Joshua Bell/Steven Isserlis UK 2011

Posted May 22, 2011

“Despite the apparent technical ease with which the music flowed, this was a superbly controlled performance with conductor Ian Brown seamlessly integrating the soloists to great effect with the well-drilled Academy of St Martin’s in the Fields chamber orchestra. There are many difficulties in this work, which make performances as dazzling and faultless as this a rarity.”

Susan Nickalls, The Scotsman (March 2011)

“The orchestra…play modern instruments with the vigour and weightless virtuosity of the best period bands, bows ricocheting off strings, full of individuality but gelling as a cohesive and dynamic unit. Their sound was too small for the Usher Hall, but was still thrilling – the Mendelssohn buoyant and radiant, the Haydn gracefully poised.”

Kate Molleson, The Guardian (March 2011)

“Quality will out, as the saying goes, so a full house for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields was no surprise. After all, orchestral sheen doesn’t come much glossier than in this ensemble’s honeyed strings and its immaculately discreet woodwind section.”

David Hart, Birmingham Post (March 2011)

*****

“The two soloists are interestingly different; Bell is more on-edge and “brilliant”, Isserlis more inward. But how well they dovetailed their musical personalities, and how beautifully the clean sound of the ASMF complemented them.”

Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph (May 2011)

*****

“From early Haydn to late Brahms, this was a seamlessly flowing concert, deft in definition, sweet in tone, a fitting and popular finish to the Perth Festival.”

Conrad Wilson, Herald Scotland (May 2011)

“The sound of the Academy pleased and astounded, having enormous heft and power for a chamber sized group.”“Energetic relaxation or luxuriating triumph? Either way, all on the platform were in perfect accord in this final movement. The audience agreed.”

Ian Stuart-Hunter, Perthshire Advertiser (May 2011)