6th September 2024, Frank Pommer, Die Rheinpfalz
“What an evening! At the first large orchestral concert of their festival “Modern Times”, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz played under the direction of its chief conductor Michael Francis on all registers of our emotional keyboard. It was an emotional rollercoaster ride that culminated in complete overwhelm – with works by Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and John Adams…
But if the essence is distilled out of this over four-hour-long work, what remains is extremely toxic. Music as a drug. The prelude and Isolde’s “Liebestod”, as the beginning and end of the opera, were heard on Thursday in the Pfalzbau in Ludwigshafen under Francis’ precise and enthusiastic conducting. And the orchestra’s playing can only be described as glowing.”
