Bitterness and Beauty: Goerne and Eschenbach Perform Winterreise

By Ted Ayala, 25 April 2012

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Reviewed at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles on 18 April 2012

Schubert, Winterreise (W. Müller), D.911

Matthias Goerne, Baritone

Christoph Eschenbach, Piano

Evergreen Mendelssohn from Midori and the Schleswig-Holstein FO

Mengguang Huang, 18th August

From Mendelssohn’s intimacy to Bruckner’s monumental scale, Eschenbach’s young orchestra reveals chamber-like sensitivity and steely discipline, with Midori’s interpretation standing as the evening’s emotional and artistic highlight.

***11

Unsatisfying Mendelssohn from Eschenbach and the Oxford Philharmonic

Patrick Maxwell, 20th March

The Oxford Philharmonic offers uninspiring renditions Bach and Mendelssohn, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach.

**111

Bell curve: violin works elevate stodgy Philadelphia Orchestra program

Cameron Kelsall, 15th February

Joshua Bell brings virtuosic fireworks and generous tone to works by Chausson and Vieuxtemps, while Christoph Eschenbach delivers a Brahms 1 devoid of fresh insight.

***11

Prague Spring closes with a class act

Frank Kuznik, 2nd June

Conductor Christoph Eschenbach brings style and sophistication to a freewheeling finale to this year's festival, ending with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

****1

The continuation of beautiful friendships in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 14th October

At Berlin's Konzerthaus, Chief Conductor Christoph Eschenbach leads the premiere of Christian Mason's orchestral work An Ocean of Years and reunites with American pianist Tzimon Barto.

****1

Spookiness in Stuttgart with Eschenbach and Kopatchinskaja

Alexander Hall, 26th February

The darker sides of Romantic inventiveness are explored in Schumann’s neglected violin concerto and the clandestine woodland rustle of Dvořák’s G major symphony.

****1

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Ted Ayala

Ted Ayala is a writer and musicologist born and raised in Los Angeles. Aside from classical music he loves literature (especially from Latin America and Japan), learning languages, reading about history, video games from the 1980s-1990s, and cats. You can follow his blog here.