September 2010

Wagner/Prokofiev/Shostakovich - Andris Nelsons & Viktoria Mullova

Thu 30 Sep 2020 7.30pm

Islington Tribune, 7 Oct 2010
His handling of the overture to Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the opening of Barbican concert was quite outstanding, intimate woodwind thrills highlighted alongside the swathes of expansive string playing.
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The Times, 4 Oct 2010
Nelsons’s exuberance might have been heightened by the occasion. This concert marked his London Symphony Orchestra debut, and he began with his great love, Wagner. It was only the Tannhäuser overture, but the care taken over phrasing and niceties of timbre still made for something special.
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The Guardian, 4 Oct 2010
The clinching argument that Nelsons is something special, however, came in the way he combined with Viktoria Mullova to give a rapt but absolutely meticulous account of Prokofiev's brilliant but inscrutable Second Violin Concerto.
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classicalsource.com, 1 Oct 2010
The members of the LSO played like men and women possessed and it was their vital contribution which really made this the event it was.
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theartsdesk.com, 1 Oct 2010
Last night wasn't, however, just a chance to see what the brilliant Mullova would have to offer. It was also a chance to hear one of the best conductors working in Britain today debut with Britain's finest orchestra.
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Shchedrin/Strauss/Mahler - Valery Gergiev, Rachel Gough & Andrew Marriner

Sun 26 Sep 2010 7.30pm

Seen and Heard, 1 Oct 2010
... never have I seen [Gergiev] more animated on the podium and never has his toothpick been flourished quite so vigorously or the wiggling of his fingers seem so exaggerated.
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Financial Times, 28 Sep 2010
... it was a great night for LSO principals. Philip Cobb distinguished himself in Mahler’s trumpet solos, while Andrew Marriner and Rachel Gough duetted mellifluously in Strauss’s Concertino for clarinet and bassoon.
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The Times, 28 Sep 2010
Knife-sharp, colours glowing, the LSO revelled in the piece’s high spirits; it was over too soon.
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bachtrack.com, 27 Sep 2010
Here there was a real sense of struggle and desperation, with mournful swellings and a growth of tension that produced a genuinely exciting performance.
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classicalsource.com, 27 Sep 2010
Andrew Marriner was a most seductive, winsome princess, ardently wooed by Rachel Gough’s prince, binding round each other to ravishing effect, and a powerful reminder, were one needed, of the calibre of the LSO’s solo players.
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2010/11 season opening concert - Valery Gergiev & Denis Matsuev

Sat 25 Sep 2010 7.30pm

The Observer, 3 Oct 2010
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, as orchestrated by Ravel, showed the LSO at their most assured and masterful.
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The Daily Telegraph, 27 Sep 2010
... when the great trumpet theme rang out at the beginning of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (all hail to the LSO’s principal trumpeter Philip Cobb), it seemed the evening might be redeemed. And so it was, with a performance that revealed the secret, tender places in the music, as well as its grandeur.
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classicalsource.com, 26 Sep 2010
'Great Gate of Kiev’ was a fitting culmination to this memorable performance, blessed with resplendent brass and a woodwind chorale that sounded for all the world like an organ. A tremendous way to open the season!
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The Guardian, 26 Sep 2010
... the concert's second half was a superbly crafted performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Gergiev took severe risks with the tempi, but somehow they all paid off...
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theartsdesk.com, 26 Sep 2010
The biggest wonder, though, was his continuous story-telling, his miraculous sense of proportions between numbers in what is, after all, a through-composed elegy ... when this maverick maestro is good, he's great.
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