This was a triumph for the conductor, and for his superbly gifted LSO musicians, and indeed for the 2018 Edinburgh International Festival. This was a concert about which many will be still talking in years to come.
Read full review
The combination of his experience with the London Symphony Orchestra's crack team of musicians created something pretty special, a sound so dazzling that it felt as though the heatwave had returned for one night only.
Read full review
The public nature of the space felt entirely appropriate and the music made a forceful impact, but there were moments of quiet, intense beauty too.
Read full review
It was a tremendous performance by Sir Simon and his virtuoso players
Read full review
The short second movement, the so-called “Portrait of Stalin” (if Volkov is to be believed), was delivered at a terrific pace, the LSO fully committed.
Read full review
The fizzing chemistry that Rattle and the LSO players have clearly built up over their first season together was blazingly evident – not least in the concert’s gargantuan opener, Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety.
Read full review
The resultant Burlesque, limping in its own subversive intent, was all any Shostakovich enthusiast could have wished for, full of zest and a smirk.
Read full review
The wit and delicacy of the plinks and plunks was a delight, and the moment when Stockhausen tossed brass chords from orchestra to orchestra was thrilling.
Read full review
Noseda has the intuitive sense of drama to bring it off. Just one of the many qualities he brings to make the Noseda/LSO combination a near-perfect fit for Shostakovich.
Read full review
Across the Turbine hothouse, Rattle, Pintscher, and the very enthusiastic Duncan Ward co-ordinated the unflagging musicians with impressive precision.
Read full review
Simon Haram gave a supremely elegiac solo on saxophone in ‘The Old Castle’, and Philip Cobb’s trumpet was devilish in ‘Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle’. ‘Bydlo’ was awesome: firm tread, controlled crescendo, with a militaristic climax.
Read full review
You could revisit it endlessly: it’s a work that rejects a definitive audience experience. I could have gorged on it over and over again.
Read full review
Right from the plushly upholstered, beautifully shaped opening chords, Tilson Thomas created an aura of solemnity. An exacting conductor, he drove a sweeping account of the Gloria, while leaving room for finely balanced reflective moments.
Read full review
