-forgotten masterpiece they revived in 1987 over 230 years after its last performance—to the great operas of Rameau and gems by the likes of Charpentier, Purcell, and Handel. This celebratory concert features another first for the storied ensemble, as Christie shares conducting duties with Paul Agnew! Riveting from beginning to end, this Baroque Odyssey encapsulates all the qualities—world-class instrumentalists, impeccable Baroque vocalists, cannily chosen repertoire—that have made Les Arts Florissants such a beloved and enduring fixture in the classical world.

Claude Goretta brings to life the age-old tale of Orpheus and Eurydice in a fresh adaptation of Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Monteverdi’s fabled opera Orfeo was long described as the first opera to have been written. Although modern scholarship has proven this to be untrue, the work remains one of the pillars of western music history, a musical creation which laid the foundations for much of what was to come. As musicologist Jack Westrup explains, Orfeo marked a major milestone not because it broke new ground, but because imagination had taken precedence over theory. While Monteverdi may not have been a revolutionary, his music represents the culmination of centuries of musical evolution, and shows him as the clear master of both polyphony and monody.

Radio France, with the support of Lambert Wilson, Anne Sila and Gabriel Yared, pays tribute to the great film composer Francis Lai with a journey through his work, from A Man and a Woman to Black Eyes.

Argentine pianist and composer Lalo Schifrin has penned many famous American film and TV scores. But it is the theme to Mission: Impossible that he is perhaps most famous for. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France perform the catchy and irregular piece, as well as many other of Schifrin’s works, conducted by Victor Jacob.

Le Tribunal des flagrants délires was a comedy show where celebrities were judged in mock-trials. Desproges held the part of the prosecutor for more than two years, a part for which his verve, his scathing humour and his literary erudition were ideally suited.

A pictureless film in 3D sound full of political, poetic and incendiary echoes around the death and words of Percy Bysshe Shelley, an infamous young poet driven out of his country after kidnapping his future young wife, Mary Shelley, and who was found dead in 1822, at the age of 29, on the shore of Viareggio in Italy. This sound movie uses text, music and sophisticated sound design projected via 27 speakers to conjure powerful images in the listener's mind.

Hip Hop Symphonique is a creation by Mouv', the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Adami. It is based on a selection of ten emblematic French rap tracks from 1990 to 2015, replayed, rearranged and re-orchestrated for Symphonic Orchestra & a contemporary musical ensemble. Five emblematic groups from the French rap scene take part in this symphonically orchestrated musical show: IAM, MC SOLAAR, ARSENIK, YOUSSOUPHA, BIGFLO & OLI. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Musical based on Jean-Baptiste Lully’s musical piece, Alceste ou Le Triomphe d’Alcide. Directed during the production of the opera staging by music director Jean-Claude Malgoire and stage director Jean-Louis Martinoty.

The soundtracks of Michel Legrand, died in 2019, made cinema sublime. With Natalie Dessay and the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, a delightful tribute to the immense composer, recorded at the Maison de la radio et de la musique.

A three-part study that introduces audiences to the celebrated Martinican author Aimé Césaire, who coined the term "négritude" and launched the movement called the "Great Black Cry".

Yvonne Loriod was not only an incredible performer of the music of her time, but also Olivier Messiaen's muse, the one in whom and for whom he found the natural and concrete extension of his art, of his inspiration. This documentary is a beautiful testament to what this great artist represented.

Radio France lives to the rhythm of its artists. Once again this year, Hip Hop Symphonique will give them the opportunity to express their talent. So it's with renewed pleasure that we welcome the personalities on the bill, whose very different backgrounds and careers are characteristic of the richness of this project. Whether, like Wallen and Sniper, they've decided to take to the stage in an exceptional way this year, or whether, like Sofiane, they're the unifying personality of the year, or, like Dosseh, the author of one of this season's most influential rap tracks, or, of course, S.Pri Noir, a confirmed talent, we're delighted to welcome them and see them succeed the prestigious list of artists from previous editions.

Under the baton of Bastien Stil, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France pays tribute to the genius of Michel Legrand on January 28, 2022.

The Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and distinguished guests pay tribute to Michel Legrand.