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Scottish Chamber Orchestra ...the Scottish Chamber Orchestra matched the soloist for dash and ardour, and in a programme notable for the quantity of high-adrenalin fast music, showed itself adept in ensemble and balance. Swensen made the depths of the slow movement both spacious and restless, acknowledging details, yet alays keeping sight of the big picture. The Independent (UK) ...the Scottish Chamber Orchestra opened the concert with the understated charm of Dvorak's Czech Suite. Conductor Joseph Swensen coaxed playing of rustic refinement from the orchestra, making this unpretentious music seem richly imaginative, especially in the syncopated energy of the final furiant. The Guardian (UK) The orchestral accompaniment was, throughout, as keen-eared and as
witty as the spirit of Saint-Saëns himself. For Schumann, after
the interval, the crackling electricity between leader and conductor
sent its charge through the orchestra and out into the auditorium. The Times (UK) ...it was the SCO's night, under the idiosyncratic, highly energised baton of principal conductor Joseph Swensen. Now in his eighth season with the orchestra, Swensen - something of a Beethoven specialist himself - has already steered the ensemble through a successful Beethoven series, with 1999's season of the complete symphonies. But he turned his attention to the overtures for this season opener - a fired-up, beautifully balanced account of the Leonora Overture No 1 to start the evening and a passionate and powerful Egmont to begin the second half. The Scotsman The group's resident conductor, Joseph Swensen, took to the violin for the opening work, Brahms Violin Concerto, demonstrating in his highly-charged and dramatic playing what a considerable virtuoso he is. Having recently recorded the Mendelssohn Concerto with the SCO, it is to be hoped that we will see more of this admirable aspect of a remarkably versatile musician. Exercising close control over his orchestral forces, he presented a powerfully gutsy reading of the Brahms concerto with real fire in its belly. The Scotsman Sibelius said that his Sixth Symphony was like pure spring water, and, cleansed of all imprints of conductor Joseph Swensen's mercurial style, that was exactly how it was in this performance. Seldom have I heard Swensen exercise so much restraint in an interpretation. It was as if he couldn't bear to interfere with the music at all, in case the beautiful dream of a piece that he and the players were creating was shattered. Daily Telegraph (UK) When Joseph Swensen's tenure as principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra was extended until 2005 just under a year ago, nobody could have doubted the wisdom of the decision. Swensen is the most daredevil and charismatic maestro to have driven this orchestra in its 28-year history... Daily Telegraph (UK) The reaction of the crowd said it all. After a classic Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Joseph Swensen concert - an all-Beethoven affair which featured a series of benchmark SCO performances - the good-sized crowd erupted. It was not an ovation so much as a catharsis, one which roared on and on, and which was an entirely appropriate emotional response at the end of a finely gauged account of the Ninth Symphony. Glasgow Herald
Boston Globe That the excellent musicians of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra were excited to be making their festival debut on Monday was clear from buoyant and technically deft accounts of the Overture to Mozart's Impresario which began the concert, and Schubert's youthful Symphony No 3, which ended it. Their dynamic conductor is Joseph Swensen, who exemplifies the mingling of cultural traditions so common today; born in New York, he is of Norwegian and Japanese descent, makes his home in Copenhagen and directs a Scottish ensemble. New York Times Other orchestras BBC National Orchestra of Wales (Principal Guest Condcutor 2000-2003) Swensen is the complete musician: a virtuoso violinist and composer as well as conductor, ostensibly well suited to Mahler. From the very first sinister opening march, his approach was one of taut, thrusting vigour, and while the music is shot through with melodic material that represents glimpses of a soaring but seemingly unattainable joy, this mitigated little against the overall impression of a relentless underlying force. In the scherzo too (played as the second of the four movements, thus eschewing the controversy that Mahler himself effectively began by re-ordering the central sequence) the highly imaginative instrumental colouring and the sardonic humour was quickly submerged in a harsher reality. Only in the central andante did Swensen's brisk demeanour alter, the desire to create a deeply lyrical sound bringing out the performer in him, arms as though embracing his fiddle, his baton a bow lovingly drawn over the strings, a gesture whose intimacy characterised the nature of Swensen's rapport with the players. The Guardian (UK)
Sometimes an entire orchestra can act like a single instrument, with a complete, unified sound that enjoys an integrity all of its own, no matter how it is used of how it is played. That was the case Wednesday with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Joseph Swensen. The principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swensen created a very particular sound for the orchestra, open, confident, and extroverted, that carried through the entire programme, whether the music was by Schumann, Brahms or Aaron Copland...... It was a fine evening of music making, and the TSO responded well to Swensen's athletic demands of them. Because classical music is a mature art, with much of its repertoire fixed and honoured, interpretation becomes an exciting part of a classical-music concert. Swensen let the audience think about the music as well as enjoy it, the twin pleasure that classical music offers to its fans in spades. Globe and Mail
Under the modest, supportive direction of Joseph Swensen, himself a highly successful violinist, the CBSO supplied rich collaboration. A remarkably concentrated reading of Sibelius' First Symphony brought to the fore not merely its backward leanings but also its presages of the maturer composer to come. Swensen effected a gratifying tautness of structure, and orchestral highlights emerged naturally and excitingly. Copland's youthful Music for the Theatre, neat and witty, splashed verve and colour around before achieving a beautifully calm ending. Birmingham Post (UK)
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra If violinist Joshua Bell was the main attraction, conductor Joseph Swensen nearly stole the show.....The evening's peak experience was a brilliant performance of Haydn's Clock Symphony, No. 101. Haydn's symphonies stand at the center of his achievement, and his last six contributions to the genre are the best of the best. Swensen's tempos were fleet - in the case of the famous Andante, controversially so. But from the beautifully shaped slow introduction to the buoyant finale, everything worked. The conductor's mastery was a match for Haydn's own. The orchestra, too, was in grand form. Star Tribune Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra The young American conductor Joseph Swensen, making his first appearances in St. Louis with this weekend's performances, is one to watch. Energetic, balletic in his movements, and equipped with the sweep and style to handle three very different works with idiomatic musicality - as well as a sense of humor - he scored a solid hit St Louis Post-Dispatch
Hallé Orchestra The Hallé seems to romp through it [Beethoven Symphony no.3] effortlessly, but that impression was deceptive. While Swensen seemed to give free rein to the work's boisterous exuberance, it was tautly controlled, with a coiled precision that energised the whole performance The Guardian (UK)
Joseph Swensen conducted with great dynamism..... Swensen charmed a seductive performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni overture from the orchestra. There was heavy breathing in the rise and fall of the wind section's scales and smut in the timpanist's libidous, tight-skinned thump. In Schoenberg's Verklaerte Nacht, the strings produced real fleshly, sensuous tone. Evening Standard (London)
Mendelssohn Violin Concert / Symphony No 3 / Hebrides
Overture Bright, lean sonorities, clear textures and relative prominence of winds and bass create distinctive sonic metrials from which conductor Joseph Swensen draws spirited, fully-engaged music making. Sure the most stimulating performance on the disc is that of the Violin Concerto. I've never heard the solo part realised quite so spontaneously, not with such a richly varied palette of expressive devices. Swensen meets the pieces's demands, but even so takes technical chances in pursuing expressive ideals. BBC Music Magazine
A new collection of orchestra l works by James MacMillan: as much a calling-card for the superb partnership of Joseph Swensen and the SCO as for the composer himself. Gramophone
Royal Danish Opera/ Le Nozze di Figaro/ Nov-Dec 1999 Figaro was in the best possible hands at the premiere on Saturday night with the American conductor Joseph Swensen. His quick and precise tempi, lively phrasing and richly varied and nuanced tone colouring were extraordinary. The Royal Danish Orchestra was always in perfect balance with the singers. Berklingske Tidende It was so good to see how Joseph Swensen created such a beautiful sympathy between himself and the singers. He is obviously a conductor singers love to sing for. Helsingar Dagblad |