17 Feb 2020
The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and John Eliot Gardiner brought the first cycle in our Beethoven 250 celebrations to a close on Friday 14 February as they were joined by the Monteverdi Choir and Cor Cambra Palau for the iconic Ninth Symphony. The concert was a fitting end to to the cycle in Barcelona, which has been met with a rapturous reception from the public and press alike and hailed as “five nights of glory” by Diari Ara.
The ORR and Gardiner bring the cycle to New York this week for five concerts at Carnegie Hall, the last of which will be broadcast live by New York’s premier classical radio station, WQXR - click here for more details about the tour.
Read a selection of the reviews from Barcelona below:
“The Palau audience cheered in a never-before-seen Symphony no. 5, in which everything came together so that the evening was perfect… A cycle that has made history.”
Pablo Meléndez-Haddad, El Periódico - click here to read the full review
“Five nights of glory… The enthusiasm of the musicians and the energetic beat of Gardiner managed to stop time”
Jaume Radigales, ARA - click here to read the full review
“Beethoven’s Symphony Cycle directed by John Eliot Gardiner this week at the Palau de la Música Catalana certainly deserves the qualification of historical.”
Pep Gorgori, ABC Catalonia - click here to read the full review
“An event that must, without a doubt, be considered one of the most important pages in the history of the Palau de la Música.”
Oriol Pérez Treviño, El Punt Avui - click here to read the full review
“The first thing that attracted attention was the velvety colour that the woodwind and valveless brass provided… The members of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique demonstrated once again their virtuosity.”
Pablo Meléndez-Haddad, El Periódico (Symphony no. 1 & excerpts, 09/02/20) - click here to read the full review
“A thousand and one details within a sea of prodigious instrumental flashes, sound balances between perfectly articulated sections that were moulded into a version that would inexorably lead us to a radiant end.”
Lluís Trullén, Scherzo (Symphonies 2 & 3, 10/02/20) - click here to read the full review
“Gardiner moves in another dimension… with a stylistic purity and an interpretative freshness that is pure musical joy… Transparent and well-balanced sound; beautiful sonority in the woodwind, shining brass, incisive timpani and agile, clean and transparent strings.”
Javier Pérez Senz, El País (Symphonies 4 & 5, 11/02/20) - click here to read the full review
