Star-Ledger: NJSO captures ‘essential quality’ of Beethoven

The Star-Ledger’s Ronni Reich praises the NJSO’s January 9 performance of Beethoven’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies on a concert program that also featured the U.S. premiere of Previn's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. Reich writes:

In the Seventh, Lacombe and the orchestra seemed to capture an essential quality of a composer of overwhelming passions, with a performance that seemed to come from one who would envelop you in an almost crushingly enthusiastic embrace and whirl you around dancing to the point of dizziness.

Composer André Previn was in the audience Thursday night at bergenPAC in Englewood to hear the U.S. premiere of his Cello Concerto, performed by Daniel Müller-Schott, for whom the piece was written.

Perhaps it’s a cliché to say that an instrument sings, but when Daniel Müller-Schott plays the cello, it’s true — and downright operatic ...

Previn’s colorfully orchestrated and thoughtfully constructed work culled together cinematic splashes of the most glamorous kind, as well as blues grooves and yearning melody. A veteran composer, Previn showed his expertise in work that was concise and cohesive, and also incorporated some moody elements, including explosive, harsh, virtuosic solo passages that Müller-Schott met with accuracy, finesse and conviction.

Well suited to the piece’s style, Müller-Schott called to mind violinist Joshua Bell in his lush, golden, well-projected tone, his charismatic presence and his ability to mine music for unabashed beauty — which Previn supplied in abundance. The orchestra played vibrantly in turn and deftly balanced the soloist. The composer, who was in the audience, received a well-deserved, hearty ovation.

Read the full review at nj.com.