Frank Pommer, Die Rheinpfalz, 16th February 2020

“Beethoven. Fifth. Heard so many times before. But not like this. Great is too small a word, because what Michael Francis gets his orchestra to do when it comes to Beethoven is nothing short of incredible. Beethoven’s famous 5th has not sounded like this in a very, very long time. Definitely not when played by the State Philharmonic. That’s something only giants can do.”