Composer

Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc

3. Chamber Concert / Extreme

Rostock Art Gallery

Poulenc's Les Biches suite opens the ball with its sparkling cocktail of rococo elegance—Parisian salons are never far away, Poulenc frequented them assiduously!—and jazzy rhythms where woodwinds and strings converse in a spirited spirit. The Concerto champêtre then reveals all of Poulenc's audacity, which he had made his calling card: Justin Taylor, a refined harpsichord magician, explores the slightest contrasts between virtuoso traits and tender melodies, while the orchestra, under the direction of the talented Lucie Leguay, weaves a setting that is sometimes mocking, sometimes nostalgic. Chausson's Symphony in B-flat closes the evening with its luminous gravity. A pivotal work between Wagner and Debussy, it deploys an ardent lyricism, from the dark tremors of the adagio to the cyclical exaltation of the finale. Joyfully moving between gallant spirit and romantic depth, this concert is an invitation to a bucolic dream.

Country Concerto

Opéra Comédie

Molly Snodgrass, soprano

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan, one of the singular artists of our time, transforms Poulenc’s one-act opera into a harrowing multimedia experience depicting the final conversation between ex-lovers. Also on the program: Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen, a profound memorial for human culture devastated by war.

EPSG:4326

La Voix humaine with Barbara Hannigan

David Geffen Hall

The French Connection

Carver Theatre for the Performing Arts

He’s chairing the jury for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2025, then will make his Cliburn Concerts debut the following spring! Paul Lewis was awarded CBE in 2016 for his services to music, and the sincerity and depth of his musical approach have won him fans around the world. This global popularity is reflected in world-class concert engagements, like Royal Festival Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Konzerthaus, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, and Berlin Konzerthaus, as well as Tanglewood, Ravinia, Schubertiade, Edinburgh, Salzburg, and Lucerne Festivals.

Paul Lewis, piano

Kimbell Art Museum

Andrea Nalywajko, soprano

Winner of the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Competition, major prizewinner at the 2022 Sibelius and Singapore International Violin Competitions, recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and the youngest person ever to win the Windsor Festival Competition, violinist Nathan Meltzer is establishing a holistic and multifaceted career as both a soloist and chamber musician, with a passion for both standard and contemporary repertoire.

Nathan Meltzer, violin with pianist Wynona Wang

Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center

Luiz Fernando Venturelli, cello

Chamber Concert 7 »Of Bohemia and Bohème«

Oper Graz

Cycle Five: Echoes Of Celebration

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Arizona

DesertView Performing Arts Center

Poulenc’s searing one-act opera follows a desperate woman through a final phone call with her departing lover. This haunting musical monologue transforms private anguish into visceral theater, as raw emotion unfolds through Poulenc’s lush orchestration and Jean Cocteau’s unflinching text. An unforgettable portrait of love and loss.

Based on the true story of Ming Kuang Chen, a Chinese food deliveryman who was trapped in a Bronx elevator for 81 hours in 2005, this sung-through hybrid of musical theatre, opera, and solo performance explores the immigrant experience through a blend of operatic singing, rap, and contemporary musical theater that reflects the collision of desperation, delusion, and absurdity in Chen's confined world.

SJSU School of Music presents La Voix Humaine and Stuck Elevator

Hammer Theatre Center

Audience-favourite Sara Davis Buechner returns with Edmonton-born rising star Jessica Yuma to perform Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos, a work full of vigor and breathtaking moments. English composer William Walton’s Symphony No. 1 takes listeners on a journey through rich harmony, heart-wrenching climaxes, and ultimate triumph. Plus, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia pays tribute to a theme written more than three centuries earlier by composer Thomas Tallis.

Concerto for Two Pianos

Winspear Centre

Eastman Wind Ensemble 2026

University of Rochester

Eastman Theatre

Debussy’s La mer gushes into Severance on a wave of shimmering orchestral color, ebbing and flowing through three symphonic pictures that evoke the ocean’s power and majesty. Grammy-winning organist Paul Jacobs pulls out all the stops in Poulenc’s thundering Organ Concerto, and Daniele Rustioni leads The Cleveland Orchestra in a folkloric rhapsody by Alfredo Casella as well as Fauré’s breezy incidental music for Pelléas et Mélisande.

Debussy’s La Mer

Severance Music Center

Performed entirely from memory by the choir and soloists, this performance envelops listeners in an intimate, contemplative setting. From the radiant beauty of the Pie Jesu to the ethereal glow of In Paradisum, the music offers a vision of consolation and peace.

Fauré Requiem Performed by Hear

Smith Square Hall

“No human dies for himself alone. One dies for others. Maybe some die instead of others. Who knows?“ (Sœur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites). Few operas focus on the confrontation with one’s own mortality as much as Francis Poulenc’s opera about an order of Carmelite nuns in the turmoil of the French Revolution, which premiered in 1957. The story revolves around the young Blanche, who – plagued by severe anxiety since birth – finds shelter in a convent. But the time of security ends abruptly when the Revolutionary Committee breaks up the convent and forbids the community from practicing its rites. The sisters swear themselves to martyrdom, but Blanche’s fear of death drives her to flee. Eventually she manages to overcome herself: As she follows her sisters to the scaffold, her fear is extinguished in the face of death. In her production of this hybrid of thriller, discourse opera and holy mass, director Ewelina Marciniak, known for her feminist readings, focuses on the dynamics of a community of women struggling for communication and humanity in the midst of terror. And even if the supernatural “Salve Regina“ of the Carmelite nuns on the scaffold leaves no doubt that this opera is a fervent profession of faith by the Catholic Poulenc, the nuns’ willingness to make sacrifices raises questions: where are the boundaries between solidarity, faith and fundamentalism? How lonely is it to die in our secularized contemporary world? Under the musical direction of Cornelius Meister, Poulenc’s powerful music becomes a unique event.

Dialogues des Carmélites

Stuttgart Opera

Barber’s Adagio and Allegri’s Miserere prepare the way for James MacMillan’s great Passion meditation, in this emotionally-charged evening from Tenebrae and Britten Sinfonia.

Seven Last Words From The Cross

St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London

Soprano and Court Singer Elin Rombo is one of Sweden’s brightest stars on the international opera scene. A cherished guest at Konserthuset Stockholm, she now returns to the main stage – this time together with the visiting Västerås Sinfonietta under the baton of Chief Conductor Simon Crawford-Phillips.

Britten, Börtz and Poulenc

Konserthuset Stockholm

Sir Simon Rattle & Kirill Gerstein

Munich Residence

Echoing Route/Root’s themes of memory, migration and the tension between vulnerability and grandeur, this all-20th-century programme for two pianos balances intimacy and power. Francis Poulenc’s Elégie is brief but poignant, while his Sonata for piano four hands is full of quirky charm.

Junyan Chen & Alim Beisembayev

Leeds Conservatoire

Grammy® Award winner and sought-after violinist Augustin Hadelich makes his San Francisco Performances debut at the peak of an impressive international career. According to Bachtrack, he “is most definitely the man of the moment and is quite rightly earning a reputation as one of the finest violinists on the circuit.” The Times of London called Francesco Piemontesi’s artistry, “playful, assertive, intelligent music making, with bone-china clarity.”

Augustin Hadelich and Francesco Piemontesi (The Shenson Great Artists & Ensembles Series/Herbst)

War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

Andrew Litton conducts the classic Firebird Suite, drawn from the dazzling ballet that shot Stravinsky into the 20th-century classical music pantheon almost overnight. The Seattle Symphony Chorale joins the orchestra for Poulenc's first choral work with orchestra, the 12-movement Stabat Mater — penned in response to the sudden death of his friend. Poulenc was inspired by his pilgrimage to the holy shrine of the Black Madonna of Rocamadour, which reinvigorated his Catholic faith, and the medieval Stabat Mater hymn to the Virgin Mary.

Stravinsky The Firebird

Benaroya Hall

Prince Bluebeard's Castle, a one-act opera to a libretto by Béla Balàzs was composed by Bartók in 1911 but not performed until seven years later, on 24 May 1918 at the Budapest Opera House. The libretto proposed by Balàzs retrieves the figure from the fairytale tradition of the ruthless Bluebeard to cast it in a symbolist frame in the wake of Debussy-Maeterlinck's Pelléas et Melisande. The opera, divided into nine scenes, has only two protagonists: Bluebeard and his wife Judith, who express themselves with a song, mainly recitative, based on pentatonic scales of Hungarian folk tradition. The action takes place in the prince's castle in medieval times. A prologue recited by a bard introduces the first scene describing Judith's resolve to follow her husband into his gloomy and mysterious castle. However, the woman wants to know Bluebeard's past and starts to open the castle's seven secret doors one after the other. With dismay she discovers sinister rooms and places stained with blood, a pivotal element of the opera associated by Bartók with the minor second chord, the most dissonant of all. On opening the seventh and final door, Judith fears to find the corpses of her previous murdered wives, but instead she sees three richly dressed, living women parading before her eyes. They are the women of morning, noon and evening who now belong only to the world of Bluebeard's memories. Judith, as the woman of the night, after being crowned and covered in jewels by her husband, will follow them forever into the seventh room, whose door closes, plunging the castle back into darkness.

Bluebeard's castle / La voix humaine

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre

First, there is an abandoned woman, in a tragedy of rupture formulated by Cocteau that wrests painful accents of truth from Francis Poulenc. But this final stage of the crisis is not the last and does not end with the monologue: Thierry Escaich and Olivier Py have imagined a mirror sequel to this Voix humaine, their devastating Point d'orgue, a folie à trois capable of the paroxysms that only opera allows. Le National, Ariane Matiakh and Patricia Petibon take up the torch of this total spectacle.

The Human Voice / Culmination

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

Northshore Classics: French Fables & Fantasies

Greater Covington Center

This concert highlights piano mastery and dynamic artistry as husband and wife duo Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung take center stage. Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos sparkles with elegance and virtuosity. Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals delights with humor and imagination, while Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos adds wit and rhythmic energy.

Mozart & More: Concertos for Two Pianos

Jacoby Symphony Hall

Delight in the elegant charm of Gabriel Fauré’s Masques et Bergamasques, op. 112 that sets the stage for Poulenc's playful storytelling in his L’Histoire de Babar, bringing to life the beloved tale of Babar the Elephant with humor and heart. The magic continues with Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune, a luminous and timeless classic and the wonder of Maurice Ravel’s Ma Mère l'Oye (Mother Goose Suite)—a vibrant and imaginative orchestral reimagining of childhood fairy tales.

French Fables & Fantasies

New Marigny Theatre

The chamber music series at the Handel House invites you to a musical Sunday outing in a baroque setting. Musicians from the Halle State Orchestra present personally curated programs featuring famous works and rarely heard gems – in diverse ensembles and (almost) always with commentary.

3. Chamber Music

Händel-Haus

The Carnegie Mellon University Chamber Series brings together members of the CMU Faculty and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for outstanding music making in an intimate space.

Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series: New Paths Familiar Voices

Carnegie Mellon University

With Francis Poulenc's rarely performed Organ Concerto, Christian Schmitt brings us a virtuoso performance of the concert hall organ in the Graz Musikverein. In Camille Saint-Saëns's famous Organ Symphony , the organ later functions as an instrument almost equal to the orchestra. A new sonic discovery, however, is "Amor Fati ," an orchestral piece in which the contemporary Cretan composer Giorgos Koumendakis brings the music of his homeland to life without the use of traditional Greek instruments, for example, through rich ornamentation in the strings, thiaboli and mandora sounds, and rhythmic patterns of transcribed birdsong in the woodwinds.

2nd Music Association Concert

Stefaniensaal

Strauss & Poulenc

Rutgers University–Camden

This intimate concert by award-winning pianist Paul Lewis, who’s been praised for his “impeccable technique and subtle artistry” (Boston Classical Review), features a series of Mozart and Poulenc pairings. The first half of this charming program includes Mozart’s energetic 10th piano sonata as well as excerpts from Poulenc’s Improvisations, a series of 15 short and diverse solo piano tunes. After intermission, Lewis performs the remaining Improvisations before concluding with Mozart’s turbulent Piano Sonata No. 14. L’isle Joyeuse (“Joyous Island”) by Claude Debussy divides the Mozart/Poulenc double feature.

Piano Poetry: Paul Lewis plays Mozart, Debussy, and Poulenc

Colburn School

Symphony concert meets dance floor: Poulenc's Dance Suite, composed for the Ballets Russes, transports its audience to the vibrant atmosphere of 1920s salons. In the ballet "Petrushka," puppetry meets the reality of deadly jealousy, a theme explored by Stravinsky's music with subtle irony and Russian folk dances. The exceptional young guitarist Laura Lootens performs Joaquín Rodigo's popular Guitar Concerto, which transformed its blind composer into a Spanish cultural ambassador and national hero. Chin-Chao Lin, principal conductor of the Klagenfurt City Theatre, returns to Wiesbaden for this concert.

4th Symphony Concert: Petrushka

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden

A harrowing and powerful opera inspired by true events of the French Revolution.

The contrast between the quiet life of a convent and the sweeping, destructive forces of revolution lies at the heart of Poulenc’s opera, which is inspired by real events from the French Revolution.

Royal Danish Opera

The Orchester der Oper Zürich starts the concert season under a new, old name. After thirteen years as Philharmonia Zurich, the orchestra will return to its original moniker. The Philharmonic Concerts will once again alternate between the Opernhaus and the Tonhalle Zürich.

Jussen & Rustioni

Tonhalle Zürich

Our concert hall organ, the "orchestra in one instrument," is at the center of Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto - a work full of contrasts. Sometimes deeply serious, almost sacred, then surprisingly playful, Poulenc combines tradition and modernity in a fascinating way. The soloist of the evening, Anna Lapwood, one of the most exciting organists of her generation, impresses with her virtuosity and her ability to engage people with classical music.

Lapwood with Poulenc

Palace of Culture

Cascade Symphony presents its annual and very popular Family Concert with a performance of Francis Poulenc’s delightful “Story of Babar the Elephant,” narrated by longtime Seattle radio host, Dave Dolacky, with visual aids to entertain the children. This concert also features the talented winner of our annual Rising Stars Competition.

The Story of Babar

Edmonds Center For the Arts

Old meets new in Górecki's Three Pieces in Old Style. Inspired by papers on old Polish music and heavily influenced by modal music combined with folk, these charming pieces encapsulate the sonorous charms of both Górecki's music and his writing for strings.

BBC NOW - Gloria

Brangwyn Hall

The organ is an instrument that for many creates a sense of reverent silence in churches rather than enjoyable music. But in this concert, it shows how versatile and modern the organ can be! Poulenc was a French composer who liked to play with musical contrasts: sacred meets secular, serious meets playful. His concert begins almost like a meditation - dark and mysterious - and suddenly the music breaks into lively, almost dance-like rhythms. The other piece, just recently composed for the organ in the famous Royal Albert Hall in London, captivates the listeners. It is a journey through moods and sounds that showcases the organ at its most exciting. Lean back and let yourself be surprised - maybe today you will discover your new favorite instrument!

abgeFRACKt: Roaring Whistles

The Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra welcomes soprano Marie Engle for Francis Poulenc’s La voix humaine, a stirring one-act opera depicting one woman’s final phone call with her ex-lover in a struggle of unrequited love. Concluding the evening is Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 (“Italian”), a collection of impressions from his ten-month trip to Italy inspired by sunny blue skies, lively saltarello dances, religious solemnity, and timeless art and architecture.

Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra

Northwestern University

Chamber Concert

Philharmonic Studio

In the midst of the French Revolution, a group of nuns fight for their self-determination, their faith and against the fear of death.

Semperoper Dresden

Journey through luminous soundscapes and rustic beauty in Appalachian Spring, a concert of celestial serenity, playful charm, and sweeping Americana. The evening opens with Aaron Jay Kernis’ Musica Celestis, a transcendent work of shimmering, angelic harmonies that seem to drift through the heavens. Duo Amadeae—sisters Esther Park and Sun-A Park—bring their dazzling synchronicity and expressive touch to Poulenc’s spirited Concerto for Two Pianos in D Minor, a piece bursting with wit, elegance, and unexpected turns. Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring brings the night to a radiant close, evoking gentle nostalgia and painting a musical portrait of open skies and endless possibility. This program offers a joyful, heartfelt journey through sound and story—a celebration of hope, imagination, and the enduring spirit.

CSO: Appalachian Spring

RiverCenter for the Performing Arts

In the third anniversary concert, we celebrate that it is not only Mogens Dahl Concert Hall, but also Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir that has its 20th anniversary. We celebrate this again with good friends and collaborators: Mathias Heise on harmonica and Jonas Frølund on clarinet.

Anniversary Concert #3

Mogens Dahl Koncertsal

Early modernist Paris must have been a fascinating place. Where else in the world did such artistic diversity exist? Musical life oscillated between Impressionism and Neoclassicism, jazz and operetta; there were the "old" artists around Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré, the young artists around the Groupe des Six; there were Russians, Spaniards, and Czechs, and of course mavericks like the legendary Erik Satie. The city was thus a true melting pot and, at the same time, a laboratory of sounds.

3rd Symphony Concert

Theater Nordhausen

House of Art

BNY Classics showcases unforgettable performances by your Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, featuring timeless masterpieces, thrilling premieres, and renowned guest artists.

Sibelius' Second

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts

A sparkling tradition to welcome the new year: the Residentie Orkest's New Year's Concert. This edition is all about colour, virtuosity and French flair. Under the baton of the charismatic Mei-Ann Chen, a conductor known for her sheer passion, you'll experience an evening where festive traditions and glorious music come together. Join us in raising a glass to a wonderful new year! 

New Year's Concert 

Amare

A New Year marked by dance and joy, with The Firebird , a Russian tale commissioned by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris, Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos , inspired by Mozart, the gamelan and the spirit of the music hall, and Le tombeau de Couperin , a symphonic gem taken from a piano cycle that Ravel composed in the tradition of French dance suites. And to complete the celebration, the most famous crescendo in the history of music, based on an Andalusian dance with a repetitive and captivating rhythm: the Boléro .

New Year's Concert: Bolero

Philharmonic Hall of Liege

Cultuurhuis De Warande

Each stopover will introduce you to a different sound world, combining lively rhythms and captivating melodies. Under the direction of conductor Zoe Zeniodi, the musicians will be joined by soprano Sheva Tehoval, the distinguished guest of this festive event. Together, they will perform works with multiple influences, reflecting the richness of the world's musical heritage. A moment of sharing, joy, and escape to experience with family or friends, to start the year with a smile.

New Year's Concert

Opéra Berlioz

Christmas Concert / Lorenzo Viotti

Teatro alla Scala

The wonderful Wisconsin-born soprano Emily Birsan -- now one of Chicago's indispensable classical artists -- returns following her exquisite "St. Cecilia Mass"  for another glorious French confection: Francis Poulenc's fabulous setting of the GLORIA, written in 1960 for the Boston Symphony....and once again, our LSO Assistant Conductor James Wilson will assemble a magnificent symphonic chorus for the occasion! A garland of classic American Holiday favorites graces the evening's first half, culminating in another brilliant return: La Crosse's own piano prodigy Andre Previn Peck, in Prokofiev's glittering First Concerto. John Finnegan's Christmas Sing-Along caps off what will be the perfect Holiday celebration.

Holiday Glories

Viterbo University

Jubilant choirs in high church halls, hardly anything reminds us more vividly of the deeper meaning of Christmas: the birth of a child and the promise of a happy future. And so the NDR Vokalensemble groups its Christmas concert around Johann Sebastian Bach’s motto »Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied«. Bach has two choirs compete with each other in the praise of God. And the magnificent final fugue »Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn« with its virtuoso colouratura really hardly gives the singers a chance to catch their breath.

NDR Vocal Ensemble / Heide Müller

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Celebrate the season with the glad musical tidings of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra’s beloved holiday concert, a favorite family event for music lovers of all ages. CUSO is joined by the University of Illinois Chamber Singers and Oratorio Society to perform Gloria of Francis Poulenc, a spectacular work for large chorus and full orchestra. The angelic voices of the Central Illinois Youth Chorus will be featured in music by John Williams from the film Home Alone. Uplifting songs of the season, a visit from Santa, and a sing-along of carols are sure to make spirits bright.

Good Tidings!

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

Holiday Choral by Candlelight 2025

Mission San Rafael Arcángel

Kira Hoffman – Junior Recital

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Little Suite, or Petite Suite as it is called in French, is a true evergreen in the classical repertoire. Debussy's short orchestral suite in four movements is instantly recognizable. Even if you don't know the title, you'll be happy to hum along to the lulling, light and inimitable melodies.

Debussy and Poulenc

Sara cultural center

Norrlandsoperan

Entertaining and colorful stories are told in Monday Concert 1 at the Beethoven House: stories in music, performed by a powerful and dazzling ensemble of wind instruments, double bass, and piano. We travel with Fazıl Say to a small Anatolian village, observe the crowds on the Parisian boulevards (including pin-up girls and aging beauties...) with Francis Poulenc and Jean Françaix, and serenade our loved ones as a Spanish jester!

Villages and Boulevards

Beethoven-Haus Bonn

"The Fantastic" is the theme of this season's chamber concerts in the Apollosaal, based on the season's first opera premiere, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Musicians of the Staatskapelle Berlin have developed programs that approach this idea and concept, which play a key role in music, in a variety of ways. Ranging from the Baroque to the present day, with a particular focus on the Romantic period, featuring Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and the multitalented E.T.A. Hoffmann (who, in an idealized form, became the title character in Offenbach's opera), "The Fantastic" will be explored with a variety of chamber music works in diverse ensembles.

Chamber Concert II

Berlin State Opera

The third subscription concert of the Orchestral Series will be once again conducted by our Chief Conductor Emmanuel Villaume. The second protagonist of the evening will be his namesake, the exceptional player and principal flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic, who has already won the favor of our audience with his previous performances: Emmanuel Pahud. The program of the concert builds a symbolic bridge between the Classical masters and the composer who was inspired by their style within the Neo-Classical trends.

Mozart. Poulenc. Haydn

Dvořák Hall Rudolfinum

Prodigies transcend centuries, but ultra-talented siblings are rare. Think Mozart, Mendelssohn, or today, the Jussens – wunderkinder whose virtuosity and charm have captured hearts worldwide. Together with Tugan Sokhiev and the acclaimed Munich Philharmonic, they bring Poulenc’s playful Double Concerto to life, a lyrical duet with echoes of Mozart and Ravel. In stark contrast, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony offers symphonic drama at its peak. From the thunderous ‘Fate’ fanfare to its soul-stirring finale, this monumental work promises an unforgettable evening of musical brilliance.

Munich Philharmonic and the Jussen brothers

Queen Elisabeth Hall

We return to the Wimbledon International Festival, conducted by our Principal Bassoon Robin O’Neill.

Enjoy a radiant programme celebrating the refined, sensuous world of Maurice Ravel in his 150th birthday year, with two highlights from the composer’s catalogue: Tombeau de Couperin and Pavane pour une infante défunte.

We’re joined by star violist Timothy Ridout in Britten’s Lachrymae, a piece that showcases the deep emotional depth of the instrument.

Wimbledon International Music Festival: Tertis Memorial Concert

Wimbledon High School

In the midst of the Grande Terreur, the community is divided between the prioress Madame Lidoine, who urges humility, and the novice mistress Mère Marie, who preaches martyrdom for the faith. The latter prevails, and before the Revolutionary Guards ban the order, the sisters take their vows - except for the absent prioress and Blanche, who cannot withstand the pressure and flees. When the Camelites, condemned to death for counter-revolutionary conspiracy, go to the scaffold, Blanche joins the condemned.

Vienna State Opera

Love can be boundless happiness and fulfillment, but also deep sadness and pain. Sometimes all of these things at the same time, which doesn't necessarily make things easier. But above all, love is one thing: mysterious, unfathomable, and unpredictable. This is how Sergei Rachmaninoff, at 20, the prime age for great emotions, describes it in a magnificent tone poem which – another enigma – is extremely rarely performed despite its great beauty.

To you

Cologne Philharmonie

Dani Ewing – Senior Recital

Hamel Music Center

As part of the current Musethica session, the participating musicians gave a total of ten concerts in social institutions throughout Vienna, bringing music to life for people who otherwise rarely have access to classical concerts. The festive conclusion will be the concert in the Wappensaal of Vienna City Hall, where the developed program will be presented in a special setting.

Closing concert of the Musethica Session

Vienna City Hall

A cherished presence on Washington Performing Arts stages, Midori returns with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute for a program that traverses lyricism, passion, and brilliance. Anchored by Beethoven’s radiant “Spring” Sonata, the recital interweaves romantic nuance in the works of Clara and Robert Schumann, Poulenc’s bold contrasts, and the virtuosic sweep of Schubert’s Rondo Brillante—all brought to life with Midori’s musical insight and expressive power. A new work written for Midori by New York-based violinist and composer Che Buford combines violin and electronics. Buford describes their compositions as exploring the possibilities of timbre and acoustical phenomena and connecting them to elements of place, memory, poetry, and the quotidian.

Midori, violin

Sixth & I

Experience the majesty of Fanfares and Flourishes. Join Goldsmiths Choral Union and Affinity Chamber Orchestra for an exhilarating and joyful evening of music that celebrates the splendour and triumph of the human spirit. Fanfares and Flourishes is a vibrant, uplifting programme that brings together powerful choral works and dazzling brass to explore themes of celebration, reverence, and exaltation.

Fanfares and Flourishes

Ardeo Sextet

Royal Academy of Music

Sacred music was never meant to be this much fun! ‘Part monk, part hooligan’ was how one contemporary described the French composer Francis Poulenc, and they might have been talking about his Gloria, too: a huge, irreverent shout of joy for a great chorus. The City of London Choir joins the RPO and conductor Daniel Hyde to raise the roof today; first, though, there’s another choral blockbuster from France (this time by Lili Boulanger), music reminiscent of a holiday in Provence from the composer of Carmen and Debussy’s beautiful moonlit serenade. We also hear not one but two musical letters from America. Everyone loves the deep emotion of Barber’s Adagio – but when you hear soprano Sally Matthews sing Knoxville, his tender memoir of a vanished youth, we think you’ll fall in love all over again.

Poulenc's Gloria

Cadogan Hall 

Sacred music was never meant to be this much fun! “Part monk, part hooligan” was how one contemporary described the French composer Francis Poulenc, and they might have been talking about his Gloria too: a huge, irreverent shout of joy for a great chorus.

The City of London Choir joins the RPO and conductor Daniel Hyde to raise the roof today; first, though, there’s another choral blockbuster from France (this time by Lili Boulanger), music reminiscent of a holiday in Provence from the composer of Carmen, and Debussy’s beautiful moonlit serenade.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

For 70 years now, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt) has been a regular guest at the Kassel Music Days – this time with the Russian conductor and harpsichordist Maxim Emelyanichev and a multifaceted program centered around the French Baroque. Two suites by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau will be performed, as well as a Baroque-inspired ballet suite by Igor Stravinsky. Audiences can also look forward to a harpsichord concerto that is not yet 100 years old. Maxim Emelyanichev is considered a rising star of early music, approaching his work with tremendous curiosity and musical passion. He will even be at the harpsichord himself for Francis Poulenc's sparkling and witty concerto.

Kassel Music Days

Kassel State Theater

A harpsichord concerto that's not even 100 years old? Yes, Francis Poulenc's "Concert champêtre" spices up the Baroque sound with modern harmonies, and the liaison is a resounding success. The suite theme is also explored in a unique way in this concert: two old pieces, one new – where freshness isn't a matter of era. 20th-century France looks back to the old masters of the Baroque: The conductor who brings this special perspective to the hr-Sinfonieorchester's "Baroque+" series is Maxim Emelyanychev. The Russian is considered a rising star of early music because he approaches his work without any affectation, but with tremendous curiosity and a true musical pulse. He conducts historically informed performance ensembles as well as large symphony orchestras and says: "I want to approach the music with a fresh perspective, but with the aim of performing it as it was possible back then." In Francis Poulenc's sparkling and witty "Concert champêtre," Emelyanychev himself will be at the harpsichord; he loves leading an ensemble from the keyboard: "It's a completely different connection with the orchestra than when you're just conducting. You feel like part of the whole."

Composer

Francis Poulenc

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 16, 2025 - Jun 16, 2026

NDR Chamber Concert · Elbphilharmonie

Feb 4 - May 6, 2026

Chamber Concert · Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie

May 6, 2026

Ana-Carmen Balestra soprano & Salome Jordania piano · The Bridgewater Hall

May 7, 2026

Xinyi Liu, soprano · Northwestern Bienen School of Music

May 7, 2026

The Six · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Past events

Apr 26, 2026

3. Chamber Concert / Extreme · Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock

25 - 26 Apr, 2026

Country Concerto · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

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