Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

"Apart from the tumult, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the orchestra, the ‘Firebird’ shows the wonderful, almost magical, delicate pages in dazzling instrumental colours – a great opportunity for the orchestra to demonstrate its sophistication. Oramo structured the music precisely and at a pace, savouring the energy of the movement, as well as the richness of colour. At the end, as if liberated, the busy horns emerge from this fairy tale." (Frankfurter Neue Presse, February 2012)

“The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is on splendid form throughout, led by conductors who have championed these works at home and abroad.“ (Gramophone, January 2012)

“And the orchestra seemed wired to his every move. I’ve never heard such an exciting or compelling performance of Nielsen’s Symphony No 4, The Inextinguishable – the symphony with the duelling timpani, and certainly inextinguishable on Monday night…The finesse of the Stockholm players helped see to that; whether the sounds came from juddering strings or the second movement’s bucolic winds, they steered clear of the brash, and were always exquisitely voiced… Sensuous strings led the way into a wondrous journey of discovery, with motifs, textures, keys and colours constantly mutating, constantly surprising. (The Arts Desk, August 2011)

“Oramo and his players drew out from the composer’s score the innermost movements and patternings of nature itself, deeply absorbed into Sibelius’s composing consciousness not as mere pictorialism, but as an abstract, energising force… Oramo fused the plucking, pulsing minimalist energies of the work with a sweet and gentle lyricism, strings wonderfully supple, woodwind tempering their sweetness with a slight astringency.” (The Times, August 2011)

“From the very beginning, Oramo made the smooth string sound tremble with an inner tension... The scherzo, played with beautiful lightness by the orchestra, flitted past us at a ghostly gallop, the balanced phrases of the finale yielding eventually to a storm… This marvellous performance was undoubtedly the evening’s highlight, but the orchestra’s deftness and beautifully blended tone was a constant delight in the other two pieces.” (The Telegraph, August 2011)