May 2012

Berg/Mahler - Michael Tilson Thomas/Gil Shaham/Yefim Bronfman

Thu 31 May 2012, Barbican

The Guardian, 5 Jun 2012
The woodwinds deserved medals throughout. The eight horns rose from their seats to play their exuberant final phrases. Best of all were the passages in which Tilson Thomas simply let the orchestra play off the leash, to heady effect and a sure sign of mutual trust.
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MusicOMH, 4 Jun 2012
Tilson Thomas drew virtuosic playing from the thirteen wind players of the LSO, and it was good to hear the exposition repeat included in the finale.
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Arts Desk, 1 Jun 2012
By the time the French horns had risen to their feet to deliver the storm’s grandstanding statement of triumphant destruction, we were in tatters. What was clear, though, is that we were in this state only because the work was so tightly controlled.
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Classical Source, 1 Jun 2012
If Mahler always sounded like this, I would be only too happy.
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Beethoven/Mahler - Michael Tilson Thomas/Llyr Williams

Sun 27 May 2012, Barbican

Classical Source, 28 May 2012
There’s the moment, after the climactic dissonance, when the familiar tunes reappear, solid, self-conscious, grounded and adult, that was realised with a perception and, for want of a better word, truth that was hair-raising, the more so since it was so surprising and unaffected.
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Stravinsky Festival: LSO Chamber Orchestra - Tim Redmond

Thu 17 May 2012, LSO St Luke's

Evening Standard, 18 May 2012
The LSO players neatly captured the quirky, almost surreal wit of the piece...All this was shown lucidly by Redmond, who in addition to conducting splendidly alert accounts of these pieces as well as the neo-classical Octet and Dumbarton Oaks, delivered engaging commentaries. It is hard to imagine the presentation being done better.
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Gergiev's Stravinsky Festival: The Rite of Spring, Oedipus Rex - Valery Gergiev et al

Tue 15 May 2012, Barbican

The Times, 16 May 2012
Gergiev has only to flick a wrist, twitch a muscle to energise a performance so deep within this orchestra that it almost plays itself.
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The Guardian, 16 May 2012
Gergiev's understanding of the score's ratchet-like intensity was also sympathetic and acute.
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Daily Telegraph, 16 May 2012
... it was thrilling, richly coloured, and dramatic to its finger-ends.
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Bachtrack, 17 May 2012
Principal bassoonist Rachel Gough’s opening solo certainly augured an exceptional performance. Gough took her time and articulated this phrase – which carries the weight of having changed musical history for ever – absolutely exquisitely, retaining a levity befitting its evocation of spring despite its stratospheric pitch. This musical freshness spread like the rising sun’s rays across the wind section, whose vibrato-less, reedy voices Stravinsky favoured for their inhumanness.
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Gergiev's Stravinsky Festival: Renard, A Soldier's Tale - Valery Gergiev et al

Sun 13 May 2012, Barbican

Bachtrack, 14 May 2012
Under Gergiev’s watchful eye and delicate baton, the LSO’s musicians gave a wonderful account of the score. 
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The Guardian, 16 May 2012
Both were done, however, with crisp precision and acerbic wit. Simon Callow enjoyed himself narrating The Soldier's Tale, while singers from the Mariinsky did wonderful things with Renard.
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Gergiev's Stravinsky Festival: BMW LSO Open Air Classics

Sat 12 May 2012, Trafalgar Square

The Times, 14 May 2012
Tourists and natives, young and old, classical music devotees and casual bypassers: all stood or sat silent for two hours — except when the music stopped and a football-style roar erupted. I have been in grand halls where the audience seemed less gripped.
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Gergiev's Stravinsky Festival: Mass, Violin Concerto, Firebird - Valery Gergiev/Leonidas Kavakos

Fri 11 May 2012, Barbican

Financial Times, 14 May 2012
Without any exaggeration, the soloist, Leonidas Kavakos, gave the rhythms the kick they needed and his elegant, clean-cut way with Stravinsky’s Baroque ornamentation was matched by equally stylish orchestral playing.
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The Guardian, 14 May 2012
Guided unfailingly by the mysterious flickering of their maestro's fingers, the LSO were on cracking form. By turns disciplined, crisp, gutsy and garish, they did perfect justice to the work's unfurling of extraordinary textures and novel rhythmic processes – suggesting, if nothing else, that great things may come in the week ahead.
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Daily Telegraph, 14 May 2012
Gergiev clearly adores this piece, and put his whole soul into the performance. The Princess's round–dance had a yearning flexibility I'd never heard before, and the build–up to Kastchei's Infernal Dance was so thrilling that the dance itself had a vastly increased energy. It's with music like this that the LSO really shows its class...The final wedding scene had a brazen excitement that took our breath away.
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The Independent, 13 May 2012
The response of his orchestra was luscious on every level with wonderfully remote horn solos unlocking each shimmering set piece. The moment where the entire orchestra is transformed into a mighty vibrating carillon was duly “expensive” and that heartstopping descent into “complete darkness” seemed to shroud the entire auditorium with string tremolandi you could feel but barely hear.
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Classical Source, 12 May 2012
The LSO’s magnificent playing see-sawed between Russian fantasy and Hollywood gloss with consummate mastery, the lead-in to the closing pages was a miracle of control and pianissimo playing, and Gergiev’s hands fluttered overtime to honour this mighty, colourful score.
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Seen and Heard, 12 May 2012
The atmosphere in the hall was electric, and you could see people in the audience sitting up in their seats in rapt attention every time a new section or theme was introduced.
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Bartók/Szymanowski - Peter Eötvös/Nikolaj Znaider/Steve Davislim

Tue 8 May 2012, Barbican

The Guardian, 9 May 2012
Nikolaj Znaider played with an ideal mix of weight, sweetness and astonishing dexterity. Eötvös's conducting was lean, extrovert and wonderfully detailed. Outstanding.
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Bachtrack, 9 May 2012
For me, Szymanowski, Eötvös, Davislim, Nikolitch, and every chorus, orchestra, and audience member contributed to this most ecstatic poetic vision, perfectly translated into music.
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Classical Source, 9 May 2012
Tenor Steve Davislim projected his part well and the LSO’s playing was glorious.
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Seen and Heard, 13 May 2012
The LSO responded superbly to Eotvos’s every nuance. I have not heard such excellent playing from them since the days of Kertesz and Dorati – two more Hungarians!
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