Closing Concert

The Orchestre National de France is both an established authority and a dynamic force in the interpretation of French music. Its international tours have made it a flagship for French culture around the world, while its presence throughout France, reinforced by vibrant educational programmes, has cemented its relationship with a diverse national audience.

A Radio France ensemble, the Orchestre National de France was founded in 1934 as the country’s first full-time symphony orchestra. Its mission to serve the symphonic repertoire was furthered by radio broadcasts of its concerts, and it soon achieved an outstanding reputation.

After the Second World War, Manuel Rosenthal, André Cluytens, and Jean Martinon, among others, enriched this tradition, which was further enhanced by successive musical directors (Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, Daniele Gatti, Emmanuel Krivine) and regular guests (Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa...). On September 1, 2020, Cristian Măcelaru took over as Music Director of the Orchestre National de France.

In the 20th century, the Orchestre National de France gave the premieres of a number of major works, including Le Soleil des eaux by Boulez, Déserts by Varèse, Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony (French premiere), Xenakis’s Jonchaies, and the majority of Dutilleux’s large-scale compositions.

Numerous recordings by the orchestra are commercially available. Under the baton of Louis Langrée, the Orchestre National de France recorded Ravel's two piano concertos with pianist Alexandre Tharaud. To mark the centenary of the death of Camille Saint-Saëns, it released a complete set of his symphonies conducted by Cristian Măcelaru for Warner Classics. Finally, a new boxed set of George Enescu's symphonies, also conducted by Măcelaru, has recently been released by Deutsche Grammophon.

source: Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm

Cristian Măcelaru became the Music Director of the Orchestre National de France on 1 September, 2020. He was born in the Romanian city of Timișoara in 1980. After violin studies in Romania, he moved to the USA, training at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and at the universities of Miami and Houston, where he studied conducting with Larry Rachleff. He later attended masterclasses given by David Zinman, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Oliver Knussen, and Stefan Asbury at the Tanglewood Music Center and Aspen Music Festival. At just 19 years old, he made his debut as concertmaster of the Miami Symphony Orchestra at New York’s Carnegie Hall, becoming the youngest concertmaster in the orchestra’s history. Currently, he is Music Director of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and, since 2017, of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California. Cristian Măcelaru is also the Music Director Designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a post he assumes in the 2024/25 season.

Cristian Măcelaru first gained international attention in 2012 when he stepped in for Pierre Boulez as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. That same year, he received the Solti Emerging Conductor Award, followed in 2014 by the Solti Conducting Award. Since then, he has conducted many of the leading American orchestras – including the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra – and enjoys an especially close relationship with the Philadelphia Orchestra, which he has conducted more than 150 times.

In Europe, Cristian Măcelaru regularly appears as a guest conductor with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and BBC Symphony Orchestra. In October 2021, he accepted the invitation of Romania’s Minister of Culture to become Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest.

source: Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm

Rudolf Buchbinder is widely regarded as one of the legendary pianists of our time. His playing uniquely blends the authority of a career spanning over 60 years with vibrant spirit and spontaneity. In his interpretations of the great piano repertoire, he masterfully merges tradition with innovation, fidelity to the score with artistic freedom, and authenticity with a global outlook.

Buchbinder holds honorary memberships with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, the Vienna Konzerthaus Society, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the first soloist to be awarded the Golden Badge of Honour by the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Buchbinder is particularly celebrated for his interpretations of Beethoven’s works. He has captivated audiences worldwide with complete cycles of the 32 piano sonatas, performing them over 60 times in his career. In spring 2023, he became the first pianist in history to perform all 32 sonatas at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts over seven evenings within ten days. He also presented the cycle at the sold-out Seoul Arts Center and, in spring 2024, performed his first complete Beethoven sonata cycle in Japan at the renowned Tokyo Spring Festival. Over the decades, Buchbinder has significantly contributed to the interpretative evolution of these masterpieces.

Deutsche Grammophon honoured Buchbinder’s extraordinary Beethoven interpretations with the release of the BUCHBINDER: BEETHOVEN edition, a comprehensive recording of the 32 piano sonatas and the five piano concertos. This project immortalises two of Buchbinder’s most remarkable Beethoven cycles in recent years. In 2014, he became the first pianist to perform the complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas within a single summer at the Salzburg Festival.

The impressive cycle of Beethoven’s five piano concertos was recorded during the 2019/20 concert season at the Vienna Musikverein. To mark its 150th anniversary, the Musikverein honoured Buchbinder by inviting him to be the first pianist to perform all five concertos in a specially curated series. His musical partners included the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, and Christian Thielemann. All performances were recorded live, culminating in the Musikverein Cycle—released as a three-CD set by Deutsche Grammophon in September 2021—now regarded as a historic artistic document.

To commemorate Beethoven’s 250th birthday, Buchbinder initiated The Diabelli Project, inviting eleven leading contemporary composers—including Lera Auerbach, Brett Dean, Toshio Hosokawa, Tan Dun, and Jörg Widmann—to write new variations inspired by Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. In collaboration with major concert halls worldwide and the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the project resulted in a world premiere recording released by Deutsche Grammophon, marking the beginning of Buchbinder’s exclusive partnership with the label.

Released in November 2022, his album Soirée de Vienne evokes the spirit of a Viennese evening gathering, featuring works by composers closely linked to Vienna—just as Buchbinder himself is. “Freedom in the moment, the luxury of thoughtful spontaneity, and curiosity for the present—these are what make music truly come alive,” Buchbinder explains. The album embodies this philosophy, offering an inspiring, entertaining, and profoundly moving musical experience. More recently, he released a solo recording of Brahms songs arranged for piano by Max Reger.

A dedicated scholar, Buchbinder places immense value on source research. His private music library includes 39 complete editions of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and an extensive collection of first editions, original publications, and manuscript copies of the piano parts for Brahms’s two piano concertos.

Since 2007, Buchbinder has served as Artistic Director of the Grafenegg Festival, which has become one of Europe’s most influential orchestral festivals under his leadership.

In addition to his extensive performing and recording career, Buchbinder is also an author. His autobiography Da Capo and the book Mein Beethoven – Leben mit dem Meister reflect his deep connection to the composer. His latest publication, Der letzte Walzer (The Last Waltz), released in March 2020 alongside the premiere of The Diabelli Project, shares 33 stories about Beethoven, Diabelli, and the art of piano playing.

source: Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm