Prom 58: Orchestre de Paris/Mäkelä review – electrifying music-making from an elite team

Royal Albert Hall, London
A Parisian-flavoured programme of narrative works by Debussy, Stravinsky and Berlioz was played with precision and panache, full of relishable and memorable moments

There’s something about the Proms that brings out the star quality in visiting orchestras – and their conductors. Plenty already think that Klaus Mäkelä wafts clouds of stardust wherever he goes – including the managements of both the Concertgebouw and the Chicago Symphony orchestras, who have announced him as their new chief from 2027 – but any doubters would have been swayed by this Prom with the Orchestre de Paris.

The programme, at once crowd-pleasing and satisfyingly meaty, was about as Parisian as they come: Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune; Stravinsky’s Petrushka, written for Paris’s Ballets Russes; and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, one of this orchestra’s calling-cards. Each was played with the kind of care and technical precision that might seem merely polished in the context of a recording but was electrifying in the hall.

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