François Leleux returns to hr-Sinfonieorchester as conductor and soloist for concerts in Frankfurt (01 and 02 Nov) and Kassel (03 Nov). For his return, Leleux conducts Rameau Les Indes galantes, Brahms’ variation on a theme of Haydn, and Adés Three Studies after Couperin, in addition to play-direct performances of Haydn’s Oboe concerto. On 31 October, Leleux and hr-Sinfonieorchester present a reduced programme of Haydn and Brahms for a Youth Concert in the Alte Oper (31 Oct).

Of his recent play-direct performance of Haydn’s oboe concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, critics commented: ​“Leleux served as both conductor and soloist in the boisterous C major … Nonchalantly clipping his oboe onto his waistband, he marched a scaled down CBSO crisply through the opening tutti before seizing his instrument and directing the rest of the concerto with a mixture of nods, oboe waggles and balletic full body swerves in the direction of the orchestra… Leleux’s magnetism is such that the ensemble didn’t once sag or smudge”

Leleux was Artist-in-Residence with hr-sinfonieorchestra in the 2016/17 season.