Reviews
"The festival attracts performers of the highest calibre, and the Orchestra of St Paul’s, under the baton of
Ben Palmer, were relaxed and assured in tackling the sometimes very challenging programme.
The [Constant Lambert Piano] Concerto proved to be an amazingly complex work,
with fiery rhythms from which David Owen Norris and the orchestra extracted every nuance."
Mary Scriven, Henley Standard June 2011
"The entire orchestra was in complete unity with conductor Ben Palmer, whose superb direction and
encouragement were followed with absolute precision. This was a magnificent performance."
Ipswich Evening Star February 2011
"This was the most exciting and compelling performance of Beethoven 2 I have heard in a long time, or possibly ever;
...Ben Palmer brought it to life and made sense of the piece in ways I had certainly never heard before. Great concert."
Jonathan Burton, Words and Music April 2010
"This [concert] was full of glorious orchestral playing and intelligent interpretations... in Palmer’s vision it worked magnificently.
Palmer and his orchestra are worth looking out for... there is something exciting happening with them."
Bob Briggs, Musical Pointers March 2010
"In Ben Palmer's hands [Haydn Symphony No. 99] seemed to have a sense of both stately dignity and humour about it...
...a bond of mutual respect and admiration that obviously sprang between the guest conductor, Ben Palmer, and the orchestra."
Vladimir Rodzianko, Stamford Mercury January 2010
"Lovely music making from the singers of The Syred Consort and members of the
Orchestra of St Paul's under the direction of Ben Palmer makes this an enjoyable evening"
Howard Loxton, The British Theatre Guide August 2009
"The clear and expressive leadership of Ben Palmer was very evident and the Bartholdy Chamber
Orchestra accompanied with considerable skill and sympathy, never overpowering the choral forces."
John Buckmaster, Ilford Recorder December 2008
"Two premieres rose above the crowd for me this year...the first, an exquisitely crafted setting of the late medieval Corpus
Christi Carol, stepped into the world in November with an accomplished performance from the Syred Consort under Ben Palmer."
Andrew Stewart, Classical Music Magazine December 2007
"Guest conductor Ben Palmer made a favourable impression, not least for the way in which he faced up to the challenge of the Abbey's
acoustics in that most Romantic of works, Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony… This was a performance of great conviction."
Roger Jones, Gloucestershire Echo October 2007
|
