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Boston Symphony Tour: Review

Charles Donelan, The Santa Barbara Independent
December 13, 2011

Over half a century has elapsed since the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) last played Santa Barbara, and thus the level of anticipation among concertgoers was high as one of the world’s most prestigious orchestras took the stage at the Granada last Thursday night. Minus the legendary maestro James Levine, who has been battling health issues for much of 2011, the orchestra nevertheless sounded powerful and lush under the baton of conductor Ludovic Morlot. The Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9 of Hector Berlioz made a suitably grand introduction for the group, emphasizing the technical prowess of the BSO in creating precise and intricate sequences of orchestral color and timbre. The BSO and Berlioz go way back, and the inclusion of this work on the program was one way that the orchestra demonstrated its commitment to continuity.

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Boston Symphony Tour: Preview

By David Mermelstein, Special to the Los Angeles Times
December 4, 2011

Frenchman Ludovic Morlot replaces the ailing James Levine as he leads the BSO on its first visit to Los Angeles in 20 years.

Even the greatest ensembles have their rough patches, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra is no exception. Having endured the long goodbye of Seiji Ozawa, its 15th music director, who departed after 29 years in 2002, the 131-year-old ensemble faces another wrenching transition. The venerable orchestra is making its way forward following the resignation of Ozawa’s successor, James Levine, who announced his departure in March after years of poor health and last-minute cancellations. Yet despite such trying times, the BSO’s vaunted reputation for musical elegance and subtlety survives intact.

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Boston Symphony Tour: Review

By Richard Scheinin, MercuryNews.com
December 7,2011

In case you haven’t heard, six of the greatest American orchestras are visiting Davies Symphony Hall this season to salute the San Francisco Symphony, which is turning 100 years old this very week. In October, the Los Angeles Philharmonic rolled through with its high-voltage music director, Gustavo Dudamel, and now it’s the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s turn — boy, are we getting spoiled.

The BSO arrived Tuesday for its two-night run, flashing through some extraordinarily vivid playing in its best moments, though it didn’t sustain the effect through a wide-ranging program of storied and contemporary works. On the podium was guest conductor Ludovic Morlot, a 37-year-old Frenchman who is ascending through the international ranks. Given his sunny and confident demeanor, one might not suspect the weightiness of his task this week: standing in for James Levine, the titan whose health problems recently forced him to give up Boston’s music directorship.

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By Robert Sandla

In his first few weeks as music director of the Seattle Symphony, Ludovic Morlot: tossed out the first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game; conducted an opening-night concert at which he also slipped in among the strings to play the violin for Ravel’s Bolero; presided over a day of free music by richly diverse local groups; and led three world premieres, commissioned by the Seattle Symphony, inspired by local music icons Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, and Quincy Jones. Morlot has only been in the job a couple of months, and already he’s taking an only-in-Seattle tack that seems custom-tailored for the Emerald City.

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Review

By Matthew Guerrieri, The Boston Globe
November 26,2011

Like last week, this week’s Boston Symphony Orchestra program – again featuring guest conductor Ludovic Morlot – had former music director James Levine’s fingerprints all over it. There was a substantial modernist first course (John Harbison’s Symphony No. 4, restarting the BSO’s two-season survey of his symphonies), then, appropriate for the day after Thanksgiving, rich leftovers: Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé’’ Suite No. 2, which the BSO played in 2010, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, heard at Tanglewood last summer. But Morlot – a former BSO assistant conductor, now music director of the Seattle Symphony – put his own stamp on the music, bringing brisk, sharp-edged energy in place of Levine’s expansive grandeur.

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Review

By Jeremy Eichler,The Boston Globe
November 18, 2011

It’s an exciting season for the young French conductor Ludovic Morlot, who has just begun his tenure as music director of the Seattle Symphony and in January will assume the chief conductor post at La Monnaie in Brussels. Meanwhile these next few weeks, Morlot, 38, also has the honor of filling James Levine’s shoes as conductor of two subscription programs Levine mapped out before his resignation earlier this year. Then next month, Morlot will lead the BSO on its entire West Coast tour.

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Review:ConcertClassic.com

Pour l’ouverture de la saison du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, le chef français Ludovic Morlot (37 ans) a frappé un grand coup avec ce qui constituait son premier concert à la tête de l’Orchestre National de France. Peu présent jusque-là sur les scènes françaises, l’ancien assistant d’Ozawa et de Levine mène une carrière internationale couronnée de succès. Récemment nommé directeur musical de l’Orchestre de Seattle, il occupera des fonctions similaires à compter de janvier prochain à la Monnaie à Bruxelles.

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Review

By Tom Keogh, Special to The Seattle Times
October 19, 2011

Tuesday at Benaroya Hall, Seattle Symphony Orchestra presented an inspirational concert of new music dedicated to the spirit of Seattle musicians Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Quincy Jones. A fourth piece, “Savana,” was a collaboration between the orchestra and the irresistible pop band Hey Marseilles.

In his opening remarks to Seattle Symphony Orchestra’s “Sonic Evolution” program Tuesday at Benaroya Hall, music director Ludovic Morlot cited the title of Nirvana’s 20-year-old hit song “Come As You Are” as the perfect theme for the evening.
It was Morlot’s way of welcoming everyone in the near-capacity auditorium, both regular patrons and (perhaps especially) newcomers to a symphony performance.

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Review

By Bernard Jacobson, Special to The Seattle Times
September 30, 2011

Seattle Symphony music director Ludovic Morlot led the orchestra in a triumphant performance of “Rite of Spring” Thursday night at Benaroya Hall.

Premiered in Paris in 1913, “The Rite of Spring” was immediately recognized as a spectacular bellwether of modernism in music. A few years later, Edgard Varèse’s “Amériques” came close to making “The Rite” sound old hat. It was a clever idea on Ludovic Morlot’s part to combine the two for his second subscription program as music director of the Seattle Symphony, with just Gershwin’s far less truculent “An American in Paris” to keep the peace between them.

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