Triumph for Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia on their recent tour to Germany
OVERVIEW PRESS COVERAGE TOUR GERMANY APRIL 2016
Tagesspiegel – review written by Frederik Hanssen
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“Every detail is balanced out, Pappano looks for the most delicate scale of his dynamics, even the violins manage to accentuate the most modest pizzicato in their refined accompaniment. The many moving crescendo waves and the now-it-will-get-exciting modules in the phrasing shines bright sunlight on the belcanto melodies whilst the basic approach remains dance-like in all rhythmic events.”
Die Welt – review written by Jörn Lauterbach
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“Antonio Pappano beams with love for the orchestra and with overflowing joy in music-making during Rossini’s Ouverture of “La Cenerentola” and during Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the dazzling Hélène Grimaud as soloist.”
[…] Conducting without a baton, he has an impressive armoury of gestures up his sleeve.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung – review written by Reinhard Brembeck
“Since Pappano took over the traditional Roman ensemble – the best concert orchestra of Italy – 11 years ago, it has regained its international standing. Indeed it is part of the few top European institutions who possess a distinctive sound, which amongst the Cecilia’s is warm and has clarity without being obtrusively bright in the higher registers. In the lower registers, however, a lightness is demonstrated in the undertones. On top of that, they are astonishingly responsive, and that’s why Gioachino Rossini’s overture to La Cenerentola succeeds also with understated virtuosity, which was gripping.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Review written by Benedikt Stegemann
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“The seductive intonation of the wind section is so beautifully performed which one hardly finds amongst German orchestras.”
Frankfurter Neue Presse – review written by Andreas Bomba
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“Sir Antonio Pappano at the [Orchestra di Santa Cecilia] helm, an Englishman with Italian blood running through his veins, who taught the ensemble – which has many young musicians in its ranks – not only discipline and consciousness of sound but also a true speciality: playing quietly. In the range between inaudibility and pianissimo one discovers a surprising wide variety of expression in all instrument groups.”
Hannoversche Allgemeine – review written by Stefan Arndt
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“The Organ Symphony of Camille Saint-Saëns is a showcase for orchestras with its sky-high chords, indulgent melodies and blaring whirls of timpani. Also this scene-painting is, for the Romans who performed Rossini with exemplary discipline, not a problem at all.”
Hamburger Abendblatt – review written by Heinrich Oehmsen
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“Pappano and his orchestra brought out the rich sound of the Organ Symphony with great precision. Already from the Adagio in the first movement the violins shimmer and the music increases luxuriously with changing dynamics from extremely loud to completely soft in Saint-Saëns’ work, which was premiered in 1886.”
Münchner Merkur – review written by Gerhard Hoffmann
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“[…] here was a collective art form at an extraordinary high level.”
Frankfurter Rundschau – Review written by Bernhard Uske
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About Rossini’s La Cenerentola “They stand out for their excellent and refined grading and precision”
Offenbach-Post Review by Alex Zibulski ‘Italian Drama’
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About Saint-Saens Symphony
“During the finale the conductor and his magnificently precise orchestra seasoned the late-19th-century French work with a hint of Italian drama”
“Impressive visit from Rome: Orchestra di Santa Cecilia”
Neue Merker Review written by Tobias Hell
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“Pappano managed to skilfully draw out the individual strengths of his musicians…”
Abendzeitung Review written Michael Bastian Weiss
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“Here one can experience this successful partnership”
“This continuing collaboration has been fruitful, which the audience can already enjoy during the short overture to La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini: the strings are bright like the morning star”
Die Welt – preview written by Peter Krause
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“If you really understand theater, then you know how to make even a symphony exciting.” The monumental Organ Symphonyby Saint-Saëns is the perfect recipe for the bundle of energy Pappano and his Romans performing on Friday at Pro Arte in the Laeiszhalle, demonstrating their genuine drama, while “avoiding “sentimentality and still allow pathos”.
