> Reviews
Maestro Rattays interpretations of Rossini, Mozart and Beethoven inspired the orchestral musicians to a level of musicality seldom heard on the Frauenthal stage. The opening Overture to Rossini's "La Cenerentola" was charming and characteristic of the put-a-smile-on-your-face exuberance of the composer. Mozart's "Jupiter" symphony was finely nuanced and, from this listener's point of view, the essence of Mozart's musical intentions. Beautiful ensemble work, clarity of musical line and a poetic quality were second to none.
After halftime, Rattay and company returned to deliver a rousing account of W.A. Mozart’s “Prague” symphony (No. 38), written for his rabid fans in that supremely cultured city. Rattay – with inspired help from his wonderful players – did his hometown proud, conducting their own Mozart masterpiece with zest and elegant panache in the outer movements, plus pastoral sweetness in the central Andante.
Rattay is incredibly expressive during the piece without being overbearing or cartoonish in his body movements. He truly feels the music and the musicians do as well. The performance from all involved was simply great.
It is with the final piece, "Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche" by Richard Strauss, where Rattay shows his ability to take musical risks that are intriguing and enjoyable. As was the case with Miles Davis during his “Kind of Blue” days, he encourages the musicians to bring their own voices to the performance.
It is very easy to focus all attention on Rattay when he leads his orchestra. He truly becomes the music, moving his body and engaging the musicians to own the music they play. With his hair flopping and his hips swaying to the Mambo beats throughout Bernstein's work, the audience could not help but understand that he was not leading a dry, conservative orchestra. He was making the music very accessible to all simply because he clearly enjoyed the music the musicians perform.
As usual, Bohuslav was all over the platform, taking the musicians on a roller coaster of intensity levels. The musicians showed great control...
It was during the latter that Rattay's great enthusiasm on the platform rubbed off on the musicians, who delivered Dvorak's symphony with great emotion...
....I saw the music living in you and it was so amazing... but the most wonderful thing was that it was still left open for interpretation...
A native of Prague, Czech conductor Rattay directed the orchestra with great vitality, which added to the excitement of the opening night.....After a brief intermission Maestro Rattay returned to address the audience with a short excerpt from a letter by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, which contained his definition of the power of music as the language of love. This was followed by a virtuoso performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Opus 64....
The young maestro jumped right into Strauss's Overture to Die Fledermaus, a perfect fit for his animated, almost dance-like approach on the podium.
The MSO musicians matched Rattay's enthusiasm, delivering in this classical "trailer" a taste of the wonderful melodies and jubilant waltzes in the operetta. The musicians seemed to enjoy it. There was no doubt Rattay was having fun. And the audience seemed swept up in the excitement as well.
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