Orchestre de la Suisse Romande UK tour
24 - 27 January 2008:
The Sage Gateshead
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Symphony Hall Birmingham
The Barbican, London
Programme 1:
Weber: Overture to Der Freischutz
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Programme 2:
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21
Bruckner: Symphony No.5
Marek Janowski conductor
Nikolai Lugansky piano
"Marek Janowski proved himself a master at moulding Bruckner's immense paragraphs. He cuts a serious and somewhat studious figure on the podium, and refuses to play to the gallery with big gestures. But, in his quiet way, he helped us to follow the music's argument. At certain moments when the music reached a wall-shaking grandeur, Janowski's tiny gestures told us that no, this wasn't the goal, the real high point was still around the corner.
Of course, all this would have gone for nothing, had the orchestra not proved to be a wondrous instrument, capable of responding to Janowski's every nuance. The slow movement was especially impressive. The weird rhythmic disjunction between the solo oboe and the supporting strings registered with perfect clarity, but it wasn't a coldly forensic clarity; the grave pathos of the music emerged, too."
The Telegraph, January 2008
"Marek Janowski, conducting from memory, is thrillingly responsive to the morbid drama. His reading darkens as it develops towards the climactic witches' Sabbath scene, where the harmonic elements boil together in a diabolic stew."
The Guardian, January 2008
classicalsource.com
"Using reduced personnel, founded on just two double basses, Janowski brought clear, well-balanced textures to the concerto, and with deft, lively playing from Nikolaï Lugansky, the performance was notable for its freshness and lucidity…
With its contrapuntal intricacy, austere scoring and liturgical
solemnity, Bruckner's Fifth Symphony can be a difficult work to bring off. This was an impressive performance, notable for both its intellectual understanding and its emotional thrust. Conducting from memory, Janowski demonstrated a strong grasp of structure, and the almost sparse clarity he brought to orchestral fibre provided a remarkable elucidation of Bruckner's polyphonic argument. In the finale it sometimes seemed as if a chamber orchestra was playing and, throughout, the work's numerous felicities were revealed and was also remarkable for the depth of feeling that Janowski brought to the work, noticeably in the grand, stirring climaxes of the first movement and the spiritual fervour of the Adagio …
… with the help of steadfast playing (the brass especially sonorous), Janowski built up tension inexorably in the finale and the climax of the symphony was overwhelming."
classical.source.com, January 2008
"The choice of Bruckner's fifth was an inspired one, and the pacing and sense of organic growth through its 85 minutes were masterly.
Janowski took care to articulate every detail of the vast canvas with care, and the rise and fall of emotion throughout the symphony was wonderfully calculated.
In the finale, he gradually increased the weight of sound without losing momentum and built the intensity of the final paragraph from a cheerful jog to an imperious and weighty conclusion, with a deep Amen in its last cadences."
Manchester Evening News, January 2008
Click on the link below to hear an extract from the final movement of Franck's Symphony in D minor, recorded by the OSR and Marek Janowski for Pentatone Classics:
