“The orchestra’s playing continued flawlessly and luxuriously, tempos subtly varying, dynamics scrupulously managed, to bring the concert to a triumphant conclusion.”
“Here was … a conductor whose unflagging energy and enthusiasm on the podium has galvanized his Orchestra Wellington into giving consistently vital, characterful and brilliantly-detailed performances over the last few concert seasons. We revelled in those same performance standards Taddei and his players had brought to the rest of the “Paris” series – sprightly tempi in all of the movements, ear-catching dynamics that underlined the composer’s penchant for surprise and droll humour, clear, focused attack on leading notes, nicely-sprung rhythms giving plenty of trajectory to the lines and figurations, and a real sense of looking for the “character” of each movement, so that there was never a suggestion of mere note-spinning.”
“There was a shouting and standing ovation at the end, that went on and on. It’s hard to imagine a more magnificent climax to what must have been, in every way, one of the orchestra’s most successful years. Marc Taddei has again proved to be a marvellous gift to Wellington’s musical culture.”
