Performances
A fine debut for Ponti
“The Neapolitan public filled the RAI Auditorium in Naples to maximum capacity for the third performance of the Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo’s orchestral season featuring young musical talent Carlo Ponti Jr. as the lead presence on the podium. [Nothing] could obscure the evening’s atmosphere... [The concert] concluded with Brahms’ marvelous Second Symphony, a work in four movements adhering to classical form in which the young conductor managed to express his best qualities.”
“[Carlo Ponti] is a conductor of uncommon musical sensibility, genuinely prepared when it comes to extracting [orchestral] timbres, melodic details and harmonic profiles... In Puccini’s youthful Capriccio Sinfonico he effectively brought out the contrast between the work’s operatic and instrumental roots with a careful balance between solo and tutti textures (the principal cello’s melodic line was as beautiful and effective as was his close interaction with the concertmaster). Lastly, Brahms’ Second [Symphony], which Ponti conducted from memory, featured commendable expressive qualities such as the beautiful sound of the first horn or the melodic and rhythmic nuances of the winds [and] brilliant brass.”
“Impassioned from the first notes, the strings delivered big, sweeping lines in the second movement [of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2], furious and articulate expressions in the third movement and full-powered depth in the spectacular fourth movement. With its simple six-note motif and Ponti’s carefully considered tempi, the fourth movement, in this performance, became goose-bump time.”
“Watching Ponti conduct was watching an artist at work, not with paints and a paint brush, but with a baton, his own personality and his entire body... It was easy to see he is a conductor who leads with his heart.”
“Ponti harnessed the musicians into one unit far greater than the sum of its parts. He established the right tempi and held the focus steady, resisting the inevitable temptation to let up the energy between animated sections, particularly notable in the third movement [of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony] with a long breathless, magical moment of string pizzicato, oboe interjections and impeccable trumpet. He held together the free-form second movement, a fantasy of massive explosions of brass and musical evaporations into nothingness, and carefully... guided momentary suspensions in the almost surreal adagietto.”
“The concert opened with an intellectual listening exercise and never let up with the mind-probing until the last mighty chords of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, as the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra performed a program of color, depth and challenge.... Conductor Carlo Ponti... guided the orchestra to match the soloist’s authentic artistry, and... shaped the strings into careful, graceful lines.”
“Under the dynamic leadership of Maestro Carlo Ponti, one of the most imaginative of his generation of conductors, the San Bernardino Symphony has developed an unparalleled standard of musical performance.”
“The performance [of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Napa Valley Symphony] brimmed with vitality throughout, yet was also exceptionally lovely in its quiet moments... Ponti’s broad tempos resulted in a beautifully articulated rendition — outstanding for its interpretive integrity as well as lofty level of execution. Clearly Ponti was not afraid of facing the visionary qualities of this music. In the finale, he benefited, too, from an outstanding quartet of soloists...and a warmly robust choir... The musical achievements of this work proved outstanding in maestro Ponti’s capable hands.”
“[In Mahler’s Fourth Symphony] conductor Carlo Ponti put [the San Bernardino Symphony] through its paces in admirable fashion... Ponti had excellent control of his ensemble, negotiating the tricky changes of tempo and the abrupt stops and starts with aplomb.”
“... thanks to the musical sculpting talents of conductor Carlo Ponti, Monday’s concert might best be described as a magical experience... Credit must be given to Maestro Ponti for the Russian National Orchestra’s technicolor sound on the Russian works. The orchestral accompaniment on the Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto was as brilliant as the efforts of the soloist. This was a romantic interpretation, devoid of the bombast that often winds up in live performances of the Prokofiev Third. The reading was emotionally charged, to be sure, but Ponti held the reins, integrating all the parts... Ponti and the Russian National Orchestra offered an electrically charged reading of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition... rife with vivid strokes of orchestral color... Ponti let the work unfold naturally, eschewing virtuosity for the music’s pictorialism and atmosphere.”
“Ponti’s innate musical talent and aplomb in presenting Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Sergey Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, featuring the prodigy Eugene Ugorsky, and Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major, once again showed his world-class music skills and proves how lucky we are to have him as our local conductor and musical director.”
“From the beautifully played opening flute solo to the very last notes, Maestro Carlo Ponti Jr. and the orchestra bathed our ears in lush colorful sounds. [They] continue to show us why we don’t have to go to Los Angeles to hear a fine symphony orchestra.”
“The superior quality of [Napa Valley’s 2006] Festival del Sole continued undiminished this past Wednesday with splendid performances by bass Samuel Ramey, mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade and the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of Carlo Ponti Jr... The second half of the program was dedicated to Tchaikovsky’s challenging Fourth Symphony... This was not a casual strumming of the instruments, but an incredible series of staccati in great dynamic range from the very soft and delicate to the bright and forceful. It was interesting to observe maestro Ponti... The musicians were taut with attention... sitting on the edge of their chairs, responding to every given command, and deeply respectful. The results have been repeatedly thrilling. Ponti, incidentally, conducted the Tchaikovsky without a score, a musical tour-de-force for such a complex piece.”
“Ponti conducted without score, drawing a lively and fresh performance from the musicians... As guest conductor with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, he had given his all, seeming to feel every note, every phrase, while maintaining a high level of involvement from first note to last.”
“It was the test of fire of his career, his Italian conducting debut with one of the best Italian orchestras [Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]... Ponti rose to the challenge with dignity... His demeanor is controlled and he abides to the musical text... Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony — the evening’s most significant work and a test for the young conductor’s abilities — offered effective musical phrasing punctuated by sudden chromatic shifts. The strings performed thematic passages with transparency, the brass [played] with a powerful sound and all instrumentalists outlined with clarity the genial musical inventions of the third movement.”
“The Teatro Comunale’s [Florence] symphonic season opened with the Italian debut of Carlo Ponti Jr... The public was particularly numerous, well disposed and didn’t skimp on the applause. Rossini’s Barber of Seville Overture unfolded itself with neat elegance... The thunderous performance [of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony] earned Ponti an intense and prolonged ovation from the audience.”
“Audience members could readily identify an unprecedented charge of adrenaline with which Ponti effortlessly imbued the music. This Scheherazade turned out to be a mercurial reading that exuded assurance and commitment... this blend of compelling melodies and orchestration was one of the best... ever heard... Ponti managed to be narrative in his conception of [Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet] with clear, well-defined orchestral textures... The maestro fired up the Russian orchestra to a fevered pitch of inspiration, summoning a luxurious sound and color that ranged from brass chorales as rousing as Judgment Day to imaginatively sprung wind solos... one of the finest performances of the year, to be sure.”
“Under the direction of maestro Carlo Ponti Jr. [the San Bernardino Symphony in Schubert’s Fourth Symphony] aptly delivered the requisite range of attitudes, from ambitious and determined in the first movement, exquisitely light and intense in the third movement, and full and rich in the final movement... [In Mozart’s Symphony no. 38], Maestro Ponti played with creative, Bernsteinian direction... the concert challenged the audience to appreciate the finer things in music.”
“Ponti’s meticulous direction guided the orchestra through distinct textures with precise, yet smooth shifts — from driving full orchestra to a smooth, warm cello to fine violin work, changing density without intensity.”
“Ponti projected an excellent rapport and spirit of collaboration with his [Russian National Orchestra] musicians and his audience, and both responded in kind with great enthusiasm. There is no contrived aestheticism in his leadership. His conducting is clear, precise and expressive. Every gesture was geared to anticipate character changes in the music and to give the players what they needed.”
“Conductor Carlo Ponti Jr. displayed some understated star power on the podium... [The Russian National Orchestra] rose to excellence in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, where passages... were rendered with razor-sharp accuracy, and the brass section turned brass into gold.”
“From the first lift of the conductor’s baton, the [Russian National Orchestra] transformed notes on paper into absolute magic... And the audience loved it, greeting it with not one, not two, but five spontaneous standing ovations. Ponti conducted without score, attending to every detail and nuance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade while eliciting grand, full sounds from the orchestra... With head-shaking awe, the listeners watched and listened and smiled to orchestral music at its finest.”
“He displayed a facile grace, a keen sense of timing, a marvelous use of orchestral color and a sublime restraint that made the program sing and soar... He’s the real thing, a remarkably fine young conductor who could become one of symphonic conducting’s superstars in the not too distant future.”
“[Carlo Ponti’s] conducting... was a reminder of the wonders of music-making.”
“Carlo Ponti Jr. commanded the orchestra to make a Beethoven symphony sound the way the composer intended: exciting and vibrant... Ponti directed each nuance... to an expression of boundless joy. [He] made the strings play like faraway musicians - intensely soft - then released them to explode in wonderful noise... [He] lifted the entire orchestra to a level of outstanding musicianship.”
“[Ponti] worked confidently from memory... [The American Youth Symphony’s] principals gave him passages of real glory, and the strings have seldom sounded richer... He opened with a propulsive [Wagner] Prelude...extroverted in spirit and grandly played.”