Reviews

02/24/2012 LARRY FUCHSBERG , Special to the Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN

Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a, is a string-orchestra transcription of his darkly autobiographical Eighth String Quartet by the late Rudolf Barshai, a violist and conductor who studied with Shostakovich. The work — an SPCO fixture, played as recently as last May — teems with self-reference and self-quotation. In Milanov’s hands it seemed infinitely dolorous: the opening Largo was grief-stricken, the Allegretto spooky and menacing.

02/24/2012

By Rob Hubbard
Special to the Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN

 

Under the direction of Rossen Milanov, the SPCO strings made the work a deeply
involving experience, haunting and weighty with sadness. When violinist
Ruggero Allifranchini held a low note constantly amid urgently pounding
chords from the rest of the strings, it brought chills.

 

ConcertoNet.com  Lewis Whittington

February 15, 2012

Polished “Unfinished” Works

Philadelphia
Church of the Holy Trinity
02/12/2012 -
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B-minor, D. 759
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem, K. 626

Alexandra Maximona (soprano), Margaret Mezzacappa (mezzo-soprano), Zach Borichevsky (tenor), Scott Conner (bass)
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Alan Harler (artistic director), Symphony in C Orchestra, Rossen Milanov (conductor)

Rossen Milanov left his post as associate conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The personable conductor was always game for Fab Phils seasonal concerts – He was maestro Dracula for Halloween, he donned Santa hats for Christmas and liked to engage with audience talks. He showed the most muscle directing the orchestra’s summer series at the Mann Center in Philly and Vale Valley Music Festival in Colorado, often specializing in Russian and Eastern European repertoire. Last spring, his swan song was sharing the Verizon Hall stage with the Pennsylvania Ballet in production new production of Stravinsky’s Pulchinella, choreographed by Jorma Elo.

Milanov is now musical director of Symphony in C (formerly the Haddonfield Symphony), one of the few professional training orchestras in the United States. Milanov teamed up winningly with soloists from the Academy of Vocal Arts and the mighty Mendelssohn Club for “Unfinished Masterpieces”, pairing Schubert and Mozart works, both works ripe for interpretive muscle.

First stop Gordon Theater at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, then to the larger Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, which is rather perfect for the setting of Schubert’s 8th Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem. Based on this program alone, it is clear that Milanov has command and synergy with this youthful orchestra, showing in ways that may have been underappreciated by Philadelphia Orchestra audiences during his tenure there.

The Schubert’s two movements do make you feel unsatisfied because they are so involving as played by Symphony in C that you want more. From the initial approach of the strings in the Allegro there is such clarity and tempered drive. The woodwinds and brass are particularly vibrant. Most impressive are the striations of the low strings and dramatic orchestral thrust of Schubert. Among the standout lead players- Alexander Bedenko’s sublime clarinet line, as well as by 1st violin Stefani Collins

The Philadelphia Orchestra had deserved triumphal evening last year conducting the Mozart Requiem with incoming star conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. But Milanov delivers a more cohesive, indeed, less theatrical, performance. And he conjured it in shimmering details, with chorale, soloists and orchestra with equalized Mozartian power. And with a scaled down orchestra facing off the 100 plus Mendelssohns, it was moving from every angle.

Alexandra Maximova, Margaret Mezzacappa, Zach Borichevsky and Scott Conner have all emerged as AVA stars in the last two years and their work here is just as solid. The silkiness of the solo and chorale overlays are superb. This venue can work against soloists, it has warm acoustics, but can have an echo effect, not an issue with these singers, who were vocally in the moment throughout.

Mendelssohn Club director Alan Harler just keeps adding artistic muscle to this chorus with distinction. There were so many moments that the chorale just went right through you, not just with sonic power of the “Offertorium” and “Sanctus”, but the sustained precision of the baroque Latin liturgical. The pulse of the Symphony in C players, razor sharp in the arrests and in the defining modulations of the choral pickups – underlining Milanov’s clarity through the accents and tempo, build the power from within.

Lewis Whittington

 

February 12, 2012
Prokofiev Version of ‘Eugene Onegin’ in a Russian Weekend at Princeton
By JAMES R. OESTREICH for The New York Times
PRINCETON, N.J. — Eugene Onegin, the overweening antihero who spurns the infatuated Tatiana in the 1833 Pushkin novel in verse that bears his name, only to be spurned himself in the end, loomed large in musical precincts of the Princeton University campus over the weekend.

But Tchaikovsky, who provided the novel’s most famous musical setting in his soaring 1879 opera “Eugene Onegin,” was scarcely present. Instead there was Prokofiev, represented by his incidental music for a 1936 theatrical version of “Eugene Onegin,” here receiving what was plausibly said to be its first complete performance.

The adaptation was made by the writer Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky for the Moscow Chamber Theater to celebrate the death centenary of Pushkin in 1937, but the production was canceled late in the game when Krzhizhanovsky’s changes to a text held almost sacred in Russia ran afoul of censorship committees. Some of Prokofiev’s music later made its way to the concert stage and recordings, but the Krzhizhanovsky’s typescript turned up only in 2007, through the research of Simon Morrison, a music historian at Princeton and a Prokofiev biographer.

Mr. Morrison set the wheels in motion for a production: two productions, it turned out, both to be presented in conjunction with a four-day musicological conference, After the End of Music History, dedicated to the music historian Richard Taruskin, also a specialist in Russiana (among many other things).

On Thursday evening the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, directed by Rossen Milanov, performed Prokofiev’s music in a concert at the Richardson Auditorium, with snatches of text read in Russian and a heavy overlay of dance. On Friday night students in Matthews Acting Studio performed the full Krzhizhanovsky play in an English translation by James Falen and Caryl Emerson, a professor of Slavic languages and literatures at Princeton.

Prokofiev’s score — some 44 numbers ranging from snippets to substantial movements and running a little more than an hour in the Princeton Symphony’s fine performance — juggles and reworks recurring themes devoted to individual characters or situations. Not surprisingly there are strains of the ballet “Romeo and Juliet,” written by Prokofiev around the same time, though over all this “Onegin” is not as lush; nor is it as sumptuous as Tchaikovsky’s opera. In some cases Prokofiev seems to be trying to provide constructive criticism of the opera. In program notes Mr. Morrison cites the dances for Tatiana’s name-day celebration, Tchaikovsky’s being not nearly rustic or bumptious enough for Prokofiev’s taste.

The dance added here, through the course of the work, was choreographed and performed in a free modern style by Sydney Schiff, backed by the Princeton Ballroom Dance Club. To a nonexpert in dance Ms. Schiff’s exertions as Tatiana were admirable, showing fine athleticism and stamina in stretches, spins and swoons, but in the end they conveyed relatively little: basically, yearning alternating with anguish.

For the theatrical version the confines of the acting studio (100 seats or so) did not allow for an orchestra, and most of the music was played on piano. But with Anna Tchetchetkine performing it moodily and superbly, the score really came to life in its proper setting as part of the larger play. (Too bad, though, to lose that jangling country dance for two harpsichords.) Tim Vasen directed a student cast in a beautifully conceived production — spare but elegant, and making canny use of two levels and a circular staircase — with a standout performance by Elena Garadja as Tatiana and excellent work by Gabriel Crouse as Onegin and Peter Giovine as Lensky.

It is hard to imagine a better way to introduce a work like this to the world in all its facets than with this double-barreled premiere.

The symphonic program on Thursday was filled out with the premiere of the Concerto for Bass Drum by Gabriel Prokofiev, a grandson of Sergei and a prominent figure on the alt-classical scene. The very idea of a concerto for bass drum may seem surprising, though not to anyone familiar with the marvels produced by, say, Kodo, the Japanese drumming troupe.

Mr. Prokofiev seems to have inherited a vivid imagination and an acute ear for orchestral color from his grandfather. And he had Joby Burgess, the soloist, coax all manner of sounds from the oxlike instrument, often wielding multiple sticks in each hand and even using his fingers and elbows. Again the words athleticism and stamina come to mind.

Running almost a half-hour, the piece is compelling at almost every moment, though it was sometimes hard to sort out the five movements, and their inscrutable titles (“21 Ways,” “In the Steppes,” “May Speed”) offered little help in the absence of program notes. The outer movements had all the drive and intensity of rock.

And it was easy to see why on Saturday evening, when — as an unlikely adjunct to the scholarly conference — attendees could observe Mr. Prokofiev in another guise, performing as D.J. at a cabaret evening, which also included performances by the Susan Marshall dance company. Altogether exhilarating.

 

Review: ISO pays homage to 20th-century Russian masters
Jan. 28, 2012
Jay Harvey, Indianapolis Star

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Twentieth-century composers tend to be interpreted by how they responded to the period’s general turmoil, particularly if they are Russian.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra this weekend is presenting three of the greatest Russian composers of the last century at its former home, Clowes Hall.
Sergei Rachmaninoff notably looked backward, largely from exile, yet forged a nonderivative style. Sergei Prokofiev, whose period of exile was more conflicted and irresolute, let his modernist daring be tempered by a fortunate gift for melody. Dmitri Shostakovich could barely hide his fearful maladjustment but perhaps struck deeper than either of the Sergeis because of that.
From the podium, guest conductor Rossen Milanov spoke of Prokofiev’s stance in his belatedly revised Symphony No. 4, saying the composer wrote so that his Soviet bosses would hear unclouded notes of triumph where most in his Stalin-conscious audience likely detected irony and covert dissent.
It’s unwise to demur at this verbal interpretation when the musical interpretation Milanov drew from the ISO was so compelling, but I heard pure exaltation in the finale. Friday night there was more muddiness in the final measures than there should have been, but these crowning moments were preceded by intermittent glories.
The most remarkable achievement was the way the orchestra rendered the third-movement scherzo, which contains some of Prokofiev’s most stunning orchestration outside his “Romeo and Juliet” music. (The man probably had too much talent.) The trenchant clarity of the first movement was also impressive. Having waited a half-century to hear this piece in concert, it’s hard to be anything but grateful.
Before intermission, Khatia Buniatishvili offered a colorful account of the solo part in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. The young Georgian pianist, displaying a wide tonal palette, an attractive temperament and evenness of touch in all registers, responded to the huge ovation with a Chopin prelude.
To open the concert, Milanov led a tidy yet highly charged account of Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, which you might think came from a fellow without a care in the world. It has the surface appeal of a potboiler, yet it was well-positioned in this study of three unique Russian faces, even if the spirit of another modern master — their missing countryman, Igor Stravinsky — was somewhere aloft, clucking his tongue.

Columbus Symphony: Unfamiliar works by 3 composers explore folk roots

By Barbara Zuck
For The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday January 21, 2012

Neither rain nor snow nor sleet — nor a not-so-charming combination of all three — kept the Columbus Symphony Orchestra from its appointed rounds last night. Weather woes, though, did keep down the audience in the Ohio Theatre for what turned out to be an engaging program of works not frequently heard here.

The hearty souls who attended were treated to a whirlwind tour of Hungary, France and Russia, courtesy of the far-flung talents of composers Kodaly, Poulenc and Prokofiev. The program — dubbed “folk roots” — brimmed with color, continually emphasized by a talented guest conductor, Rossen Milanov, in his local debut.

Milanov led the concert with calm confidence, especially helpful in the final selection — a work unfamiliar to many. Last night’s performance of Prokofiev’s
Symphony No. 4 in C Major, Op. 112, was reportedly a Columbus Symphony premiere.

Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta opens with bold energy but quickly turns wistful. The composer hearken back to his youth in this music, full of nostalgia and beguiling simplicity. Among the delightful woodwind solos, principal clarinetist David Thomas’ Gypsy moments certainly stood out.

Former Columbus resident Anna Polonsky teamed with fellow pianist Orion Weiss in Poulenc’s Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra, a piece whose evocations of both classicism and romanticism make it easy on the ears.
The soloists’ pairing exhibited masterful balance and precision as well as flawless execution.  What’s more, their sensitivity to blending with the orchestra and the orchestral soloists proved superb. Polonsky’s father, Leonid Polonsky, is the orchestra’s acting concertmaster. Anna’s talents were already well-known to many longtime local concertgoers.

The Prokofiev symphony is a surprising work in its quixotic changeability. It hops from one emotional island to another with amazing dexterity and certainly commands the listener’s attention.  The music was originally composed for a ballet and is reminiscent of Prokofiev’s earlier work, the much better-known film score to Lieutenant Kije. Last night’s reading of the symphony certainly brought out the work’s bombast, as well as the strained insincerity that seems to pervade the score.

Review: Brilliant Korngold/Berlioz double bill at the VSO
BY DAVID GORDON DUKE, SPECIAL TO THE VANCOUVER SUN     JANUARY 8, 2012

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra began 2012 in fine fettle this weekend with guest conductor Rossen Milanov and violin soloist Corey Cerovsek in a concert of Debussy, Korngold, and Berlioz. In lieu of an overture, Milanov – who hails from Bulgaria, but now conducts in Princeton – began with a suave and fluid performance of Debussy’s Prelude à l’après midi d’un faune.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto has had a checkered past. After its premiere by Jascha Heifetz in the late 1940s, it plummeted out of fashion. Recent re-evaluations are restoring it to favour, helped in no small manner by the Grammy-winning VSO recording with James Ehnes. And for good reason: it’s an abundantly tuneful, well-constructed, and brilliantly conceived romp for both soloist and orchestra. Conductor Milanov
proved a fine accompanist, bringing out the score’s mercurial colours and allowing the soloist time to breathe and to create every shade of meaning he wanted. This was a partnership that produced a reading full of life and insight.

Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique may suffer from over-exposure (certainly when one considers the wealth of other Berlioz works that seem hard to program), but Saturday’s was a performance to savour.  Berlioz’s imagination and theatricality usually come across in all but the most careless performances; Milanov is a conductor who understands how Berlioz’s ear for original and sometimes quirky detail is at the heart of his grand vision. Conductor and ensemble kept the narrative thread clear, making the score’s myriad nuances even clearer. Though Milanov is new to the orchestra, his rapport with the players was immediately apparent as they delivered a fiery, rewarding performance of one of the
orchestral repertoire’s great and most original masterworks — the conclusion of an evening of very fine work indeed.

 

Violinist Corey Cerovsek and conductor Rossen Milanov deliver strong performance with VSO at the Orpheum
Shaghayegh Rajabi, The Vancouver Observer, Jan 8th, 2012

Vancouver-born international violinist Corey Cerovsek and conductor Rossen Milanov delivered an unforgettable evening of music by Debussy, Korngold and Berlioz at the Orpheum on Saturday.

The first piece on the program was Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, which was performed in a dream-like fashion.

“Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” is a symphonic poem and one of most important compositions in the impressionist style. The piece is a milestone in music history, and it was well-executed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. The flutist, in particular, was a standout, playing her part beautifully with a lush tone.

Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz was performed with rare animation and character. The conductor, Rossen Milanov, did a spectacular job of interpretation and delivery of the piece. Milanov, originally from Bulgaria, is hailed as one of the most important figures in the new generation of conductors, and is the music director of Princeton Symphony Orchestra.  His style of conducting was not one that VSO members usually witness. It was very bold and vibrant, filled with imagination. Milanov is a truly gifted
musician and his passion for music was evident through his boundless energy and mindfulness throughout the concert, which took more than two hours.

“The surprise revelation was Rachmaninoff’s rarely heard tone poem The Isle of the Dead, a piece that can seem to meander, though it did not with Milanov’s strong sense of musical narrative. The Princeton Symphony was fully up to the considerable coloristic demands uniquely posed by Rachmaninoff’s alluring sound world. Rachmaninoff’s pieces often have so many cross references that they seem to sum up much of what he previously wrote, creating a larger progression in the composer’s life work. But never in my experience has The Isle of the Dead seemed like such an essential link in that chain.”
– David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/15/11

“And a big bravo goes to the young Bulgarian-born conductor Rossen Milanov, who was on top of the music every inch of the way and a man of infinite grace. What he did with Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun was incredible in terms of seduction and absolute tonal precision, which included some very fine suspensions. It was all atmosphere.”
–By Lloyd Dykk, Straight.com, Vancouver Online Source, January 9, 2012

Solid as a Rach
Bulgarian conductor Rossen Milanov gets sublime sounds from the Fort Worth Symphony.
by Gregory Sullivan Isaacs, TheaterJones.com
published Saturday, November 19, 2011

On Friday evening, the Fort Worth Symphony played at high peak under the brilliant young guest conductor, Bulgarian Rossen Milanov. He showed his mastery as both a concerto collaborator and conductor of a big sprawling romantic work, and in both areas, he was exemplary. While not afraid to be expansive on the podium, he pulled his beat back to precisely where it was needed. His hands were independent, with the right hand clearly indicating both tempo and interpretation, while his left hand was completely expressive. Few conductors, even big names, achieve this worthy goal. Now that he has finished an internship with the Philadelphia Orchestra, he is making debuts across the country. Fort Worth audiences are lucky to get a chance to see him before some big orchestra snatches him up. Let’s hope he returns before that happens.

To borrow a word from contemporary culture, the Rachmaninoff symphony was “awesome.” This is a long piece, usually clocking in at nearly an hour. In some ways, it is like a road trip. There are long stretches of empty highway in between all of the charming towns. To make matters worse, the most long-winded movement (with the least interesting materials) comes at the end. Conductors are faced with a dilemma. You have to have an overall concept for the work, so once you start the opening phrases, you are set until the end. There are three choices: You can make some cuts, but this is unthinkable in this day and age. You can hurry the whole piece along or you can take a deep breath and play it like the expansive symphony that it really is. It is much like sitting down to read a very long book: you can read and savor every word or skim through the expository parts.

Milanov chose to let the symphony unfold at its own pace, as he has the technical chops to make that happen. The riveted attention of the audience only lagged in the last movement, and that fault must be laid at the feet of the composer. Milanov made his concept work by washing the windows of the piece and presenting the symphony with a newfound clarity. All of the complex inner voices were present, even the most obscure echoes of the main thematic materials.  All of the big moments—and there are a lot of them—were in scale with the rest of the performance. Milanov never let the brass blare but allowed them play out as he balanced their full sound with the orchestra as a whole. Also noticeable was the fact that, even in his expansive
concept, he didn’t over-slurp the really big melodic high points. Frequently, conductors who rush through the whole piece over-luxuriate in these moments.

The FWSO responded in kind. It was one of the best performances they have presented recently. Intonation was precise as were all of the entrances. Solo lines, like the sublime clarinet solo played by Ana Victoria Luperi and the bittersweet and romantic snatches given to Concertmaster Michael Shih, were given their own space by Milanov. Balance was excellent, and this is no easy feat in a densely orchestrated work such as this symphony. When it was over, the audience responded with a genuine and appreciative standing ovation. The orchestra was obviously proud of its achievement as well.

“Milanov led a grand performance full of sweeping lyricism and dramatic gestures.”
– Olin Chism, Star-Telegram, 11/19/11

“Guest conductor, Rossen Milanov, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra swept the audience up through heaven and back again on Friday, November 19th, with the performance of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op.27.
Sponsored by Davoil, Conductor Milanov led the perfectly tuned symphony orchestra through the four movements producing an exquisite flow of painfully beautiful tenderness staged against a backdrop of dramatic energy. The brass chorale in the Second Movement was precise and has evoked the sound of ‘Gregorian chants for the dead’ which is reportedly a theme in many of Rachmaninoff’s works.
It was a wonderful moment to sit in the the exquisite Bass Performance Hall and listen to Fort Worth’s unique symphony orchestra perform such hauntingly beautiful music.” -Kim Booher, Fort Worth Examiner, 11/19/11

Rossen Milanov superb in Fort Worth Symphony
Orchestra Debut
By Evan Mitchell on 21st November 2011
Bachtrack.com

Rossen Milanov has been in town leading the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in this weekend’s concerts. Milanov recently finished serving as Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and has compiled an extensive list of guest conducting appearances. His rapport with the musicians of the FWSO during this, his debut with the ensemble, was intimate and impressive. Their program, which seemed significantly shorter than its two-plus hours, featured The Chairman Dances by John Adams, the Horn Concerto no. 1 in E flat by Richard Strauss, and Rachmaninov’s Symphony no. 2 in E minor.

The Chairman Dances set the tone for an evening of relatively easy listening. (The sheer breadth of the Rachmaninov symphony aside, it is still tuneful and emotionally generous.) The piece was commissioned in the mid-eighties while Adams was at work on his opera Nixon in China, and is similar in subject matter – he has described it as “a youthful Mao Tse Tung dancing the foxtrot with… the future Madame Mao” to the sound of a gramophone. The orchestra’s playing here gave crisp enunciation to the punchy syncopations present throughout, and Mr. Milanov (currently Music Director of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra) coaxed great warmth out of his players in more Romantic and jazzy moments. The cerebral side of Minimalist music may be written off by some, but Adams’ flavor of this style is lighthearted and invites listeners to simply enjoy it, with or without buying into an overriding philosophy.

A strong reception to the Adams only increased in response to the two other works on the program. Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra principal horn player Mark Houghton soloed in Strauss’ E flat Concerto, showcasing a clear tone and smooth technique. This piece sounds exactly as one would expect from a work of nineteen-year-old Strauss. It is melodious, concise, and largely conflict-free. Already his second virtuoso work for horn – there is also a set of variations dating from five years earlier – the young composer certainly knew how to write for the instrument. Mr. Houghton’s brilliance in the third movement eclipsed an illadvisedly conservative approach to the first two.

For a composer whose name is to many synonymous with supercharged pianism, the E minor Symphony is one of Rachmaninov’s only works not to include the piano at all; indeed, even the popular Symphonic Dances is scored with a prominent keyboard part. Owing to its massiveness (most performances last about an hour), many conductors of the early twentieth century opted to perform the piece with cuts, a practice that irked Rachmaninov. But paradoxically, he frequently did just that in performing his own piano works – supposedly, he would decide on the spot whether to omit several of the Corelli Variations if he sensed the audience losing interest – and revised several pieces years later to trim what he (or his public) deemed excessive. In the case of the Second Piano Sonata, such revisions are quite substantial.

Mr. Milanov led a performance unbridled in its passion and arresting in its dramatic scope. His Rachmaninov was shockingly organic, fluid, and sincere. He seemed to have a unique, meaningful gesture for every phrase of this colossal piece, a borderline interpretive-dance of deep emotional power. The sound of the orchestra was lush and phrases well sculpted, while never overly fussy to the point of losing long-range musical tension. Mr. Milanov’s was a gutsy take on the work, often sacrificing a (small) degree of precision in favor of spontaneity – in numerous exciting accelerandi, for example. This musical approach was evident as well in the orchestra’s layout, if in fact this was Mr. Milanov’s directive: German-style seating (in which the violins sit opposite each other, flanking the conductor, with celli, basses and violas
in between) helped project a rich tone in all registers. If this was at the expense of perfectly coordinated passages in the Allegro molto (easier to accomplish with the first and second violins sitting closer together), it aimed toward a bigger goal, and provided a memorable evening.

2011 Year in Review: Music
Gregory Sullivan Isaacs looks back at the best music and opera
performances of 2011.
by Gregory Sullivan Isaacs, TheaterJones.com
published Monday, December 26, 2011

Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, Fort Worth Symphony at Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth (Nov. 18)

“FWSO Principal Horn Mark Houghton gave a definitive performance of
Strauss’ notoriously difficult concerto and the orchestra played at high peak under the brilliant young guest conductor, Bulgarian Rossen Milanov. He showed his mastery as both a concerto collaborator and conductor in Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, a big sprawling romantic work. In both areas, he was exemplary. While not afraid to be expansive on the podium, he pulled his beat back to tight and precise where needed. His hands were independent, with the right hand clearly indicating both tempo and interpretation, while his left hand was completely expressive. Few conductors, even big names, achieve this worthy goal. Let’s hope he returns soon.”

 

“Milanov guided it all with an expert hand, whipping the orchestra into a fervid tempo that raced to the finish.”
– James Bash, Oregon Music News, 10/10/2011

 

“With a force unequaled in turn, the outstanding orchestra playing [at] the Zurich Opera, under the Bulgarian conductor Rossen Milanov and thus draws the audience into a vortex of hands-in, whipped up and truly rousing drama. This musical interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s brilliant score is not superficial, culinary splendor, but exposes dark depths, dips deep into the Russian composer with empathetic sensibility perceived complexity of the plot, which he, so despite all the constraints of the specifications of the choreographer. Thus, the conductor is in line with Mats Ek’s fabulous epoch-making interpretation of this tale for adults…”
– Kasper Sannemann, Opera Currently, 9/25/2011

 

“Milanov accompanied with great sensitivity…”

“Milanov summoned a dark, moonlit world…”

“Milanov asked for a generous plasticity of tempo; the big moments — the shimmering “Presentation” music and the impossibly grand waltz tune — made an appropriate effect. That was when an echo of The Golden Age — of Vienna and of the American Orchestra — was faintly audible if you listened closely enough.”
– John Chacona, The Chautaquan Daily (Chautaqua, NY), 8/18/2011

 

“With characteristic clarity and a keen sense of organization, Milanov found not-oftenheard levels of continuity in the symphony…” Milanov’s reading held my attention in ways that rarely happen with this piece…” [Scriabin, Symphony No. 2]
– David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/21/2011

 

“The orchestra played Sibelius’ often-heard Symphony No. 2 without the usual suave, scenic view of the music’s Nordic landscape. Instead, Milanov went to darker places: The performance approached the bleakness of the composer’s ultra- spare, seldomplayed Symphony No. 4, gaining much depth along the way, though not with No. 4′s eerie quietude. Milanov created big, rude, brass-weighted gestures that gave the music a sense of implacable forces closing in.”
– David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/10/2011

 

“The heart of the work, splendidly guided by Bulgarian conductor Rossen Milanov, resided not in the satirical scherzo but the heart- wrenching Largo slow movement. Here the gradual build-up to its shuddering climax was a masterstroke of conception, with the thumbscrews turned ever so inexorably and agonisingly.”
– Dr Chang Tou Liang, The Straits Times, Singapore, 3/26/2011

 

“…Milanov has achieved remarkable results in fostering both smooth ensemble and stylistic awareness.”
– David Shengold, Gay City News (New York City), 1/5/2011

 

“With a conductor possessed of a wonderfully clear technique and real musical insights, a brilliant young soloist and a programme cleverly chosen to both display and stretch the players, this was a deeply satisfying concert.”

“…a conductor who showed a masterly blend of brilliance and sensitivity…”
– John Button, The Dominion Post, Auckland, NZ, 8/30/2010

 

“Milanov drew a remarkably finessed sound from the strings…”
– William Dart, New Zealand Herald, 8/30/2010

 

“…an orchestra fired up by a really gifted conductor.” …”Milanov is the real thing: a conductor whose gestures seem to be intrinsic to the dynamic totality of music in live performance.”
– Lindis Taylor, Middle C.org (New Zealand), 8/26/2010

 

“Milanov is a seasoned ballet conductor and he brings that precise sense of symphonic narrative to the selections from Swan Lake with the audience weighing in with lusty applause during the pauses.”
– Lewis Whittington, EDGE Philadelphia, 7/30/2010

 

“Associate conductor Rossen Milanov led orchestra, soloists, and the Philadelphia Singers Chorale in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 that was worthy of a Kimmel Center subscription concert…”

“Milanov seemed particularly energized for Beethoven; certainly, he needed it, taking on this monstrous symphony amid summertime rehearsal restrictions. His slower-than-the-norm tempo in the first movement allowed the music’s triumph, terror, calamity, and resolution to surface naturally without interventionist fussing. Second and third movements were particularly alert versions of business as usual, and the finale consolidated a performance that often reminded you why you first fell in love with the symphony.”
– David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/17/2010

 

“Milanov’s sense of the work is solid. He had his trumpets playing bright German-style instruments and introduced balky Wagner tubas to complete the dark brass panorama. He moved from darkness to light with a sure hand and carefully built the masses of sound that make the work both naive and compelling. The nearly 25-minute opening movement, sometimes a little tentative, never lost its logical impetus. And that seemed to give the ensemble new confidence through the rest of the piece. The scherzo, with the trumpets as guides, met every standard for Bruckner playing. The finale grew and bubbled, churning irresistibly to the final joyous chord. This was a reading to celebrate a new world of ripeness.”
– Daniel Webster, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/10/2010

 

“Rossen Milanov projected a clear musical vision from the podium – in one of his best subscription concerts. Barber’s School for Scandal overture started the concert, but the bigger news was Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3. Though the Philadelphia Orchestra struggled with the nervous rhythms that suggest the 1936 symphony’s reflection of anxiety over impending war, Milanov’s strong interpretive concept rang out: Incidental solos had great introspection in a performance emphasizing not lyrical suaveness but the often-enigmatic musical symbolism Rachmaninoff shares with Mahler and Shostakovich.”
– David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/20/2010

 

“Guest conductor Rossen Milanov selected the Bolcom work undoubtedly as a companion to the commedia elements in Stravinsky’s Petroushka. It proved to be a deft choice. Milanov led both works with a light and graceful touch that encouraged chamber-like playing from the MSO. Petroushka (heard here in the composer’s 1947 revision) sparkled with transparency on Saturday evening. The many magical colors of the orchestration came through like a parade of beguiling treats. I admired the agile, sharply drawn crispness of the performance.”
– Rick Walters, Shepherd-Express (Milwaukee), 2/16/2010

 

“The orchestra responded with alacrity to Milanov’s gestures, which deftly illustrated the musical and theatrical moment. Milanov’s body language and posture projected altertness and energy throughout the concert, and the orchestra picked up on that. Milanov knew what he wanted from these three very different scores and conveyed his intentions clearly. He is athletic and entertaining to watch without being flamboyant. True, these musicians play well no matter who’s in front of them, but I thought they gave Milanov got a little something extra.”
– Tom Strini, Third Coast Digest (Milwaukee), 2/12/2010

 

“… thanks to conductor Rossen Milanov’s careful balance of sweeping gesture and subtle limning of inner voices, even Goossens’s more daring interpolations rarely warranted an incredulous eye roll. And who but a curmudgeon could rail against the battery of percussion that punctuates exultant passages in the “Hallelujah” and “Worthy Is the Lamb” choruses? Milanov also found a way to minimize Victorian bloat by keeping key parts of the score moving at a fleet baroque pace, while indulging romantically molded phrasing with the Washington Chorus…”
– Joe Banno, The Washington Post (The National Symphony Orchestra), 12/19/2009

 

“Milanov brings the prime theme in the strings soaring over the audience, creating a sense of grace and awe at the world, then elevating this with brass and percussion with amazing articulation. His masterful control of dynamics, entrances and emotional journey of the music is stunning.”

“Milanov carefully crafted each entrance, as they each seemingly stand alone amid a soft wash of sound, an orchestral chant. The chant doesn’t maintain a strong sense of rhythm, yet combined with the soloists the music is filled with passion. Eventually Milanov brings the prime theme in the strings soaring over the audience, creating a sense of grace and awe at the world, then elevating this with brass and percussion with amazing articulation. His masterful control of dynamics, entrances and emotional journey of the music is stunning.”

“In the third movement Milanov opened his arms and the world of music pour off the stage and over the audience. He couldn’t help but smile at the richness of the performance; neither could we. In the end, Rachmaninoff loves themes, beautiful, lush themes and this symphony is filled with them. As the Philadelphia Orchestra reached the final crest of the last wave, the audience exploded into a standing ovation with whops and hollers in appreciation for a masterful performance.”
– Chip Michael, Interchanging Idioms (Philadelphia Orchestra), 7/18/2009

 

“Milanov set mostly brisk tempos, which imbued the outer movements and minuet with tingling vitality, and resulted in a beautifully flowing account of the Andante. This movement—the only slow-ish one—can drag unmercifully in a performance that subdivides the metrical beats too emphatically. But Milanov made no such mistake.”
– Bernard Jacobson, The Seattle Times, 2/20/2009