Concert du Nouvel An : Bohemian Night

With its blend of freedom, adventure, hope and hardship, the bohemian lifestyle has always fuelled the artistic imagination. From the romanticised vision of an artist’s life to the sometimes more precarious realities, it inspires a musical evening full of contrasts, ranging from nostalgia and lyricism to bursts of laughter.

Conducted by Jean-François Verdier, this concert explores the many facets of bohemian life, at the crossroads of folk music, symphonic music and jazz.

With his *Hungarian Sketches*, Béla Bartók draws on folk traditions and creates a dialogue between rhythms, melodies and instrumental colours. Antonín Dvořák, with excerpts from his famous Cello Concerto No. 2, presents a work where lyricism and virtuosity come together. Then Bedřich Smetana takes us on a journey along the waters of *The Moldau*, which has become one of the iconic works of the symphonic repertoire.

Bohemian life is then reimagined through jazz by the Guillaume Saint-James Trio, before taking on a spectacular dimension with Freddie Mercury’s legendary ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

A rich and eclectic evening of music, where the bohemian spirit reveals itself in all its facets: free, dreamy, popular, melancholic and ever-changing.

Programme

Béla Bartók – Hungarian Sketches
Antonín Dvořák – Cello Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 104, excerpts
Bedřich Smetana – The Moldau
Guillaume Saint-James – Black Bohemia, excerpts
Freddie Mercury – Bohemian Rhapsody

Line-up

Cello: Astrig Siranossian
Saxophone: Guillaume Saint-James
Double bass: Jérôme Seguin
Drums: Guillaume Dommartin
Singers: CRR de Chalon-sur-Saône
Orchestra: Orchestre Victor Hugo
Conductor: Jean-François Verdier