March 2011

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert - Janine Jansen/Itamar Golan

Thu 31 Mar 2011 1pm, LSO St Luke's

The Times, 5 Apr 2011
Jansen and Golan gently warmed to their subject, capturing the essence of Schubert’s characteristic vacillation between light and shade, major and minor, as instinctively as if the music were being composed on the spot. And their rhythmic drive was tugged back here and there just enough to make the finale tingle with zest.
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Mahler Symphony No 7 - Valery Gergiev

Fri 25 Mar 2011 7.30pm, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Birmingham Post, 1 Apr 2011
Valery Gergiev achieved this triumphantly on Friday, cajoling and manipulating a splendid London Symphony Orchestra in an enthralling delivery of this tricky score.
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Seen and Heard, 6 Apr 2011
... the orchestra showed no hesitation, demonstrating levels of technical mastery and precision of ensemble that left no doubt as to the health of this still magnificent sounding orchestra and its rapt response to Gergiev's direction.
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Shchedrin/Shostakovich/Tchaikovsky - Valery Gergiev/Leonidas Kavakos

Wed 23 & Thu 24 Mar 2011 7.30pm

The Times, 28 Mar 2011
With its strange, sliding woodwind threnodies and chromatic timpani writing, the LSO and Gergiev gave the work [Shchedrin Lithuanian Saga] a performance of compelling strength.
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The Guardian, 25 Mar 2011
... the vigour of Gergiev's interpretation, all darting flashes of colour and contrast, was immensely appealing, and the finesse and panache of the playing were second to none. Very fine.
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artsdesk.com, 24 Mar 2011
... no one could have played the crucially placed and ever so gradually gearing-up cadenza with greater purity of tone or intensity of expression than Kavakos, nor carried it through so tirelessly to the final cannonade of a whirlwind finale.
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classicalsource.com, 25 Mar 2011
All those aspects of Kavakos’s superb artistry were there in force – his visceral intelligence, incredible breadth of musical imagination, a ravishing range of sound that seems to emanate from within him through the violin, and his spellbinding, seemingly natural virtuosity. What a guy! What a performance!
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Musical Pointers, 25 Mar 2011
Gergiev & the LSO were on their toes and did it proud.
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Stravinksy/Strauss/Beethoven - Sir Colin Davis/Sally Matthews

Sun 20 Mar 2011 7.30pm

The Times, 23 Mar 2011
Woodwinds had a glorious night, rhythms and colours brilliantly articulated.
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The Guardian, 23 Mar 2011
A burnished quality in the lower strings reminded us that this is a work that is, above all, about the pleasures of this earth. The finale, quietly lilting and superbly controlled, was pure joy.
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classicalsource.com, 23 Mar 2011
... a forward-moving, going-somewhere performance, given with devotion. In short, this without-dogma, with-ardour, wise, experienced and, above all, young-at-heart account was a real tonic.
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musicOMH.com, 23 Mar 2011
The finale once again brought reminiscences of wartime, the inner workings of the music clarified by the vivid orchestral playing.
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BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert - Patricia Kopatchinskaja/Polina Leschenko

Thu 17 Mar 2011 1pm, LSO St Luke's

The Spotlight, 18 Mar 2011
Lunchtime is an hour which always flies by – the acid test for a lunchtime concert is if you leave wishing it had been a full, conventional two hours. On this occasion I definitely wanted more. Luckily the restaurant downstairs was on hand to console with coffee and cake.
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Beethoven - Sir Colin Davis/Jonathan Biss

Sun 13 Mar 2011 7.30pm

classicalsource.com, 15 Mar 2011
The slow movement was of majestic tragedy, Sir Colin finding a depth of feeling I have never experienced in this music before. The scherzo positively danced along, the trio well integrated. The finale returned to the resolve of the first movement, the LSO playing with intensity and brilliance. Magnificent!
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theartsdesk.com, 15 Mar 2011
This was a spirited performance, full of spring, brio and no small amount of fury ... In short, a masterclass in the art of conducting Beethoven was unfolding before us.
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Messiaen/Bruckner - Sir Simon Rattle

Mon 7 Mar 2011 7.30pm

The Guardian, 9 Mar 2011
Rattle was absolutely on top of the piece, directing with a Boulez-like tension and severity, and the LSO playing was top notch.
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classicalsource.com, 9 Mar 2011
Notwithstanding the symphony’s incompletion, the best was left until last. Right from the Adagio’s imploring initial phrases, Rattle saw this most intractable of movements as an evolving and continuous whole.
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Seen and Heard International, 9 Mar 2011
Rattle sculpts the music and creates moments of real beauty. He is also conscious of the work's ritualistic dimension, and in many of the more dour movements he stood before the players, solemnly articulating the beat as if he were officiating at some divine observance.
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The Independent, 8 Mar 2011
The litanies and their responses had the LSO woodwinds tripping Messiaen’s light fantastic – into the valley of the shadow of death we danced – and 'the great multitude' of the final section had Rattle terracing the 'black-Sabbath' gamelan to a trumpet-topped, roof-raising climax - a handful of the most implacable chords in music. Quite something.
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The Daily Telegraph, 8 Mar 2011
The huge block-like sounds were placed with perfect exactness, and the crescendo towards the climactic ending of each movement – each one more apocalyptic than the last – were shattering in their impact.
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bachtrack.com, 8 Mar 2011
For those who remain unconvinced about Bruckner, the LSO proved to be a worthy advocate for his music in this performance.
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theartsdesk.com, 8 Mar 2011
Rattle and the LSO did exactly what was necessary to pull off this weighty testament to the Christian story of death and resurrection. The London Symphony Orchestra played like true believers.
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musicOMH.com, 10 Mar 2011
Rattle provided us with the opportunity to celebrate the orchestral merits of our own capital, as he led a superb performance of music that both exalted and questioned its source material.
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Shostakovich/Mahler - Valery Gergiev/Mario Brunello

Wed 2 Mar 2011 7.30pm

The Guardian, 4 Mar 2011
From the rosy vein struck by the strings to the honed gestures of the woodwind, here was an orchestra at one with itself and its director.
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Evening Standard, 3 Mar 2011
Gergiev's reading was both valid and deeply moving. Finally all tears were wiped away, all coughing silenced, in a breathless, peerlessly executed coda.
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The Times, 3 Mar 2011
Gergiev’s pacing of the adagio — still on the brisk side, but warm and tender — felt absolutely right. And the LSO strings played majestically for him.
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classicalsource.com, 3 Mar 2011
Great power from the brass and a huge body of string sound produced a stirring and impressive central climax, and the slow retreat into silence was studded with sensitive solos from violist Edward Vanderspar and cellist Rebecca Gilliver.
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musicOMH.com, 7 Mar 2011
All credit to Gergiev and the LSO for crafting a genuinely felt performance, with a poignant sense of tender resignation.
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