FRANÇAIX Clarinet Concerto, 1st movement | Nicolas BALDEYROU

Dear friends, I’m really excited to release this new video of Jean Françaix concerto, 1st movement, in my own arrangement for soloist and clarinet octet, a project I wanted to realize for a very long time, but that I was procrastinating because of the huge amount of work... and I’m missing walking in Paris so much that I decided to set the scene in my beloved city during the four seasons. Dedicated to Fernand Oubradous, former principal bassoonist of the Paris opera and famous conductor, the concerto was premiered in July 1968 in Nice by iconic Jacques Lancelot. Let’s have a look at this quote from Jean Françaix himself : « This concerto is, or at least I hope it is, amusing to listen to. It is a kind of acrobatics display for the ear, complete with loops, wing-turns and nosedives which are fairly terrifying for the soloist, who needs to have a good stomach and several thousand flying hours under his belt ». I guess all clarinetists can confirm 😁 Thank you very much to Franck Amet, Yuko Sasai, Laurent Sultan and Cathy Ogram for helping me to work out the details 🙏✨ STAY SAFE ! 💖