In fairy tales, witches eat children or turn them into toads and mice. In fairy tales, witches have but one goal: to steal the youth and beauty of little girls. But why would they want to steal the youth and beauty of little girls? Why can’t they just be happy being old and ugly? I’m telling you, we’ve been lied to.
The haunted concert
To mark Halloween, Jeanne Desoubeaux rises to the challenge of creating a fantastically festive family concert that brings together young and old alike. A writer and a director, Desoubeaux takes the Orchestra on an extraordinary voyage to Helsinki in search of the oldest witch in the world. The adventure includes a flight on a plane, a haunted castle, an avalanche of feathers, some very strange animals, a sumptuous skeletons’ ball and dancing tailcoats and crinoline gowns hanging from the flies...
Her colleague Chloé Dufresne has gathered together some emblematic pieces from the fantasy repertoire for the occasion. As chance would have it, this particular conductor studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. From her years in Finland, she was able to bring back a few souvenirs of frozen lakes, foggy landscapes, and endless nights in her suitcase. In these troubled times when the entire planet seems to have taken on an end-of-the-world feel in which we sorely miss being together, Dufresne and Desoubeaux have orchestrated a merry witching hour, a grand secular celebration that resonates like a conflagration of joy.
