November 9, 2023
Music critics offered positive assessments of Leonard’s concerts in Valencia and Madrid. Writing for Scherzo, respected writer and composer Tomás Marco characterized Slatkin as “an interesting and reliable maestro who accompanied Achúcarro very well and in the second part made an excellent version of Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1.”
“La leyenda de Achúcarro suma nuevos capítulos”
“Wonderful music [Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1] that the RTVE Orchestra successfully recreated in a warm and passionate interpretation, always under the control of Slatkin contrasting dynamics, calibrating planes with rigor and flashes of fantasy.”
—Caesar Wonenburger, El Debate
“Programa inteligente, bonito concierto. Mostra del Cinema Mediterrani y Slatkin”
“How beautiful it is to hear those textures [Ligeti’s Atmosphères], those timbral inventions, those micro-variations that the instrumentalists go through under Slatkin’s attentive instructions.”
—Francisco Leonarte, Mundoclasico.com
“Madrid / El milagro Achúcarro y el minimalismo femenino”
“It was directed by a North American musician with a broad and brilliant career who has performed in Spain with some regularity for some time, Leonard Slatkin. He is an interesting and reliable maestro who accompanied Achúcarro very well, and in the second part he made an excellent version of Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1.”
—Tomás Marco, Scherzo
“Crítica / Cuando todo confluye”
“Leonard Slatkin achieved a great artistic result, working in depth with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, with whom he showed great empathy and correspondence. The formation, cohesive and vibrant in its performances, with very notable interventions by its soloists and in total connivance with the pianist and director, showed that, when everything converges, as happened on this special occasion, the results are, simply, exceptional.”
—Juan Manuel Ruiz, Ritmo