Between 30 August and 7 September 2023, Josep Pons conducted the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse on a European tour encompassing three major international events: the Berlioz Festival in La Côte-Saint-André, the George Enescu International Festival in Bucharest and the Ravel Festival in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The tour reaffirmed his close artistic relationship with the French orchestra and his long-standing affinity with the French repertoire.
The first concert took place at the Berlioz Festival, in the composer’s birthplace, with a programme devoted entirely to Hector Berlioz. It paired the Symphonie fantastique with its sequel, Lélio ou Le Retour à la vie, an unusual dramatic work combining narration, vocal soloists, chorus, piano and orchestra. The performance featured Lambert Wilson as narrator, Mathias Vidal as Horatio, Vincent Le Texier as the Captain and the Chorus of the Opéra national du Capitole.
The same programme was presented on 2 September in the Grand Palace Hall in Bucharest as part of the George Enescu International Festival, where the Orchestre national du Capitole appeared in the Great Orchestras of the World series. The engagement placed both orchestra and conductor within one of Europe’s most prestigious symphonic platforms and offered an international audience the full dramatic scope and visionary modernity of Berlioz’s musical world.
The tour concluded on 7 September at the Ravel Festival, in the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The programme combined Ravel’s brief Fanfare, the first two of Debussy’s Nocturnes—Nuages and Fêtes—and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. Together, the works traced contrasting approaches to French orchestral colour, from Debussy’s transparency to Berlioz’s visionary exuberance.
Critics responded particularly warmly to Josep Pons’s performance at the Ravel Festival. ClassiqueNews praised the poetic and immersive quality of his Symphonie fantastique, the almost ethereal transparency of Nuages, the rhythmic vitality of Fêtes and the precision with which he shaped its celebrated processional sound effect. Following the enthusiastic audience response, the concert ended with Debussy’s orchestration of Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1 as an encore.
The tour further consolidated the long-standing collaboration between Josep Pons and the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, while confirming his international reputation as a leading interpreter of the French repertoire, particularly the music of Berlioz, Debussy and Ravel.