Zampa Overture - Herold
Poeme - Chausson
Sorcerer's Apprentice - Dukas
Mignon Overture - Thomas
Tzigane - Ravel
Carmen Suite (exc) - Bizet
It's hard to imagine that the spirit of Bastille Day would best be celebrated in music, by a selection of mostly 19th-century French pot-boilers. Is that what the spirit of revolution is all about? Did neither the 18th century itself nor the last 75 years produce nothing as close to the spirit of Bastille Day as orchestral excerpts from 19thcentury opera, or orchestral works with non-French associations? Well, that's what the music moguls at RTE proposed in the Bastille Day concert they presented by the National Symphony Orchestra under the long-time Metz-resident Irish conductor, Robert Houlihan.
In the event, it was the music of the second half which provided the greatest sparkle. Before the interval, Herold's Zampa Overture didn't fizz or sparkle as it needs to, the rarefied poetry of Chausson's Poeme rather eluded the violin soloist, Olivier Charlier, and the steady-as-she-goes approach to Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice produced limited tension and excitement.
Thereafter things improved. Thomas's Mignon Overture glowed attractively, Charlier took a highly individual and mostly persuasive approach to Ravel's gypsy-fiddling indulgence, Tzigane, and the handling of the excerpts from Bizet's Carmen Suites brought freshness to this much over-played music.
