Performer: John Axelrod

This was raw Mahler at its most all-embracing. The musicians seemed to embrace the entire world. As an audience member made to leave the hall, Axelrod leant over the balustrade to shake his hand.

After the great success of Eugene Onegin and the concert for Claudio Abbado, the Texan conductor John Axelrod was again on the podium of the San Carlo Orchestra, with a warm reception for a programme of Prokofiev, Mozart and Brahms. 

Eugene Onegin: regrets, broken dreams and sorrow are perfectly rendered in this staging, as the callous dandy's icy heart eventually melts.