February 2011

Valery Gergiev/Mahler Symphony No 9 & Adagio from Symphony No 10, Lincoln Center, New York

Sun 27 Feb 2011 3pm

New York Times, 28 Feb 2011
Its clear, muscular playing was ideally suited to the troublesome hall, and its shining brasses, focused strings and utter clarity enlivened a space that rarely rewards other orchestras.
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Valery Gergiev/Mahler Symphony No 3: Lincoln Center, New York

Fri 25 Feb 2011 8pm

New York Times, 27 Feb 2011
Roman Simovic played the violin solos attractively, and Nicholas Betts proved a master of the posthorn in the Scherzando. The contralto Anna Larsson gave her familiar rich account of the brief Nietzsche text and the haunting tune with chorus.
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Valery Gergiev/Mahler Symphony No 7: Lincoln Center, New York

Wed 23 Feb 2011 8pm

New York Times, 24 Feb 2011
Rather than resolve the ambiguity, Mr. Gergiev embraced it, drawing consistently incisive, colorful, richly characterized playing from the inspired orchestra... Read full review

Valery Gergiev/Mahler Symphony No 7: Kimmel Center, Philadelphia

Tue 22 Feb 2011 8pm

The Inquirer, 23 Feb 2011
... if playing Mahler's five-movement Symphony No. 7 under Valery Gergiev at the Kimmel Center on Tuesday was a relatively light day, it showed in the confidence with which the orchestra played music that lashes out in multiple directions - and in the dignity that brought to Gergiev's mercurial tendencies.
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Carpenter/Brahms/Wagner/Strauss - Daniel Harding/Janine Jansen

Thu 17 Feb 2011 7.30pm

The Times, 22 Feb 2011
There were fine orchestral solos from the leader, and from the oboe principal Nora Cismondi, who had contributed so eloquently to Brahms’s Violin Concerto that the evening’s fearless and muscular soloist, Janine Jansen, had given her the bouquet.
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bachtrack.com, 20 Feb 2011
The pulsating orchestral heartbeat then faded to reveal an awakening into a new world, before the piece culminated in an explosion of light with the ‘transfiguration’. For me this journey from darkness to light was the thrilling highlight of the programme.
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classicalsource.com, 18 Feb 2011
Daniel Harding, Principal Guest Conductor of the LSO, gave the impression of being thoroughly at ease with the orchestra and in command of these works: reciprocal music-making with a clear vision – the result being some stirring peformances that took us from birth, through life's merry-making, and then to a vision of death and redemption.
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Strauss/Ravel - Daniel Harding/Hélène Grimaud

Thu 10 Feb 2011 7.30pm

The Guardian, 14 Feb 2011
The mix of bitonal harmonies and exquisite textures was superbly negotiated and displayed. And the playing was glorious.
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musicOMH.com, 15 Feb 2011
Here, as in the performance as a whole, the orchestra’s achievement was to create an overwhelming visceral experience by focusing on precise rhythms, tempi and tonal balance. Such a strong base then enabled the piece to breathe and take off of its own accord.
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classicalsource.com, 12 Feb 2011
This was a meticulously prepared performance, Harding's understanding of structure was well-nigh perfect, each of the work’s sections unfolded naturally, and graduations of dynamics were meticulously controlled. There was a sensitive contribution too from leader Tomo Keller.
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bachtrack.com, 14 Feb 2011
[Strauss Don Juan] begins with a famously difficult fast passage for strings, played by the LSO with panache and ease. Guest Principal Oboist Nora Cismondi played with expressive beauty as the seductive Don and the brass and percussion sections played with enough energy to ward off the “weariness and waning of joy” that the Don fears so much.
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UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica - Sound and Space

Thu 3 Feb 2011 8pm, LSO St Luke's

The Times, 7 Feb 2011
... the phrase “just hanging around” has rarely been elevated to such artistic heights.
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