Benjamin Levy
Benjamin Levy
Conductor
Croisette – Orchestre National de Cannes - Warner Classics / Erato – 2022
“Benjamin Levy is the right chef to distil the intoxication promised by these hits of the Roaring Twenties.”
“Benjamin Levy, a master of this repertoire.”
“The same precision, the same finesse as in Mozart... Benjamin Levy has won his bet.”
“Benjamin Levy and his musicians bring back to life the atmosphere of the Riviera of the Roaring Twenties... Particular attention has been paid to the instrumental colour, to the balance, particularly to the dosage (and the playing) of the percussion, to better reflect the range of styles. Hats off to the performers!”
“The Cannes National Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Levy, finds the colours and suppleness for the lemony, heady, delicate and sought-after fragrances of these little gems.”
“This joyful and colourful album revisits the French operetta and musical comedy of the Roaring Twenties with brilliance and class... The real star of “Croisette”, which has not stolen its recent national orchestra star, is the Cannes phalanx itself, with a rare delicacy.”
Beethoven Aufgelebt – Nino Gvetadze, piano – Phion Orchestra - Challenge Records - 2022
“In her hand-in-glove union with French conductor Benjamin Levy…the tempos, accents, and colors they produce result in bright, energized, pungent interpretations of both works that, nonetheless, are entirely free of affectation.
While Levy’s subtly explosive (no, that’s not an oxymoron here) orchestra makes Beethoven’s deliberate contrasts evoke an almost electric response in me…
That is much more pungent—I want to say “Beethovian”—than in other recordings.
Levy’s orchestra is “spot on the beat”. No lazy lagging here! Add to that his unabashed projection of French horns and trumpets cutting right through on mid-range pedal points or accented chords. And don’t lose sight of the underbelly of their performance: a sense of pulse that is unwavering yet never robotic. What bracing results!
When is the last time you felt like the crust fell off your concepts of how a Beethoven concerto should be played? That is the essence of Gvetadze and Levy on this remarkable recording.
Bottom line: with guest conductor Benjamin Levy it sounds terrific.”
“Wow, What a sound ! The interpretation – and in it the soloists and conductor Benjamin Levy harmonize perfectly – is very rhetorical, extremely colorful and energetic.”
