“Klaus Mäkelä is known for the delicate precision with which he extracts all the details and nuances of the works he directs. There really were enough of them in Zinoviev’s concerto and he built a stunning, sparkling and crackling overall shape.”

“Sauli Zinoviev’s piano concerto should have been premiered almost two years ago, just after the pandemic struck and it would have been unsustainable to postpone the premiere once again. Although of course it would have been festive with an enthusiastically applauding audience after the euphoric finale … Ólafsson mastered to perfection all of Zinoviev’s stylistic excursions, from the introductory figurations and the second movement’s impressionistically churning chords to the final’s neoclassical rhythm, where the solo part towards the end unashamedly gives in to a Liszt-Rachmaninov virtuosity. All done with the same equally playful ease and deep-rooted concentration.”

“It was a visionary powerful and unusually talented young conductor’s passionate view of the young Mahler’s skyrocketing visions and it can not be helped that the great Mahler conductor Leonard Bernstein – unequivocally the young version – unwittingly came to mind. The magical evocative natural moods of the introduction, the earthy loins of the second movement and the popular music pastiches of the third movement flowed past like stimulating fantasy images, and when nature and man converged in the passionate finale, the pieces of the puzzle fell spectacularly into place.”

“Klaus Mäkelä, who succeeded Daniel Harding as Music Director, also showed great affinity with Mahler … The conductor likes to emphasise sounds that are voluntarily rustic or rocky, as if he wanted his Mahler to be as un-metaphysical as possible, with both feet firmly planted in the Bohemian soil. The generous use of rubato requires the musicians to concentrate at all times … allowing for formidable accelerations, and making the finale an absolutely jubilant and justly acclaimed triumphal march.”

“The Finnish conductor has already made a strong impression. We will have to break the habit of talking about Klaus Mäkelä as a ​“young conductor”. He already has everything of a big one and assumes his musical choices with a rare maturity.”

“… Impressive is the maturity of Mäkelä, a conductor with clear ideas and gentle manners, elegant and restrained gestures, but at the same time clear and eloquent, who avoids brusqueness and prominence on the podium. For him, music and musicians come first.”

“The Cleveland Orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 7 was stunning, with TCO and Mäkelä completely on the same wavelength. … The members of The Cleveland Orchestra themselves gave Mäkelä the ultimate, and rare, accolade of putting down their instruments to applaud the young visiting conductor. Mäkelä in tandem with The Cleveland Orchestra were simply sensational.”

“But the star of the show was Mozart’s Requiem […] and given an urgent, sharply defined account by Mäkelä and his vocal and instrumental forces. … a thoroughly convincing account, fresh and forthright.”

“The granite-like climaxes of the second movement, interspersed with atmospheric silences, were extremely powerful and at the end of the journey Mäkelä created an irresistible surge, finally unleashing all the pent-up energy from the preceding movements.”

“Oulu Symphony Orchestra seemed obviously liberated by the Mäkelä’s energy, particularly in Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 op. 92 in which the jubilation could be sensed throughout the whole hall.“

“Mäkelä conducted gloriously – self confident and powerful, but at the same time graceful and controlled.”

“Klaus Mäkelä is an extraordinary talent, who will go far. He manages to channel his musical expression in a constructive way.”