Concert Schedule 2007 / 2010

The Independent, 24th January 2007
“[I]n Gergiev’s absence, the LSO played two works by Gubaidulina under one of its bass players, Michael Francis, who supplied a clear beat and a carefully calibrated dynamic framework with none of the eccentricities one associates with top-drawer maestri. The sound was radiant, the ensemble precise.”

Geoff Brown, The Times, 17th January 2007
“Valery Gergiev [was] kept away by a viral infection. Every manager’s worst nightmare, this; though it ended in triumph for young Michael Francis, the LSO double-bass player and aspiring conductor drafted in for two items – including Pro et Contra, the biggest, most Russian, most mystifying of all. He didn’t turn a hair.”

Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 16th January 2007
“The conducting honours with the LSO were shared by Mikhail Jurowski and Michael Francis…the latter doing incredible things with the vast, forbidding architecture of Pro et Contra.”

Alain Steffen, Luxembourg Tageblatt, February 2007
“With amazing assurance and very clear movements of the baton, Michael Francis led the orchestra to the highest achievement…We wish the talented Francis would take up the baton more often, for conductors of this calibre are more than ever needed.”

Jürgen Hartmann, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, 17th January 2009
“The RSO and Michael Francis, who replaced the ill fallen Previn, were more than equal partners. With the highest attention they followed the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter…[in Mathis der Maler] the RSO played in full splendour and did so in obvious agreement with the remarkable young man on the podium. Mr. Francis deserves respect alone for his courage of entering new territory. But it is also a great joy to watch him: he is suggestive, yet precise, sportive in his gestures and in the right moment spectacular.”

Erwin Scharz, Esslinger Zeitung, 17th January 2009
“The young British conductor, Michael Francis, who replaced Previn, mastered the calm, symphonic pace as well as the lavish and overflowing abundance of encouraging gestures. His accompaniment, Hindemith’s symphony and Mozart’s overture were very effective and a great success.”

Susanna Benda, Stuttgarter Zeitung, 17th January 2009
“Under the clear and effective baton of Michael Francis, the RSO achieved a sound of the highest clarity and transparency.”

Wolfram Goertz, Rheinischen Post, 16th January 2009
“The highlight of the evening with the splendid RSO Stuttgart under Michael Francis was the performance of P. Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler. It was a breathtaking symbiosis between the work, the orchestra and the conductor. Francis proved to be a well-informed newcomer on the podium.”

Monika Lanzendörfer, Mannheimer Morgen, 30th March 2010
“…the RSO had Michael Francis on the podium….and Francis blew away any preconceptions of a sad, dusk-filled, dark mood. The Brit constantly strives for changes of light, and is able to give the orchestra thousands of opportunities for outstanding collective and soloistic bravour. He avoids harshness, and yet he is able to find the balance to create powerful accents, while bringing out some of the more unusual effects with exemplary character. By doing this, Francis could recreate the Nordic grey, the shimmer of the sun, and all the inherent hymnlike qualities. In the farewell of Prokofiev, he reached the highest possible poetic effect, with the ironic, comedic aspects cleverly worked out in delicate detail, combined with glorious exotic colour.”

Stuttgarter Zeitung, 29th March 2010
“Francis managed the awkward rhythm and floating atonality of the one movement piece (Sibelius 7), in a way which was elastic, yet strong in sound…The velvet tone through which he celebrates the singing style was sensational. He avoided unnecessary virtuosic exaggerations, and his phrases were dreamlike and beautiful… the finale-like 2nd movement brought spontaneous, rapturous applause. This was all totally justified by the big sound: both rich and tender, with high precision and clear beating!”