Intermusica toured the London Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor Valery Gergiev to Singapore and Australia, on a tour that marked the orchestra’s first return to Australia in 30 years.
The tour received glowing reviews and the orchestra proved to be a great success with audiences, with all seven concerts selling out.
The orchestra performed at Singapore’s Esplanade, Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane and three concerts at Sydney Opera House, before a final concert in Melbourne.
For concerts in Singapore, Brisbane and Sydney, Russian pianist Denis Matsuev performed as soloist in concertos by Rachmaninov and Prokfiev. While in Sydney, the orchestra joined forces with Sydney Conservatorium to run an eight-day LSO Discovery project that culminated in a concert at the Conservatorium.
20 November / Esplanade, Singapore
"The finesse and obvious ability of all the musicians made for a polished performance"
Straits Times
24 November / Sydney Opera House
"An astonishing concert."
The Australian
"Bright wit and exuberant affirmation... The orchestra batted phrases between strings and wind with dazzlingly breathless precision."
Syndey Morning Herald
"They came. They played. They conquered….The London Symphony had a packed Sydney Opera House Concert Hall audience in thrall last night, with a stunning program that scaled the heights of musical complexity with verve, power and breathtaking precision."
Daily Telegraph
"The London Symphony Orchestra’s first tour in Australia in more than 30 years has stirred an almost unprecedented interest. Hardly ever is the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House so overbooked that standing tickets have to be sold…Right from the opening chord, every phrase, every entry, every musical question and its response was presented in a phenomenally translucent way, heard like this only on rare occasions – not only in Australian concert halls but anywhere around the world."
Bachtrack
25 November / Sydney Opera House
"Gergiev ripped through the allegro with brutal, gritty joy and found a coherent path through the winding weirdness of the third movement before breaking out the mixture of fairground mayhem and idiosyncratic defiance in the final movement."
Sydney Morning Herald
"Pacing, control of dynamics and power of storytelling were paramount...With Gergiev, every phrase carried meaning. Sombre strings, alternately lamenting or shrilly screaming woodwind, baleful brass – all passed by in glorious panoply."
Limelight
28 November / Melbourne
"Performed with flawless precision and balance and well-blended timbre."
Herald Sun
Performances
19 November 2014
Esplanade, Singapore
20 November 2014
Esplanade, Singapore
22 November 2014
Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane
24, 25 and 26 November 2014
Sydney Opera House
28 November 2014
Melbourne Arts Centre