Pierre Bleuse
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Concert Hall, Helsinki Music Centre, Mannerheimintie 13 A, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) composed the five-section Métaboles (1964) for Szell and Cleveland (the January 1965 first performance is below, as is one from Paris in 1974 conducted by Celibidache). Szell returned to Métaboles in October ’67 and Munch took it up, as subsequently have Denève, Dutoit, Gatti, Gilbert, de Leeuw, Rattle, and others. Pierre Bleuse drew a wonderful response from the Finnish Radio SO – precise, dynamic, expressive – of mysterious and thrillingly propulsive music requiring outsize virtuosity and infallible interaction (qualities which of course the composer knew Szell’s orchestra had in abundance and would be primed) for music richly scored and detailed, iridescent and resounding in its final measures.
Stravinsky’s Paris-made, four-movement, neoclassical Violin Concerto, 1931, for Samuel Dushkin, found in Alina Ibragimova a soloist without inhibition, pushing the tempo in the outer movements without compromising rhythm or causing ensemble problems, for the FRSO played with spirit and good balance, and were eloquent in the poignancy of the central pair of ‘Aria’ movements. The speed of the final ‘Capriccio’ was bravely quick, but if you can get the notes in place and retain the music’s character, then why not, here a divertissement (with notable trombone contributions) spinning to a Russian tumble. There was no encore from Ibragimova (not that such things are obligatory).
Dushkin & Stravinsky
Following the break, an intense account of Lili Boulanger’s nighttime piece, with shadows and things going bump that disturb sleep. The night also features in ‘Ibéria’, the central panel of Debussy’s Images pour Orchestre. Bleuse – who has made a successful transition from concertmaster’s chair to conductor’s podium, from bow to baton (one of his current appointments is music director of the Boulez-formed Ensemble intercontemporain) – made Debussy’s nocturnal canvas alluring and fragrant, quietly voluptuous, surrounded by an exhilarating road-trip along highways and byways, with a final festival that crept into a becoming-brighter day and went on to be an exuberant envoi.
Henri Dutilleux: Métaboles
Igor Stravinsky: Violin Concerto in D Major
Lili Boulanger: D’un soir triste
Claude Debussy: Iberia
Pierre Bleuse is…
Chief Conductor: Odense Symphony Orchestra
Music Director: Ensemble intercontemporain
Artistic Director: Prades Pablo Casals Festival
World premiere performance – January 1965.
Orchestre National de France/Sergiu Celibidache (recorded 1974).