The Cleveland Orchestra's Lincoln Center Festival Residency: Rave Reviews

Franz Welser-Möst, John Adams, Leila Josefowicz and The Cleveland Orchestra 
at the Lincoln Center Festival             Photo: Stephanie Berger

The Cleveland Orchestra's residency with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst at the 2011 Lincoln Center Festival received rave reviews.  Critics and writers from The New York Times, The Plain Dealer, The New Yorker, and TIME Magazine described the performances as, “magnificent,” “exhilarating,” “beautifully played,” “breath-taking,” and “left me awestruck.”

Here are some excerpts from the reviews:

Photo: Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

Writing about the Orchestra's performance of Bruckner's Fifth Symphony, Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times called it “a magnificent performance.”

TIME Magazine’s major online story by Craig Duff included a comparison of Franz’s championship of Bruckner symphonies to Leonard Bernstein bringing the world’s attention to Gustav Mahler.

Photo: Stephanie Berger

In his review of the Orchestra’s performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times called Franz’s reading, “commanding.”

Zachary Lewis of The Plain Dealer reported, “…the performances...under music director Franz Welser-Möst were little short of magnificent.”

Photo: Stephanie Berger

New York Times critic Steve Smith concluded his review of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony with this description:  "a spellbinding account that showed Mr. Welser-Möst and the orchestra in their finest light."



Alex Ross from the New Yorker tweeted:  “The Cleveland Orchestra has been playing brilliantly all week, but today's concert—Adams Atomic Symphony and Bruckner 9—left me awestruck.”

Additional reviews:

"Cleveland Orchestra's first Bruckner concert at Lincoln Center Festival warmly received" Plain Dealer

"Cleveland Orchestra gives New Yorkers an evening to remember with Bruckner's Symphony No. 8" Plain Dealer

"Second half of Cleveland Orchestra's Lincoln Center residency fulfills every promise but one" Plain Dealer

 

"Revelation Calling" Superconductor Blog

"Josefowicz and The Cleveland Play Adams and Bruckner" Classics Today.com

"Two Views of the Empyrean" ConcertoNet.com 

"Miracle on the Strings" ConcertoNet.com

"Will The Real Universe Please Stand Up?" ConcertoNet.com

"Cleveland Orchestra/Welser-Möst at Lincoln Center Festival 2011 (Bruckner 7)" Classicalsource.com

"Cleveland Orchestra/Welser-Möst at Lincoln Center Festival 2011 (Bruckner 8)" Classicalsource.com

"Lincoln Center Festival 2011 - Bruckner (R)evolution" Seen and Heard International MusicWeb's Reviews

"Strange Bedfellows:  Bruckner and Adams" Musical America Blog

"The Stone Carver - A Bruckner Festival at Lincoln Center" The New Yorker