Founded in 1989, the Orchestre de Bretagne
has fast risen to a level commensurate with European ensembles
that have been around for centuries. The orchestra’s current
tour of the United States brings them to stops in both Brooklyn
and Manhattan.
Led by charismatic music director Stefan Sanderling (inset),
the Orchestra de Bretagne is renowned for its interpretations
of Mozart. But in Brooklyn, the group plays a program heavily
weighed toward its own countrymen on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 2 pm at
the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts.
Leading off with Claude Debussy’s "Petite Suite," Sanderling
and his cohorts then welcome Chinese-born pianist Frederick Chiu,
the soloist in Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G
Minor. Gabriel Faure’s lovely "Pavane" follows, and
the concert closes with the lone "outsider," the German
Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major.
For an orchestra in the international spotlight for just over
a decade, the Orchestre de Bretagne already has constant buzz
over its performances; the ensemble’s Brooklyn appearance gives
local music lovers a chance to hear what all the fuss is about
– since, as the saying goes, no one plays French music better
than the French.
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts is located at Brooklyn
College, one block from the intersection of Flatbush and Nostrand
avenues. Tickets are $30. For more information call the box office
(718) 951-4500 or go to the Web site at www.brooklyncenter.com.
