“Ein Spagat

Temperamentvoll erklang auch Beethovens fünfte Symphonie. Neben der
elementaren rhythmisch-melodischen Kraft des Werkes, betonten die MusikerInnen durch detailreiche musikalische Form- und Farbgebungen vor allem den emotionalen Verwandlungsprozess vom Dunkel zum Licht mitreißend.”

“A balancing act

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony rang with spirit. Next to the elementary rhythmic-melodic power of the work, the musicians emphasised particularly intoxicatingly the emotional process of change from dark to light, giving detailed musical form and timbre.”

Stuttgarter Nachrichten 09.04.13

“Ein frischer Wind weht durch den Saal. Was Bell vom Konzertmeisterpult aus – mit groβern Gesten spielend oder mit dem Geigenbogen dirigierend – anleitet, wird präzise umgesetzt. Beethovens erste Sinfonie, in der sich Mozarts Geist mit den rhythmischen und gestischen Widerhaken des Bonner Komponisten paart, wirkt enorm jung, manchmal auch arg ruppig. Aber – und das ist entscheidend – sie lebt, sie atmet, sie vibriert, und die Streicher bringen akkurat und duftig-luftig selbst rasche Läufe und kurze Staccato-Akzente auf den Punkt, und die Phrasierung wie die dynamische Gestaltung wirken geradezu durchgestylt.”

“A fresh wind blows through the concert hall. Whatever Bell directs from the concert master’s desk – with grand gestures while playing, or conducting with the violin bow – is applied precisely. Beethoven’s First Symphony, in which Mozart’s spirit pairs itself with the rhythmic and gestural barbs of the composer from Bonn, comes over as enormously youthful, though sometimes also quite stroppy. But – and this is decisive – it lives, it breathes, and the string players bring even fast runs and short staccato accents to the point, the phrasing such as the dynamic configuration seem virtuously stylish.”

Stuttgarter Zeitung 09.04.13

“Wenn es…um die Darstellung von Stimmungen und um klangliche Durchgestaltung geht, dann hat das Spiel der Academy etwas Bezwingendes. Im Zusammenspiel mit den handverlesenen Bläsern bringen die Streicher Klangmischungen von seltener Erlesenheit zustande.”

“When it comes to the presentation of moods and the shaping of timbre then the playing of the Academy has got something compelling. In interaction with the hand-picked winds, the strings bring sound combinations of rare elegance.”

Esslinger Zeitung 09.04.13

“Öfters zeichnet [Joshua Bells] Bogen einen Einstaz, die Phrasierung einer Orchesterstimme in der Luft, dann bringt er ihn blitzschnell auf die Saiten seines Instruments, wenn die estern Geigen wieder das Kommando übernehmen. Dass dies bei Beethovens C-Dur-Sinfonie – auβer den erstern Rubato-Takten der Adagio-Introduktion – so sprühend lebendig gelingt, hat natürlich auch mit der hohen Diszilplin des britischen Ensembles zu tun: homogen und kristallklar der Streicherklang, sehr kultiviert der Holzbläser, dynamisch kontrastvoll die Wiedergabe.”

“[Joshua Bell’s] bow gives a cue, the phrasing of an orchestra part, in the air then he brings it quickly on the strings of his instrument when the first violins again take over the command. That this succeeds in such lively sparkle in Beethoven’s C Major Symphony – except in the first rubato bars in the Adagio introduction  – has of course to do with the high discipline of the British ensemble: the homogenous and crystal clear sound of the strings; very cultivated the winds; the reproduction dynamically full of contrasts.”

Translations by Ina Wieczorek

Ivan Hewett

****

“Decades after its recording heyday, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields is still a name to conjure with. Bringing it together with that of Joshua Bell, who’s only the second music director in the Academy’s history, is proving a winning combination. It’s not just that it pulls in the crowds (Cadogan Hall was completely packed for this concert) but there’s also a palpable sense of shared aims.

The outer movements thrilled, and the middle one had a seasoned warmth, Bell’s high ornamentation drifting down lovingly over Christopher Cowie’s plangent oboe line. It was more evidence that this partnership is ripening into something really remarkable.”

Read the full review here.

Highlights of the evening included a spectacular performance of Mozart’s String Quintet in G minor, and a Silent Auction. Prizes were donated by the following organisations – thank you:

Almeida Theatre: www.almeida.co.uk

Balineum: www.balineum.co.uk

Cole of London: www.coleoflondon.com

English National Ballet: www.ballet.org.uk

English National Opera: www.eno.org

Historic Royal Palaces: www.hrp.org.uk

L’orchidee: www.lorchidee.co.uk

Philharmonia Orchestra: www.philharmonia.co.uk

Royal Academy of Arts: www.royalacademy.org.uk

St John’s Smith Square: www.sjss.org.uk

‘These are splendidly alert performances, responding to every nuance in the music, and they made me listen to Beethoven with fresh ears.’ BBC Music Magazine, April 2013

The CD was BBC Music Magazine’s Orchestral Choice for April 2013.

“These are splendidly alert performances, responding to every nuance in the music, and they made me listen to Beethoven with fresh ears. Particularly impressive is the pianissimo playing Bell obtains from the orchestra, for instance in the approach to the recapitulation in the first movement of Symphony No. 4.”

From BBC Music Magazine, April 2013, Misha Donat

“Bell has clearly not only absorbed a lot of skill and wisdom in leading an orchestra over his three decades as a violin soloist, but he has a remarkable vision of how to make an ensemble sound greater than the sum of its parts.”

Musical Toronto, John Terauds 19 February 2013

“Schumann was a perceptive critic, but not when he described Beethoven’s Fourth as “a slender Grecian maiden between two Nordic giants” (ie, the Eroica and the Fifth). Happily, this is not Bell’s view. His virile account makes its intentions clear right away: prominent bassoon and clarinets, violin and viola slurred notes strongly phrased, brilliant violin uprush to the allegro. The Seventh has similar clarity and rhythmic energy, though a chamber orchestra, even one as fine as the Academy, isn’t always weighty enough for my taste: the grinding ostinato in the first movement’s coda surely needs more than two basses. All in all, though, an exciting disc.” DC

 Sunday Times, 31 March 2013

Orange County Register, 4 March 2013

Timothy Mangan

“The Academy gels like a large string quartet…The absence of a conductor proved no problem in the opening work, Britten’s “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge.” This playful and moody piece takes its concise theme through a variety of styles – including Italian aria, Viennese waltz, moto perpetuo and funeral march – and the Academy went to town with it, not only probing its dark and pungent emotional cues but vaulting spiritedly over its virtuoso hurdles.”

Read the full review here.

San Diego Tribune, 3 March 2013

James Chute

“This was a musical conversation where everybody was part of the discussion and yet the overall ensemble managed to speak with a single, unified voice.”

“In the Haydn Cello Concerto, Weilerstein seamlessly joined the musical exchange, bringing her trademark commitment and enthusiasm, even as she was careful to stay within the context of the ensemble.”

Read the full review here.

Ventura County Star, 5 March 2013

Rita Moran

“While she brought forth a moving Adagio section, Weilerstein was at her most impressive in the daunting Allegro Molto in breathtakingly beautiful teamwork while evoking the magic of what nimble fingers and wide-ranging musicality can achieve.”

Read the full review here.

Emily Owen

“The soloists were well balanced and wonderfully expressive. Despite playing on modern instruments, their technique was historically informed, with vibrato used as an ornamental feature and a satisfying expansion into the middle of each phrase and every suspension. The clarity of tone was beautiful through the second movement and the whole piece had a lovely lilt.”

Read the full review here.

Classical Source, 12 Feb 2013

Andrew Morris

“The Academy [are] still true to the sound captured under Neville Marriner as part of Philips’s epic Complete Mozart Edition while still seeming fresh in a world in which historically-informed-performance holds sway.”

Read the full review here.