September 12, 2020
I Pomeriggi Musicali, Milan Biblioteca degli Alberi
“A unique experience last night in Milano at the Biblioteca degli Alberi. About 6000 people spread with bucolic ease for the “Back to the City” event (…)
Giving her momentum and ‘singing’ from the podium, with the Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali and the “Costanzo Porta” Choir, is Nathalie Stutzmann, magnificent French alto, now also highly praised as conductor. “We will fill the air of the city with music and joy”, the artist promised. And so it was. The amplification didn’t spoil the finesse of this ‘signora della musica’, the core balance of her D minor, the grandiose step of the Scherzo, the breath, the relaxed and moving grace of the Andante, up to the powerful finale.
Yes, we are used to connecting the Ninth [Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony] to beautiful moments, to New Year’s greetings: but never before, in one of the corners of the world most hardly hit by the virus, did the masterpiece ring like a return to life. (…)
On the grass of Porta Nuova, the Ninth seemed almost like a Pastoral. Surely, the grass is damp, the back aches, but in the air there is Beethoven’s Joy: like a manifesto, which spreads, says Schiller, a “Rosenspur”, a “path of roses”. And Milan is back on the track.”
Corriere della Sera
January 9, 2020
London Symphony Orchestra, London Barbican Centre
“Stutzmann injected a jolting spring and bounce into the LSO’s measured tread that left you suspecting that this pilgrim was en route to a happy ending. Her crescendo worked its proper magic, too.”
“Stutzmann’s nuanced teamwork with the LSO proved a cross-channel partnership well worth celebrating – and repeating very soon. ”
Theartsdesk.com