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This month Alessandro Crudele returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra for the closing concert of their 2023/24 season in Bedford.

The concert will be held on 10 May 2024 at the Bedford Corn Exchange and will see the presence of star pianist Martin Helmchen in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 16 K451. To complete the programme, Beethoven’s Fidelio Overture and his Fourth Symphony. 

The fortunate relationship between the Philharmonia Orchestra and Alessandro tightens, after the successful album Britten & Elgar and the concert held at the Britten Theatre in London last October.

The concert will be preceded by an open rehearsal at 3 pm for Philharmonia Friends members. 

The international press is still enthusiastically reviewing the Britten & Elgar album by Alessandro with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Michael Barenboim.

RBB Kultur talked about the album:

Crudele already impressed last year on LINN with an energetic Respighi album, and he does not disappoint this time either. His feel for contrasts and his talent for strong effects show him once again to be a very good conductor in the succession of Riccardo Muti […]. 

Giuseppe Rossi wrote on Musica:

Also very good is this performance by Crudele, geared to capture the contrast of colors among the four panels with capillary accuracy and an admirable sense of expressive atmosphere, being able to rely on an orchestra of unquestionable value and the remarkable quality of the sound recording.

Paolo Locatelli wrote on Classic Voice:

Crudele has the merit of not ignoring the two-faced nature of the Interludes, treating them as pure orchestral pieces, with all the chisel care that goes with it, but without forgetting their inherent theatricality, marking their evocative charge. […] It is indeed a happy encounter between Alessandro Crudele, who narrates the page in great detail, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Norbert Hornig gave a 4 stars review on Fono Forum:

Alessandro Crudele animates the Philharmonia Orchestra to a lucid, finely drawn performance, the orchestral colours glow, images emerge, characters come to the fore.

Rolando Zegna wrote on MusicPaper Magazine:

Crudele arrives at this second recording for Linn Records after an earlier and well-received one devoted to the music of Ottorino Respighi. […] it confirms his propensity toward a refined enhancement of the coloristic texture of the scores he tackles […] Above all, the four splendid pictures that Britten dedicates to the North Sea with an orchestration that is breathtaking in places lend themselves to a spectacular and brilliant tour de force that the Philharmonia Orchestra delivers with maximum transparency and naturalness.

The American Record Guide wrote: 

The Britten is a foolproof work, needing only incisive playing and alert direction, both of which it gets here. There are many good readings of this music. Crudele’s hold its own with them.

Frank Hougee wrote on Luister magazine:

The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Alessandro Crudele succeeds superbly in a convincing rendering of these magnificent orchestral pieces.

The International Classical Music Awards ICMA announced the nominations for their Awards 2024, celebrating the best musicians and recordings. Alessandro Crudele’s Britten & Elgar CD, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Michael Barenboim, has been nominated in the Assorted Programs category. 

Last year Alessandro’s debut album with music by Respighi had also been nominated for a very important award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik – German Record Critics’ Award), while both recordings are still receiving enthusiastic reviews.

On 12th October, Alessandro Crudele returns to London for a special event presented by the Italian Cultural Institute. He will conduct the world-class Philharmonia Orchestra at the Britten Theatre.

The programme includes Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonietta Op. 1, Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings, Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite III (Antiche danze e arie per liuto Suite III). These great pieces from the early 20th century demonstrate the youthful exuberance of the two English composers along with the search for popular themes, their variations, and the rediscovery of early music, as in Respighi’s piece.

The 7.30 pm concert will be introduced at 7 pm by Andrew McGregor, of BBC Radio, in conversation with Alessandro, discussing the relationship between late Italian and English Romantic music.
On this occasion, he will present his latest album at the UK audience, featuring music by Elgar (Violin Concerto) and Britten (Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes).

The first impressions from the international press about Britten & Elgar‘s album on Linn Records are staring to arrive and they are enthusiastic.

Andrew McGregor said on BBC Radio 3:

It’s an excellent recording, you don’t miss a detail… it’s a warmer Sunday morning than some but the storm still has vicious teeth.

Ralph Moore wrote on Music Web International:

The depth, clarity and balance achieved here are impeccable and the conclusion is wonderfully released and cacophonous. […] the homogeneity of the string sections and the sonority of the brass are especially impressive but every section of the orchestra is flawless. […] I cannot imagine it better played.

Sven Kerkhoff wrote on Musik an sich:

The violin and the orchestra offer a noble sound and a tendency towards symbiotic fusion […] in a sympathetically unagitated and orchestrally transparent manner, until Crudele knows how to let the pack off the leash at the right moment in the finale.

Colin Clarke wrote on Classical Explorer:

The “Moonlight” third movement is very beautiful, and notable for its delicacy.

Crudele’s flinking movements are his finest. The fragility of “Dawn” balanced the robust “Storm”. And listen to how, in the latter, Crudele highlights Britten’s many, many felicities of scoring.

Crudele again finds a multitude of touches in the score that so often go under the radar.

Malcom Hayes of BBC Music Magazine rated the album 4 out of 5 stars and wrote:

The alternating poetry and drama of ‘Dawn’ are memorably captured […]

MusicWeb International wrote:

The violence of the outer sections of Storm is underlined by the impact of the percussion section and the brilliance of sound produced by the Linn production team further enhances its appeal; the depth, clarity and balance achieved here are impeccable […] I cannot imagine it better played; the homogeneity of the string sections and the sonority of the brass are especially impressive but every section of the orchestra is flawless.

In this month of important events, Alessandro Crudele will be in England for the opening concert of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s season in Eastbourne.

The concert will take place on 24 September 2023 at the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne. The programme includes Mendelssohn’s Calm sea and prosperous voyage, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, with violinist Chloë Hanslip. 

Info and Tickets here:

https://lpo.org.uk/event/tchaikovskys-fourth-eastbourne/