In Wednesday’s (9/5) Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sarah Bryan Miller writes, “London already loved David Robertson. Now, to judge by the ovations, it loves the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, too. Tuesday night at the Royal Albert Hall, a crowd of more than 7,000 cheered and stamped for Robertson—who made his 21st appearance in 15 years at the BBC Proms—and his American orchestra. They earned that applause. It’s been a long journey back to London for the SLSO,” which last appeared there fourteen years ago. “A decade of financial restructuring, under presidents Randy Adams and Fred Bronstein, along with artistic strengthening under music director Robertson, has made another European tour possible. … On Monday, Robertson, principal cello Daniel Lee and associate principal cello Melissa Brooks performed and were interviewed by Sean Rafferty on the afternoon program ‘In Tune’ on BBC’s Radio 3, the station that broadcasts every concert live as well. … After performances of works by Brahms, Beethoven, Schoenberg, and Gershwin, the applause kept coming, and the groundlings kept stomping, until Robertson signaled an encore: the overture to Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Candide.’ It received a first-rate reading, and sent the audience out with a collective smile.”
Posted September 6, 2012
