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Reviews
Review of Concert with the Helsinki Philharmonic
Original, strong-willed woman sets the beat
... In contrast, our image of this completely original,
strong-willed woman broadened considerably with Dvorak's
Eighth Symphony. At the beginning, she obtained an intense
sound from the cello section, built the slow movement
harmoniously into a sensitive and firm whole, and achieved
a pleasantly melancholy mood in the dumka of
the third movement. From the midst of the polished proceedings,
many expressive solos could also be distinguished, so
it must be admitted that the visiting maestro had really
pressed all the music-making into her own mold.
... Gisèle Ben-Dor, from Uruguay, is probably the best
known female conductor in the world today, and she has
a natural authority in her conducting which many better-known
male colleagues can only dream of. Once in a while,
one gets the feeling that she tries a little too hard,
but a second later everything seems very natural.
Ginastera's rhythm practically sent shivers up your
spine and Dvorak's rhythmically challenging symphony
emerged as something extremely natural.
Ben-Dor directed Dvorak by heart and the music seemed
truly close to her heart. It emerged simultaneously
as intuitive and spontaneous, and the smallest detail
represented a conscious execution.
The phrasing, nuances, sound balance and, last but
not least, the entire formulation of the entire symphony
was superior - even if one perhaps might have enjoyed
the final output even more - and the orchestra played
as if it felt that symphony at that moment was the most
important thing in the world.
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