Pianist Cédric Tiberghien and conductor Simone Young deliver a Schumann and Beethoven program with the Orchestre national de Lyon at the Lyon Auditorium, showcasing an artistic partnership.
The Bottom Line
- The Program: Tiberghien joins the Orchestre national de Lyon under Young to perform two rarely heard Schumann concertante pieces—the Introduction and Allegro appassionato, Op. 92, and the Introduction and Allegro de concert, Op. 134—alongside Beethoven’s “Pastorale” Symphony.
- The Partnership: The collaboration builds on a working relationship that began in August 2007 when Young invited Tiberghien to perform Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie in Sydney following his tenure in the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists program.
- Upcoming Dates: Following the opening night on October 8, the program continues with performances on October 9—which includes solo piano works between the concertos—and October 10 at the Lyon Auditorium.
A Shared History Rooted in Sydney and London
The artistic relationship between Cédric Tiberghien and Simone Young stretches back nearly two decades. Between 2005 and 2007, Tiberghien participated in the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, gaining early exposure across the UK and Commonwealth countries. That broadcast visibility brought him to the attention of Simone Young. In August 2007, the Australian conductor invited the French pianist to Sydney to perform Olivier Messiaen’s massive Turangalîla-Symphonie under her baton, establishing a professional alliance that has recurred across international stages ever since.
More recently, Young’s connection with the Orchestre national de Lyon has steadily deepened since it began in 2021. Reviewing the Lyon performances for Concertclassic, critic Alain Cochard noted that this history of collaboration creates an innate chamber-music intimacy between the conductor, the soloist, and the orchestral ranks. Rather than treating the concerto framework as a competitive display of volume and velocity, the artists approach the repertoire with a shared vocabulary emphasizing internal momentum over superficial display.
Reviving Neglected Schumann Scores in Lyon
Programming decisions by major orchestras rarely venture beyond standard-issue Romantic warhorses, making the Lyon orchestra’s choice of Schumann particularly distinct. When a pianist of Tiberghien’s stature appears alongside Schumann on a symphonic bill, audiences typically anticipate the ubiquitous Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54. Instead, Young and Tiberghien programmed two neglected companion pieces: the Introduction and Allegro appassionato in G major, Op. 92, composed in 1849, and the Introduction and Allegro de concert in D minor, Op. 134, written in 1853.
At roughly fifteen minutes apiece, these works suffer from a persistent concert-hall paradox. They are too substantial to function as mere orchestral interludes yet too brief to anchor a standard concerto half, leading orchestral programmers to routinely bypass them. By scheduling both works across a three-night run, the Lyon administration opted for artistic coherence over box-office safety. Concertclassic highlighted this programming choice as an ambitious challenge that rewards listeners willing to look past the standard concert catalog.
| Work | Composer | Composition Year | Opus Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction and Allegro appassionato | Robert Schumann | 1849 | Op. 92 |
| Introduction and Allegro de concert | Robert Schumann | 1853 | Op. 134 |
| Symphony No. 6 (“Pastorale”) | Ludwig van Beethoven | 1808 | Op. 68 |
Chamber-Scale Intimacy Within the Orchestral Framework
Both Schumann pieces featured in the first half of the concert carry deep historical ties to the composer’s wife, Clara Schumann, who gave the premiere performances of the works. In the Op. 92 Introduction and Allegro appassionato, Tiberghien and Young establish an immediate rapport. The opening section unfolds with a hushed, conversational density before transitioning into an Allegro driven by intense yet disciplined momentum.
The Op. 134 score, dedicated to a twenty-year-old Johannes Brahms during a period of intense creative enthusiasm for Schumann in 1853, has occasionally faced dismissive critical reception in traditional reference guides. Critics have sometimes characterized the work as brilliant and superficial compared to the A minor concerto. On stage in Lyon, however, Tiberghien and Young bypassed those academic reservations. The performance emphasized the forward-looking, pre-Brahmsian weight of the piano writing, culminating in a sprawling cadenza delivered with deliberate freedom before the work’s commanding final measures.
Encore Chemistry and the Beethoven Second Half
The enthusiastic reception from the Lyon audience following the Schumann works prompted an immediate unscripted extension of the program. Tiberghien and Young returned to the keyboard side-by-side to perform an Abendlied arrangement for piano four-hands, drawing from Schumann’s Twelve Pieces for Small and Large Children, Op. 85. This impromptu four-hands performance reinforced the cohesive atmosphere established throughout the concerto sets.
The evening’s second half shifted to standard symphonic terrain with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the “Pastorale.” Having led the Lyon orchestra through a French-centric program just one week prior, Young maintained firm command of an ensemble operating at a high technical level. Rather than relying on exaggerated dynamic shifts, her interpretation leveraged the orchestra’s silkier string textures and balanced woodwind section to prioritize expressive nuance over cinematic spectacle. Even during the programmatic storm movement, the orchestration retained structural clarity, preventing individual instrumental details from getting lost in sheer volume.
Performance Logistics and Remaining Dates
For local audiences, the residency at the Lyon Auditorium provides multiple access points to the repertoire. Following the initial concert on October 8, the program continues with performances on October 9 and October 10. The October 9 performance includes an additional solo piano component, with Tiberghien performing Schumann’s Gesänge der Frühe (Songs of Dawn) as a solo interlude between the concertante works. Tickets and complete venue information remain available directly through the official box office channels of the Auditorium-Orchestre national de Lyon.
