Review: "Thunderous Ovation for a Last-Minute Substitute"

Seen and Heard International has published a review of Brett Mitchell's last-minute debut at the Blossom Music Festival with The Cleveland Orchestra. The review praised "an alternately atmospheric and vigorous account of the overture to...Der Freischütz" before turning to the second half: "The thing to make the audience roar (and they did) was a first-class performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony... Mitchell had its measure, bringing the score to life as written, catching details that almost every other conductor stomps over, yet doing so with emotion, life, and meaning. This performance was never just abstract notes on a page... The slow movement was achingly intense, leading to a finale as close to perfect as I ever expect to hear in a live concert."  To read the complete review, please click here.