Great success with Tonhalle-Orchestra Zurich and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Dec 19, 2012

“It does not get much better than this,” writes the Tages-Anzeiger Zürich about Pablo Heras-Casado’s concerts with the Tonhalle-Orchestra and cellist Sol Gabetta on December 5 and 6. The young Spanish conductor’s performance of Stravinsky’s Firebird was an “hour of shimmering orchestra colors, of nimbleness of sound and of fiery, agile dramaturgy.” Stravinsky’s ballet “was a success thanks to Heras-Casado’s ability to create great dramatic arcs. He structured the expansive ballet music as a vast poem, sharpened its edges by working with nuanced colours in the loud and the soft passages and did not lack elegance and momentum in any one of the dances” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). With Sol Gabetta, Pablo “captivated [the audience] in the Shostakovich [Cello Concerto] with nimble crescendi and with precise work on the orchestral sound… ”

Earlier in November, Pablo made his Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra debut. Inspired by the performances, Volkstrant praised the maestro for the “unmistakable clarity” he brought to the playing, “work[ing] the dance rhythms gorgeously” in Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin.