Jim Farber, San Francisco Classical Voice, 25th June 2019
“The concert at the Balboa Theater in downtown San Diego (a beautifully restored and acoustically bright former movie palace) began with Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, K. 504 (Prague) with it’s rich, dramatic phrasing and orchestration that would inspire a young Beethoven, followed by the Piano Concerto […]
Ken Herman, San Diego Story, 14th June 2019
“Haydn’s Symphony No. 49 in F Minor, “La passione,” speaks the language of spiritual drama rather than Mozart’s realm of social and class drama. Especially in the symphony’s expansive slow opening movement, Francis discovered the power of understatement, and the orchestra responded with its most compelling sonority […]
Ken Herman, San Diego Story, 9th June 2019
“Francis conducted a compelling and impressively insightful interpretation of [Mendenlssohn’s] “Reformation” Symphony, elegantly delineating its many deftly scored contrapuntal sections—even in the opening movement’s bustling Allegro con fuoco—with refreshing clarity. He danced through the ebullient second movement, and empathetically shaped the cantabile themes of the Andante…
Francis and […]
Christian Hertzog, U-T San Diego, 9th June 2019
“The orchestra was precise, responsive to Francis’ conducting, with an effortless beauty of tone.
The concert began with a spirited performance of Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks.” It’s always a treat to hear orchestral music by Handel that is not “The Messiah.” Francis and the musicians captured […]
Stephan Hoffman, Mannheimer Morgen, 12th March 2019
“At the concert at Mannheimer Rosengarten, it was immediately obvious: The two are a match made in heaven. The orchestra played Beethoven’s Second Symphony with more speed and verve, more fire and precision than ever before. The musicians went to a number of extremes: extremely quiet, extremely pointed, […]
Karl Georg Berg, Die Rheinpfalz, 9th March 2019
“Symphony No. 2 in D major (Op. 36) by Beethoven was charged with explosive energy by the British maestro Michael Francis from the very first bar. Quick time measures (quite true to Beethoven’s metronome specifications), a dry sound, sharp contrasts with effectively utilized moments of surprise—these were […]
Ron Bierman, Broadway World, 22nd January 2019
“British conductor Michael Francis is known to San Diego concert goers as the music director of the city’s Mainly Mozart Festival. Since taking the job four years ago he has embarked on an ambitious chronological survey of the music of the composer who inspired the festival’s name. On […]
Ken Herman, San Diego Story, 19th January 2019
“[Michael Francis] did successfully refreshed Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique for his listeners’ ears. Maintaining sparkling, transparent textures, choosing exquisitely calibrated tempos, and keeping the drama alive without ever overplaying his hand brought these familiar musical episodes into sharp, arresting focus. It was like viewing for the first […]
Bill DeYoung, St. Pete Cataylst, 15th January 2019
Suave, erudite and comfortable in a tuxedo, native Londoner Michael Francis could very well be Tampa Bay’s James Bond – if, that is, 007 had wavy red hair, a baby face and an overwhelming obsession with symphonic music.
Michael Francis prefers listeners be stirred, not […]
Palatinate Ticker, Die Rheinpfalz, 6th December 2018
Born in 1976, British conductor Michael Francis was introduced on Thursday at the Ludwigshafen Philharmonic as the new chief conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. He succeeds Karl-Heinz Steffens and from September 2019 will take over the musical responsibility of the most important Rhineland-Palatinate orchestra – in time […]
