Vladimir Ashkenazy

 “Ashkenazy is an excellent partner in Schumann’s Concerto, and especially in the Dvořák Concerto… the result is a truly symphonic utterance, the tempos perfectly judged and everything placed at the service of the composer; here is music-making of rare quality.” (International Record Review, April 2013)

“Under Vladimir Ashkenazy’s baton, the EUYO musicians tore into Strauss’s Alpine Symphony for all they were worth… Ashkenazy’s extrovert approach juiced all the ecstatic and cataclysmic moments in this opulent score and treated the more lyrical material with a songful warmth. The musicians responded with burnished brass chording, thunderous accents from the percussion and a gorgeous sheen on their voluminous string section.” (The Washington Post, April 2012)

“A powerhouse ensemble of youthful performers... and those present were witness to amazing feats of virtuosity. [Ashkenazy] was the ideal guide; he knew every twist and turn of the precipitous musical trail up and down the mountain, and clearly showed the way to all of his charges for the entire perilous journey. Hats off, Mr. Ashkenazy. 
(The Boston Musical Intelligencer, April 2012) 

“Vladimir Ashkenazy turns craftsmanship into sheer joy. Prokofiev was all weightlessness and light. The three-movement suite from his opera The Love for Three Oranges was a perfect counterpart to the haunting second Violin Concerto. In the opening of the concert, Ashkenazy made the March sparkle like an encore, but he was just as liberating all night. Continually working with opposing textures of light and shade, he always gave a centre to the orchestral sound. A sound you could have drunk from a cup. Both soft and loud passages had aura and inner radiance. This great artist comes across as a modest man. But there was nothing modest about his gigantic vision of the works on this programme.” (Opera, January 2012)

“Ashkenazy skilfully paced a performance of highly-strung excitement and truly explosive energy.” (The Times, May 2011, on Beethoven’s Symphony No.9) 

“Suddenly, music that is often experienced as though being viewed through a surgical observation window comes surging off the page with a passion to have one reassessing its emotional raison d’étre.” (International Piano, November/December 2009)

“Ashkenazy stresses the lyricism as well as the anguish of Suk’s score; this is a performance of great dignity and nobility, with fine attention to detail.” (BBC Music Magazine, July 2009)

“The music crackles with cinematic fervour, as the story spills out in a headlong rush accompanied by brilliantly coloured orchestral textures. This is Ashkenazy's strong suit as a conductor - he's never more persuasive than when wrangling an oversized orchestral score through its paces - and he brought fervour and splash to the performance.” (San Francisco Chronicle, March 2009)