CHRISTOPH KÖNIG AT THE OREGON SYMPHONY

CHRISTOPH KÖNIG CONDUCTS THE OREGON SYMPHONY FOR THE FIRST TIME.

“… Christoph König , the latest in a succession of promising young conductors to make guest appearances on the Oregon Symphony podium, kept pace with crisp direction, focused energy and his own responsive balance that also animated Paul Hindemith’s Concerto for Orchestra and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1. The former … opened with a fair imitation of a Baroque concerto grosso in 20th-century harmonic garb and continued with finely-worked movements that benefited from the orchestra’s clear playing. König’s tightly muscular and detail-oriented approach allowed for little elasticity, but his fleet energy more than compensated, and the Schumann symphony also gained from it. Known as the “Spring,” it was written in January of Schumann’s year of intense concentration in orchestral music; if the Oregon Symphony’s reading summoned vernal thoughts, they were of the bracing breezes of late March rather than the languid days of June. …”

By James McQuillen, Special to The Oregonian

on January 13, 2013 at 2:33 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2013/01/oregon_symphony_review_pianist.html

OregonLive.Com