Christoph von Dohnányi – Press

“Tempos generally were urgent, strings and winds well balanced, articulation crisp. The music spoke with winning directness.”

“Mr. Dohnanyi, looking hale at 85, almost seemed at times to be playing an organ, pulling this or that stop to shift colorations seamlessly and blend sonorities smoothly.”

“Dohnanyi tends to prefer moments of pathos and expressive drama to be elegantly telegraphed rather than emphatically underlined. There were highlights big and small, including the wonderful balance in the finale of No. 39 between instrumental detail and pure onrushing exuberance; the graceful lilt of the woodwind playing in the trio section of the third movement of No. 40; and the quietly glowing strings in the Andante Cantabile of the ‘Jupiter.‘ Dohnanyi can make even the smallest details speak.”

“Dohnanyi had the violins seated antiphonally, and led clear-eyed and thoughtful accounts… Dohnanyi played up the dynamic contrasts to striking effect.”

“Mr. Dohnanyi, still vigorous at 84, led a magisterial account of Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C. In the slow introduction, he uncannily blended breadth of phrasing with suspenseful intensity. The Philharmonic strings dispatched the rippling figures of the scurrying Scherzo effortlessly for Mr. Dohnanyi. A calmly authoritative account of the pensive slow movement led to a surging, exuberant finale. Mr. Dohnanyi is always a welcome presence on the Philharmonic’s podium.”

“Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi remains a powerful and beneficial influence, fully worthy of his specially created position. His performance with his old ensemble Thursday was superb, a brilliant reminder of his glory days at Severance Hall and a clear demonstration of the fond esteem in which the orchestra still holds its former maestro.”

“His performance of Ein Heldenleben… was a striking achievement… Dohnányi offered us something altogether more sympathetic and emotionally complex.”