Christoph von Dohnányi

“In von Dohnányi's conducting – never remotely showy – it is the clarity of his approach and his inclination to underline the natural democracy of Brahms's orchestral writing that is absorbing. A restrained but highly atmospheric Mendelssohn's Hebrides overture was a pointer to this concern for capturing the timbre and finesse of the early Romantic colour palette, even in mature Brahms. It made the major-minor ambiguity of the symphony all the more carefully poised. The heroism sometimes perceived in this score was clearly less important to von Dohnányi than the integrity of the musical argument, right through to the warm conviction in the return of the opening theme in the final bars.” (The Guardian, October 2009)