Michele Mariotti leads the Orchestra Radio Philharmonic

On Thursday, already in the first piece of the programme, Mozart's Symphony No. 35 in D ‘Haffner’ KV 385 (1785), Mariotti presented himself as an extremely brilliant, passionate, musical and stimulating conductor, combining a Harnoncourt-like approach with Italian melody. Thanks in part to his vast experience in opera conducting, he is able to parse the music into a fascinating sequence of increasingly aligned and colourful ‘characters’, to the point where Mozart's Haffner Symphony almost began to resemble a mini-opera without words. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, with which the concert ended. Another piece that everyone can dream of, but Mariotti managed to make it something very special, so much so that it sounded like a renaissance. The way he turned the opening movement into a funeral march showed extraordinary refinement and taste, after which this movement sounded as if everyone in the hall had just lost a loved one, so intense and heartfelt was the funeral procession through the great hall of the Concertgebouw. What a fine conductor! And with what pleasure and flexibility the musicians of the Radio Philharmonic followed his equally balanced and profound intentions. Every aspect of Mariotti's lively performance of Beethoven's Seventh demonstrated musical intelligence, imagination, ‘constructive’ insight and orchestral finesse. Bravo!

denieuwemuze.nl Wenneke Savenije