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The New York Times

Review: A New York Philharmonic Evening of Small Epiphanies

Marin Alsop led the orchestra in a program of works by Beethoven, Brahms and Stravinsky, as well as a new violin concerto by Nico Muhly.

Near the end of the lullaby that gives way to the blazing finale of Stravinsky’s “Firebird” Suite, the music slows and thins to a whisper.

In the ballet, this is the moment when an evil sorcerer and his minions fall into a deep sleep. In some renditions, it registers as little more than a pause. But at David Geffen Hall on Thursday, the New York Philharmonic, under the baton of Marin Alsop, restored fairy-tale mystery to that transition.

Read more here.

“Marin Alsop Gives a Dazzling Debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. Music about Bushfires and Natural Idyllic Scenes: The American conductor has assembled an extraordinary program for the Berlin Philharmonic’s Biennale.”

Keno-David Schüler for Tagesspiegel
Seen and Heard International

Marin Alsop and the San Francisco Symphony bring energy to powerful music of the Americas

United StatesUnited States Various: Gabriela Montero (piano), San Francisco Symphony / Marin Alsop (conductor). Symphony Hall, San Francisco, 11.4.2025. (HS)

Gabriela Montero plays her Piano Concerto No.1 with conductor Marin Alsop and the San Francisco Symphony © Brandon Patoc

Conductor Marin Alsop stormed into town like a bolt of energy for her long-awaited debut performance in a San Francisco Symphony subscription series. Alsop – chief conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony, artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony, principal guest conductor of London’s Philharmonia and the Philadelphia Orchestra – brought electricity to a program of music of the Americas, conducting with broad gestures and a palpable connection with the musicians of this orchestra.

 

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The Violin Channel

The American conductor Marin Alsop has been awarded the honor after six years as the orchestra’s chief conductor

By The Violin Channel. May 22,2025

The ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien (RSO Wien) has unanimously selected Marin Alsop as its honorary conductor, recognizing her dedication to the orchestra throughout her six-year tenure as chief conductor.

Under Alsop’s leadership, the RSO Wien made its first appearance at the BBC Proms in 2022, plus embarked on tours to Spain, France, and Japan. Together, they have also recorded many critically acclaimed albums, including John Adams’ “City Noir,” which earned an ICMA Award and a GRAMMY nomination in 2024.

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Tagesspiegel

REVIEW: Man and Material: Marin Alsop makes a brilliant debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Music about bushfires and natural idylls: The US-American conductor has put together an extraordinary program for the Berlin Philharmonic Biennale. By Keno-David Schüler.

What a program Marin Alsop has put together for her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic ! The American conductor could have made it easier for herself. But far from the wake of a holy conductor’s trinity of overture, solo concerto and symphony, two contemporary works fill the first half of the concert. Read more here.

“Cheers at the end in the Philharmonie. Whistles of enthusiasm. And long-lasting applause for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under guest conductor Marin Alsop.”

Berliner Morgenpost
Berliner Morgenpost

Marin Alsop makes a triumphant Berliner Philharmoniker debut.

Philharmonic Orchestra plays street music and birdsong. By Felix Stephan
At the Biennale “Paradise Lost?” the Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Marin Alsop will play new and unknown works on the subject of climate change. “Cheers at the end in the Philharmonie. Whistles of enthusiasm. And long-lasting applause for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under guest conductor Marin Alsop.” Read story here.

“Marin Alsop is a pioneer among women conductors. After witnessing her inspiring leadership in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, ‘Leningrad,’ with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra […], I’m convinced she is one of the great conductors of our time.”

Cincinnati Business Courier
Cincinnati Business Courier

REVIEW: Marin Alsop inspires with CSO in powerful Shostakovich ‘Leningrad’ Symphony

Marin Alsop is a pioneer among women conductors. After witnessing her inspiring leadership in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad,” with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Nov. 16, I’m convinced she is one of the great conductors of our time. Her artistry was on full display in Shostakovich’s sprawling, 75-minute symphony through raucous climaxes, emotional themes and bleak landscapes. From beginning to end, the orchestra performed with thrilling precision and power.

Seen and Heard International

Magnificent Mahler First Symphony tops off the launch of Philadelphia Orchestra’s China tour

Marin Alsop, the orchestra’s newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor, is leading the tour. She has been affiliated with the orchestra for more than twenty years, conducting it in concerts in Philadelphia and other major American concert venues. Her rapport with the orchestra was readily evident, which undoubtedly was a factor in the orchestra’s exceptional playing in Beijing in the first two performances of the tour.

People's Daily Online

Nine concerts in 11 days, Philadelphia Orchestra wraps up China tour

The Philadelphia Orchestra wrapped up its China tour on Sunday evening in Haikou, Hainan Province, after giving its second and final performance in the country’s southernmost capital city. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 10, the U.S. ensemble held nine concerts in Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu and Haikou as China and the United States celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year.

OperaWire

The Philadelphia Orchestra to Tour China For First Time Since 2019

The Philadelphia Orchestra is set to tour through China starting on Oct. 31 through Nov. 10, 2024. The organization, which last toured China in 2019, will make stops in Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu, and Haikou throughout the trip. Leading the tour will be newly appointed Guest Conductor Marin Alsop.

Edinburgh Guide

Review: EIF24, Fire in my mouth

The multimedia elegy for the victims of the fire, Fire in my mouth, was given its first performance in 2019. In the first concert of its residency at this year’s International Festival, the Philharmonia Orchestra gave the elegy its first UK performance under the baton of its Principal Guest Conductor, Marin Alsop.

Forbes

Forbes: 50 Over 50

Marin Alsop is one of the world’s leading conductors and one of the few women who has made it to the upper echelons of the conducting world. Alsop shattered one of orchestra’s highest, hardest glass ceilings in 2007 at 51, when she became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra—the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a role she held for 14 years. Today, she is its music director laureate and chief conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.

New York Classical Review

Review: NYO-USA brings it all home with assist from Thibaudet

Marin Alsop conducted, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet has returned as soloist, playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Thibaudet has already shown himself a superb partner for young musicians, his élan complementing their energy. Alsop’s qualities of precision and drive were also ideal, as was her own experience with the rest of this excellent program, which opened with Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1 and finished in the second half with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherezade—not to mention two encores that were custom-made, or close to it.

(Photo: Chris Lee)

Classical Music: BBC Music Magazine

100 Unforgettable BBC Proms

Marin Alsop is the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. ‘I feel certain that Henry Wood would see this evening as a natural progression towards more inclusion in classical music,’ says the American in her speech.

Classical CD Choice

Review: Margaret Brouwer – Rhapsodies – Marin Alsop

This programme, in the capable hands of Marin Alsop, makes strong cases for the pieces on offer, particularly the First Symphony which sports a Dutch hymn-like melody and confident, colourful orchestral writing.

“Conductor Marin Alsop and the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra show the enormous multifaceted nature of Bernstein’s funny, parodic and also voluptuous music.”

BR-KLASSIK
Gazeta Wyborcza

Review: “Black Mask” by Krzysztof Penderecki at NOSPR

[Marin Alsop’s] magnificent performance of “The Black Mask” was probably preceded by a meticulous analysis of the work. She conducted the opera with extraordinary clarity and awareness of the sonic effect that Penderecki enshrined in the masterful instrumentation of the work. She set in motion a purely sonic total theater, shocking especially in the last phase of the work, in which soloists, chorus and orchestra personify the crowd of Bolkow’s inhabitants, smothered with horror and premonition of death. Alsop heard echoes of Penderecki’s “St. Luke Passion” in this section of the piece. […] Her interpretation was masterful – characterized by her control of every chord, every sound sequence, and her ability to create heated emotions.

Los Angeles Times

Review: Marin Alsop is an admirable agent for change in the documentary ‘The Conductor’

In her years of cultural leadership, she’s been more than just an internationally renowned conduit for the intentions of history’s great composers and the sounds filling a concert hall. She’s also absorbed the hopes of young baton-holding aspirants and underserved musicians everywhere, nurturing their dreams and spreading them far and wide.

CNN

Christine Amanpour interviews Marin Alsop

The first woman to lead a major American orchestra Marin Alsop talks about her tough road to the top of classical music and the new documentary about her life “The Conductor.”

“If anyone has the courage and power to change the world through music, it’s Marin Alsop.”

–WQXR

“… a formidable musician and a powerful communicator, a conductor with a vision of what an American Orchestra could be in the 21st Century.”

New York Times

“Alsop has again packed the houses, and made her orchestra play like there was no tomorrow.”

The Times

“There is no doubt that Alsop has the goods: a compelling vision of how she wants a piece of music to sound and the ability to draw that sound from a group of players.”

Chicago Sun-Times

“With Alsop and the Baltimore players, the effect was one of total revelation.”

Washington Post