In Sunday’s (9/5) Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) Graydon Royce writes, “Osmo Vänskä looked tired as he spoke to supporters of the Minnesota Orchestra at a reception after the band’s two London concerts. But by all evidence it was a good tired, as he related how BBC Proms director Roger Wright had greeted him, emotionally overwhelmed, after the Aug. 28 performance of Beethoven’s Ninth. … Throughout the three-city tour, an air of accomplishment accompanied the orchestra. Soloists Alisa Weilerstein and Gil Shaham won the hearts of concertgoers in the program’s first half, and then Vänskä sealed the deal with passionate accounts of Beethoven. So thorough was the orchestra’s success that in the cool morning of analysis, questions turn to the next chapter. … The Proms success makes Royal Albert Hall seem almost like a home field. Vänskä is popular in England; [Minnesota CEO and President Michael] Henson has a 20-year association with the BBC, and critics are universal in their awareness. Should the next tour push the orchestra out of its comfort zone, perhaps into Central Europe, the fabled heart of Western classical music?”
Posted September 10, 2010
