Press Clippings 2005/2006
Who Is Discovering Whom Here?
Fascinating to see the physical concentration with which Chailly catapults his Gewandhaus musicians from a starting position to the heights.
Leipzig Almanach, Steffen Kühn (Grand Concert 15 February 2006: Alban Berg, Sonata op.1 in the orchestral version by Theo Verbey)
Rolling the Eyes Symphonically
This work, probably the most rarely played of Mahler's symphonies, is a challenge for both orchestra and interpreter, since, in addition to the tremendous efforts made by the Gewandhaus Orchestra, radiant with joy and full of passion, it is up to the conductor to give the complex progressions and sound masses structure, goal and concept. If this happens, with the enthusiasm and fire with which Chailly places the work on its pedestal, acoustic perspectives and electrifying symphonic turmoil unfold that rage as though on a fantastic journey through Mahler's various worlds [...].
With lightning speed and the utmost concentration, he raced through the score in places, made it thunder and flare up dramatically, so that it was a real pleasure [...] After the booming closing chorales, the audience could not remain in their seats [...]
Alexander Gurdon, Klassik.com, 12 March 2006 (Guest appearance in Cologne on 11, 12 March 2006: Mahler: 7th Symphony)
Chailly's fingerprints were everywhere - the precise dotted rhythms of the tenor horn, the brilliant cut of wind, unanimity of the strings. There was not a single note he had not polished till it shone.
Financial Times, Richard Fairman, 14 March 2006 (Guest appearance at the Barbican Centre, London on 10 March 2006: Mahler, 7th Symphony)
This stunning performance knocked me for six [...] With blazing, rock-solid brass, charakterful woodwind and wiry-toned but superbly responsive strings, the orchestra sounds reborn [...] The obvious answer is the arrival of Riccardo Chailly [...].
Chailly and his players also injected tremendous energy and passion into Mahler's 7th Symphony - qualities that never flagged throughout its 90-minute span. In the end, I was forced to believe, that this symphony is a misunderstood masterpiece because the performers themselves made it palpably evident that they believe in it. Nothing epitomised that revelatory fervour better than the final ten seconds, when the conventional bombast was audaciously cut away to suggest a terrifying spiritual void beneath, a stroke of nihilistic brilliance that will long stay in the memory.
The Times, Richard Morrison (Guest appearance at the Barbican Centre, London on 10 March 2006: Mahler, 7th Symphony)
Masterpiece, Played Masterfully
Chailly lays all the virtuosity, all the expressive power that his orchestra is capable of at the feet of Franke's 20-minute première. And on this Thursday, the Gewandhaus Orchestra fulfills his aspiration to rank with the best in the world [...] The Italian conductor, whose charisma fills the hall, arranges everything in an architecture whose inexorability nevertheless always serves beauty [...] In addition, the sensational strings are impressive in the rosin rapture, with profound cantilenas and rich virtuosic figurations. The precision is astonishing [...].
Leipziger Volkszeitung, Peter Korfmacher (Grand Concert 25/25 May 2006: Bernd Franke, Cut VI-VIII; Anton Webern, Passacaglia; Peter Tchaikovsky: 5th Symphony)
She Does What She Must
Chailly is once again a phenomenal accompanist. The man at the podium and the woman at the keyboard respond to each other more closely than usual in this concerto, which complexly meshes the solo instrument and the orchestra [...] The way solo and tutti are mutually dependent, spring from each other, look after each other is not heard with this positively rhapsodic breadth every day [...].
The way Chailly makes the themes glow in Schumann's Fourth Symphony, the way he brings the rhythm to life and makes it vibrate. The way the Gewandhaus Orchestra, with its splendid woodwinds, follows its leader! [...] The sound cries out for more - as does the cheering in the fully packed hall.
Leipziger Volkszeitung, Peter Korfmacher (Grand Concert 1/2 June 2006: Schumann, Piano Concerto in A minor op. 45; Martha Argerich, Piano)
"ECHO Classic 2006" for the Gewandhaus Orchestra
The Gewandhaus Orchestra will receive one of this year's Classic Echo awards. The prize in the category "Best Ensemble/Orchestra of the Year" will be awarded for a CD with works by Felix Mendelssohn, which was recorded in September with Riccardo Chailly conducting. This recording is the first to be released on the Decca/Universal label with the new Gewandhaus Kapellmeister. The German Phono Academy awards will be presented during a gala at the Munich Philharmonie am Gasteig on 22 October. (3 July 2006)
Leipzig-live.com
