James Walton

Another drama about how women are great and men are rubbish: C4’s Philharmonia reviewed

Plus: remarkable stories of foundlings searching for their origins, and finding them

This is a woman who should certainly be watched — in more ways than one: Marie-Sophie Ferdane as Hélène Barizet in Channel 4's Philharmonia

On the face of it, a French-language drama about a Parisian symphony orchestra mightn’t sound like the most action-packed of TV watches. In fact, though, Philharmonia (Sundays) is pretty much Dallas with violins.

The first episode began with the eponymous orchestra blasting out a spot of what Shazam assured me was Dvorak, before its elderly conductor dropped his baton and collapsed to the floor, never to rise again. Cue a pair of Gallically elegant female lower legs making their way through the airport as one Hélène Barizet arrived from New York to take over the role.

David was left in a tartan bag in Belfast; Helen was discovered in a tartan bag in a Dundalk phone box

Not that her appointment was universally welcomed. Several middle-aged male musicians shook their heads and made the kind of impeccably sexist remarks more usually associated with old-school British coppers of the 1970s. The orchestra’s director, Léopold Saint-Just, told colleagues that Hélène had been foisted on him by the culture ministry as a feminist gimmick, and gave it a week before the pressure got to her and she realised that conducting isn’t for girls. But of course Hélène soon proved him wrong, combining stiletto-heeled toughness with overwhelming musical competence (‘Try to play the quaver in bar 448 less staccato’).

At this stage, then, it looked as if we were in for yet another drama about how women are great and men are rubbish — something we can definitely get at home. Luckily, the longer Sunday’s episode went on, the clearer it became that Philharmonia is a lot more interesting than that. One of the most ferociously anti-Hélène musicians is now Agathe, a suitably brassy horn player, whose views may well be influenced by the affair she’d been enjoying with Hélène’s husband while Hélène was in New York.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in