Further Reading
6th June 2025
The Finnish conductor and the Orchestre de Paris present an incredibly colourful and terrifying reading of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique alongside a riotously chaotic account of Ravel's La valse.
Klaus Mäkelä’s forthcoming album with the Orchestre de Paris will be released on Friday, June 6, 2025 on Decca Classics. This is the third album in Mäkelä’s series with the orchestra and features two famous French works: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Ravel’s La Valse.
The centerpiece of the album is Symphonie fantastique, recorded live at the Philharmonie de Paris in December 2024. “Berlioz’s masterpiece has a very special meaning for the Orchestre de Paris” says Klaus Mäkelä. “It was one of the works that Charles Munch performed and recorded as the orchestra’s first Music Director in 1967, and it has remained core to their repertoire ever since. I have had the privilege of performing Symphonie Fantastique with these wonderful musicians on numerous occasions, both at home and on tour, and it amazes me how fresh the music still feels today, nearly 200 years after it was composed.”
Mäkelä and the orchestra received widespread acclaim for their performance of the work at the BBC Proms last summer. The Guardian described the Royal Albert Hall concert as “electrifying”, adding “something just clicked: Mäkelä had us all hanging on every note within seconds, and the orchestra played like a team of all-stars.” Bachtrack described the performance as “five movements of flamboyance and subtlety,” and The Arts Desk called the finale “the culmination of something at last truly extraordinary.”
Berlioz was inspired by Shakespeare, Beethoven, and his love for the actress Harriet Smithson when he wrote the symphony in 1830. He used a recurring musical theme—what he called an idée fixe—to represent the artist’s obsession. The piece was considered revolutionary at the time for its bold orchestration and emotional storytelling.
This is the third release in Mäkelä’s series with the Orchestre de Paris, continuing a theme of music linked to the Ballets Russes. Following albums featuring Stravinsky and Debussy, this new release turns to Ravel’s La Valse. Although originally intended for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, the piece was famously rejected and is now known as one of Ravel’s most exciting orchestral works.
