Valéry Gergiev

Few can rival Valery Gergiev's pedigree in Prokofiev's music, and he is palpably aware of how this score works in the theatre. His pacing of events is masterly, with plenty of verve and passion…... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2010, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Gergiev highlights the way the ideas flow thick and fast, but… he never forgets to let the music breath when the grander manner takes over. — BBC Music Magazine, February 2008 More…

This is certainly a golden age collection from Trifonov, and it’s admirable that these two discs are always more about the music than about him...If I were to choose a compendium of Russian... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2021, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Gergiev's frequent use of striking contrasts of tempos between themes, or even dramatic pauses, as in the slow movement, often makes Tchaikovsky's First sound like a close relation to a Bruckner... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2013, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Gergiev's performances here are never less than compelling and - given their live origin - are remarkable for the clarity of textures and the always purposefully shaped phrasing of even minor... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2006, 4 out of 5 stars More…

It reminds me a little of Karajan at his paradoxical best/worst: magnificently convincing in its artistic overview, rather less persuasive when it comes to what Henry James called the ‘sharpness... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2017, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Valery Gergiev is one of the most charismatic maestros on the circuit and his Mahler series in London has aroused passionately divergent responses. If you prize the textural elucidation that... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…