Marin Alsop conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in London and on tour

MARIN ALSOP
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

                Principal Conductor
                2002-2008

                                       Conductor Emeritus
                                       from 2008

    Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 
 (soloist Cedric Tiberghien)
    Mahler Symphony No.10 

"During six years at the helm she has struck a happy rapport with players and audience, and anybody who hears the BSO often will know that she leaves the orchestra richer in terms of polished technique, keen response and a public profile that now radiates internationally.
She has established a legacy of Mahler with the BSO, having conducted the orchestra in all but one of the symphonies. Her performance some years ago of No 2, the Resurrection, remains in the memory as one of my all-time overwhelming concert experiences. This interpretation of the Tenth, in the performing edition by Deryck Cooke, was equally devastating.
Alsop's sense of perspective was secure and broad of vision, the harmonic picture unfolding naturally, together with a grasp of the symphony's structure that combined tautness with pliability. The orchestra was with her all the way. Allied to Alsop's wide-angled view of the symphony's proportions, there was her precision in identifying the instrumental timbres that make the textures distinctive, and a fluid way of allowing long string lines to breathe but not to loiter. The impact was immense, both uplifting and draining, apocalyptic and serene.
The BSO can now look forward to the arrival of its new conductor, Kirill Karabits, but Alsop's contribution to its standing will not be forgotten in a hurry, if ever."
Geoffrey Norris, The Telegraph

"By the time Marin Alsop had raised all the members of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to their feet at the end of her final concert with them as principal conductor, the entire audience was on its feet as well. A long standing ovation greeted a conductor who, in just six years at Bournemouth, has turned the BSO round, expanded and extended its work, visibility and repertoire - and won the hearts of a huge audience.
Alsop has put the BSO through its paces in Bernstein and Brahms, in Bartók, Copland and Shostakovich. And in Mahler: his Tenth Symphony crowned her work with them, just as it crowned the composer's own output. This was the performing version by Deryck Cooke: the first and third movements were almost complete at Mahler's death, and much editorial work has been done over the years on the drafts for the remaining three movements.
Alsop presented the work as a view from a mountain top: there was a valedictory breadth and a serenity arching over the performance from start to finish. It's Mahler's great outpouring of grief and praise for life, and the tug of war between dance and lament, lyricism and grotesque dissonance was keenly felt. Alsop honed the irascible rhythms and nervous asymmetries of the first scherzo, before a sour-sweet ländler. And, although the demonic faces could have leered out a little more nastily in the Purgatorio movement, the woodwind soloists gave it their all.
It was the outer movements that will remain in my memory: a disarmingly easeful viola line, threading its way into a full-hearted yearning, which Alsop kept on a taut rein until the music's long, slow shining into song. And, at the end, a return to that lissom singing line after the dead drum beat and the cries of trumpet and tuba.
The concert had begun with the BSO as skilled accompanists to Cédric Tiberghien's sensitive and beautifully focused performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No3. And now from Bournemouth to Baltimore: for Alsop this grand finale was quite a send-off."
Hilary Finch, The Times

Further reviews:

"... the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and its conductor Marin Alsop were on matchless form. At the start, that power, energy, punch and finesse of Beethoven's Fidelio Overture attested to the players' assurance and Alsop's authority. In the Shostakovich, the rapport with [violinist James] Ehnes was revealed both in the complementary clarity of orchestral sonorities and in the acute sense of dramatic and expressive weight. The performance of Elgar's Second Symphony that crowned the concert was one of poised sensibility and searing grandeur. A magnificent evening."
The Guardian

"The interpretation [of Mahler] embraced ferocity and stillness, toughness and sensuousness, fluidly fluctuating as the moods of the music shifted but with a firm structural backbone."
the Telegraph

"Marin Alsop's performance [of Beethoven] with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra was remarkable for its deep humantiy. The grandeur was offset with delicacy and austerity... one's overwhelming impression was of an epic emotioanl journey undertaken with a sense of awe and wonder... the performance was springy, resolute and beautifully played."
The Guardian

An article looking at Marin Alsop's time in Bournemouth, taken from the concert programme of her final concerts as Principal Conductor:

"There are few places you would rather be than in the company of this compelling combination of orchestra and conductor.”
The Daily Telegraph

Marin Alsop’s tenure as Principal Conductor of the BSO has seen the forging of a relationship that has seen numerous artistic highs and a raised profile both across the UK and internationally.

In tandem with its ongoing relationship with BBC Radio 3 and an almost non-stop succession of acclaimed recordings with Naxos, the BSO is now heard by more people than ever before – whether in the concert hall, across the airwaves, on-line or via their CD players.

Marin’s time as Principal Conductor will be fondly remembered by the orchestra and audiences for many different occasions and reasons. Not least, her performances of the large-scale symphonic repertoire will be long cherished and talked of. It’s fitting that her final two concerts with us should be Mahler’s monumental final two symphonies.

Although too numerous to list in their entirety, some of the particular highlights over the past six years have included her memorable interpretations of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.5; all the Mahler symphonies (only No.8 remains to be performed here); the symphonies of Copland, not least the 3rd at last year’s BBC Proms and her championing, right from the beginning, of Bartók which culminated in last year’s Bartók Festival and the series of recordings of all his major works.

Alongside these performances, Marin’s been able to use the trust the BSO audience has had in her to introduce them to works and composers that they wouldn’t ordinarily have thought of hearing. Whether it’s rare works by familiar composers, challenging works by Hindemith or contemporary works from all corners of the globe, these have given audiences here many stimulating and unforgettable experiences that have resulted in a richness of musical life in our area that’s been the envy of the rest of Britain.

Marin’s breadth of musical passions have enabled her to also perform works in a lighter vein, from Gershwin to two very special evenings featuring the live orchestral accompaniment to two of Charlie Chaplin’s iconic silent movie masterpieces – City Lights and Modern Times.

The reason we can talk of the love that the BSO audience has for Marin is borne not just from her performances and breadth of repertoire, but also her open and warm personality allied to her peerless skills as a communicator. She’s often addressed us direct from the podium, artlessly explaining a work she and the BSO were about to perform in a way that is both entertaining and informative for both the expert and the layman. Her humour and enthusiasm for the work being performed enriched the concert going experience for us all.

Alongside her rapport with the BSO audience, the partnership of Marin and the BSO has been ecstatically praised by critics both here and abroad. From numerous magazine front covers to opinion pieces written in all the national newspapers, there can’t be a music lover in the country unaware of what’s occurred with the BSO under Marin.

Awards have come thick and fast, with Marin becoming the first artist to win both Gramophone Magazine's ‘Artist of the Year’ award and the Royal Philharmonic Society's Conductor's Award in the same season. She’s also been awarded a MacArthur Fellow award, the first conductor to receive this prestigious honour and in the same year she won the Classical BRIT Award for Best Female Artist. Subsequent awards have included the Royal Philharmonic Society's BBC Radio 3 Listeners’ Award and a European Women of Achievement Award.

It’s not just audiences in the South East of England that have witnessed the winning combination of Marin and the BSO as they’ve together toured across Europe, including Madrid, Oviedo, Zaragoza, Rotterdam, Vienna, Lyon, Ghent and Toulouse. Marin was also at the helm for the BSO’s debut appearances at the historic Rudolfinum in Prague and the prestigious Philharmonie in Berlin.

The legacy of recordings Marin leaves behind her cannot be underestimated. These will prove a lasting record of the BSO and Marin’s partnership, not least in celebrating the works of her fellow American composers – Bernstein, Copland, Glass, Adams, Daugherty and Ives. It is also fitting that the incredible performance of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, perhaps the most outstanding musical moment in the history of the BSO, is forever captured on CD.

We all wish Marin the greatest success with her new BSO, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and we greatly look forward to her future return visits as Conductor Emeritus.

Links:

Marin Alsop
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra