The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra gives an average of 125 concerts a year. In addition to the concerts in the Rotterdam concert hall de Doelen, where most of these concerts take place, the orchestra regularly performs on the great concert stages of Europa, and has toured Japan, the Far East and the United States. On this page you will find some press clippings we have selected for you.
Gergiev conducts Stravinsky's Petrouchka
Stravinsky, the RPhO and Gergiev: they have always been a great team, and together they produced several highlights. The orchestra's brilliance and temperament and the conductor's capriciousness and adventurous character are an excellent vehicle for the clear, sparkling idiom of the most important composer of the twentieth century.
Rotterdams Dagblad, 4 March 2005
A Colourfull Puppet Show
In Stravinsky's Petrushka [...] Gergiev brought all the details of this colourful composition to life. A gay dance jumped and screeched around the fair meadow; in superb bassoons the wooden doll came tottering along with clumsy movements, and the harmonies of the hurdy-gurdy were brazenly combined with a delightful Viennese trumpet solo. With large, shining children's eyes the orchestra bells flared up in the bustle, as if the loving looks of the smallest fair guests could not decide where to go first. It was a brilliant Stravinsky with a magnificent display of colour by an excellent orchestra that completely surrendered to the artful interpretation of its Music Director.
Alexander Gurdon, March 2005
Strength and Emotion (Gergiev conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 10)
A heartwarming symphonic fresco performed with rare greatness.
De Standaard , 11 January 2005
Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet in the Royal Festival Hall
After all the energy and action of the previous acts, the fourth opened with a tiny, tremulous string line that the orchestra seemed to conjure from thin air, before the music grew into a searing lament for Juliet. Gergiev made this the emotional and structural climax of the piece, and a revelation of Prokofiev's gifts as a dramatist. Even after three hours, the musicians played with the same intensity, rejuvenated by Gergiev's apparently limitless enthusiasm and insight.
The Guardian, 6 June 2004
Gergiev conducts Mahler's Ninth Symphony
The Adagio was unusually gripping. The movement started with scorching strings and ended full of detachment and with almost unbearable tension, with wispy sounds on the verge of silence, in the twilight between life and death. Have Gergiev and the Rotterdam orchestra ever reached such intensity before?
De Telegraaf, 17 May 2004
The Death of Klinkghoffer
In collaboration with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra - performing brilliantly under Michael Christie - and excellent singers, Koen and Timmers have produced an opera full of bone-chilling, penetrating images.
Algemeen Dagblad 27 March 2004
Richard Strauss programme with Edo de Waart
This concert provided a good opportunity to hear all the excellent and often very young musicians that have been added to the ranks of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra during the past few years. In Strauss' Serenade for Winds in E Flat Major, bassoonist Bram van Sambeek (23) and oboist Alexei Ogrintchouk (25) drew the attention with performances of soloist standard.
NRC 4 March 2004
Rotterdam Philharmonic performs French repertoire
The French repertoire fits the RPhO well; the graceful and virtuoso woodwind solos are of constant quality. Conductor Krivine hardly had to correct a thing: the music was flowing by itself. The oboe solo in 'Gigues' pierced through the patches of fog (created by the other instruments) to establish the dance theme. ' Iberia ' was more Spanish than a Spanish composer could have imagined.
Rotterdams Dagblad 15 November 2003
Gergiev in Mussorgsky's Pictures
We have heard Maestro Gergiev in Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition before. Yet again, he gave such an extraordinarily remarkable reading of the work, and his control over nuances and sound shades generated so much exhilaration, that it was as if the paintings appeared before your eyes, and you could almost smell the still wet paint.
Algemeen Dagblad 1 November 2003
The return of James Conlon
Zemlinsky's music is one of Conlon's great specialties. The ears were besides themselves with joy when they heard the overwhelming wealth of sound and the heavy romanticism of the triptych. [...] It was fascinating to hear how Conlon bends the orchestral sound to his will. No other conductor can make the Rotterdam strings express feelings of nostalgia and sing with such a creamy sound.
Telegraaf 6 October 2003
