Mark Satola, The Plain Dealer, 6th August 2018
“Guest conductor Michael Francis, music director of the Tampa Bay-based Florida Orchestra since 2015, delivered electrifying performances of Smetana’s “Sarka,” Janacek’s “Taras Bulba,” and the dramatic Symphony No. 7 in D minor by Dvorak, to a medium-sized audience. Those who didn’t attend missed one of the most satisfying evenings of this year’s Blossom Festival…
Smetana pitches the drama high from the opening bars, and Francis seized the moment with intensity, whipping up an orchestral frenzy that was a perfect counterpart to the maiden warriors’ bloodbath at the climax. There was no lack of control, however, and the blend of orchestral sound was perfectly balanced…
‘Taras Bulba’ is a fine example of Janacek’s almost pointillistic writing for the orchestra. Francis knitted the melodic cells together beautifully, realizing the composer’s brilliant sonic tapestry…
As a conductor, Francis is a deeply involved leader, with an unflagging attention to form, drama, balance, and the tiniest details. His baton technique is expansive and complex and communicates clearly and eloquently with his players, but is also refreshingly free of showiness…
Francis was more than up to the challenge, driving home the energetic passagework of [Dvorak’s] first movement with confidence, shaping the heartfelt Adagio with sensitivity, and bringing a danceable lilt to the easygoing Scherzo.
The finale was a marvel of energy and momentum in Francis’s hands, with a high-octane accelerando in the coda that only upped the level of excitement that the artists were already generating.”
