The concerts of Russian music in Australia conducted by Valery Gergiev with Denis Matsuev and the London Symphony Orchestra have won tremendous praise from audiences. Music critics, too, were unstinting in their appraisals, speaking of the “emotional”, “subtle” and surprisingly “focussed” performances of the musicians.
The newspaper The Australian referred to maestro Gergiev as “the world’s number-one conductor”, who “embodied the charisma, absolute power and danger that forms the flesh and blood of the Russian repertoire and makes up the essence of its musical DNA.” The publication particularly focussed on the performance of Dmitry Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony: “The orchestral tutti conjured up a reverential terror, the fortissimo literally wiping away everything in its path, and not so much because of the incredible power of the sound as because of its laser-like precision.” The critic noted the self-efficiency that the musicians employed at the concert in Brisbane: “And although Valery Gergiev has been Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra since 2007, there was an impression that this was their first appearance together, the sound of the orchestra was so searing, the emotions were so perturbing, that each musician, however far back they were sitting, played as if their lives depended upon it.”
The journalist of The Sydney Morning Herald focussed on Gergiev’s unique signature as a conductor: “He avoids extremes, giving his preference to deep concentration. Sometimes it is as if Gergiev specially mixes the colours of sound, though more frequently he demonstrates a caring and emotionally concentrated command of the full richness of the sound palette, restoring the necessary balance with the light flutter of his left hand or strengthening the weak parts with a lift of his shoulder and elbow in order to produce the necessary accent.” The publication commented on the maestro’s organisational skills as well as his ability to harmonise the musicians into the proper performing style: “Forcing a hundred people to perform as one is no easy task. Forcing them to change direction, tempo and mood so impetuously is something outstanding!”
The second Australian concert – held in Sydney – was awarded 4.5 stars by The Sydney Morning Herald. In his review, Peter McCallum comments on the interpretation of Sergei Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony (Classical): “The orchestra caught the subtle, deliberately Haydn-like style, performing the symphony with enchantingly precise spirit, without any shadow of distortion or exaggeration, with perfection of every phrase and ideal smoothness in the passages.” The critic also spoke of the dazzling performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka: “Where Stravinsky composed a complex and daringly chaotic fabric we see the vivid orchestral colours, particularly of the woodwind instruments. The most exotic solo parts of the flute, piano, squealing clarinets and trumpets sounded natural and resembled dancers filling the entire stage space with their gestures.”
The third concert in Australia conducted by Valery Gergiev was awarded a maximum five stars by The Sydney Morning Herald. The newspaper noted the performance “had not one false note” in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto: “It was one of the fastest performances of Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto: with the relentlessly fast fugue in the finale, moreover each orchestral section performing with laser-like precision.”
The publication The Australian also singled out Denis Matsuev’s interpretation of the Rachmaninoff concerto: “Avoiding strong percussive play, Matsuev dedicated particular attention to subtle nuances, which made the work sound even more dramatic. In the final chord he rose to his feet, and we, too, rose with him from our seats in amazement, as the mind is quite simply unable to take all of this in.”
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