ARTE Documentary Series

Famous Orchestras - The World's Finest Orchestras

Orchestre National de France
Christian Măcelaru, Music Director 

A film by Magdalena Zięba-Schwind and Milena Smaczny
France and Germany 2025

TV broadcast on 17 May at 4:35 PM

Film available from 3 May 2026

The four-part ARTE documentary series Famous Orchestras profiles four of the world’s foremost ensembles and traces their rich histories: the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Orchestre National de France, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

This instalment turns its attention to the Orchestre National de France, an ensemble inextricably linked with the French musical tradition. The film documents the musicians both behind the scenes and during the 2025 Concert de Paris, performed in front of he Eiffel Tower and witnessed by thousands in person and millions more via broadcast. Featured artists include Joyce DiDonato, Bertrand Chamayou and Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Few orchestras are as closely bound to the identity of their country as the Orchestre National de France. Founded in 1934 as France’s first radio orchestra, it has since come to embody musical excellence, cultural diversity and a singular, unmistakable sound. Its Music Director, Cristian Măcelaru, compares that sound to honey: warm, supple, richly flavoured, and yet light.

Deeply rooted in the music of Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Henri Dutilleux, the Orchestre National de France presents its French sonic heritage on a grand tour of its homeland, as well as at the Concert de Paris on 14 July 2025 beneath the Eiffel Tower, where it performs each year on Bastille Day before an audience of more than 100,000.