Reviews of NAXOS Brahms/Bartók Recording

 Bernard D. Sherman, Inside Early Music

...this risk-taking, profound First is the recording of the last ten years that does the most for me.

Jerry Dubins, Fanfare, September/October 2011

…Heretofore, my favorite recording of the Mandarin music, coincidentally, has also been with the LSO, but with Abbado conducting. Comparison with the new Pasternack may not be entirely fair, since Abbado leads the full ballet...I’m not prepared to say that Pasternack outdoes Abbado, but there are enough chills and thrills, shivers, shudders, and shocks in this new recording to satisfy anyone’s appetite for mayhem and murder. It’s superbly done and superbly recorded…. Pasternack’s Bartók is great, which I suspect has something to do with his flair for the stage gained from his opera conducting experience.

Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times, February 2011

Jonathan Pasternack...brings Bartók's "Miraculous Mandarin Suite" and Brahms' Symphony No. 1 to plush, sumptuous life in his debut CD on the Naxos label with the London Symphony Orchestra. "Mandarin," with its feline turns and churning energy, is especially delectable in Pasternack's hands.

Michael Cameron, Fanfare, September/October 2011

…It must be tempting for a budding conductor to interject some novelty into repertoire as well covered as Brahms' First Symphony, but Pasternack is smart enough to know that few works lend themselves to idiosyncrasy as poorly as this imposing masterpiece. Granted, one can sense a phrase here and there that receive some extra care, or an inner voice a measure of extra presence, but by and large this is a sensibly paced and smartly balanced reading...[T]he final result is utterly convincing and coherent, with many striking moments of passion and beauty...The young maestro clearly knows this [Bartok] score backwards and forwards, and expertly strikes a balance between brilliant coloration, finely regulated balance, and smart but unhurried pacing.

David Denton, David's Review Corner, January 2011

The multi-award winning American conductor, Jonathan Pasternack, makes his disc debut with two powerful performances from the London Symphony Orchestra. He had the unique prepotency to study five instruments—violin, cello, trombone, piano and percussion—before turning his attention to conducting, his mentors including Neeme Jarvi, David Zinman and the famous pedagog, Jorma Panula. He has concentrated his career in the States, working in opera, ballet and on the concert stage, and opens his first studio sessions with the concert suite from Bartok’s grotesque ballet, The Miraculous Mandarin, a story of prostitution and murder. It is a highly detailed performance that enjoys excellent recorded sound. There are certainly more febrile accounts on disc, but Pasternack is graphic in detailing events, his subtle colours more telling than the brutality that is involved. The pounding rhythm that opens the Brahms First Symphony sets the scene for an opening movement where strength is the key element. The timpani dominate the scene, its presence clearly defined even in the work’s quiet passages, for here, and throughout the score, Pasternack draws attention to points of orchestration that usually dissolve into the general texture. His slow movement is unhurried, woodwind solos allowed ample time to demonstrate their beauty of tone, the closing passage spread out for our enjoyment….

Michael Ullman, Fanfare, September/October 2011

A recent Gramophone features older conductors such as Daniel Barenboim choosing younger figures they believe will be the stars of the future. Jonathan Pasternack wasn’t among the chosen, but he might have been....I can also see reasons to listen to this wonderfully nuanced, colorful recording by the London Symphony and Jonathan Pasternack. The eerie sexuality of the dance before the Mandarin, the girl’s final victim, and the ensuing mayhem, are produced beautifully and vigorously. The recording, a little more distant than the Boulez for example, is nonetheless clear and powerful.

Remy Franck, Pizzicato, March 2011

American conductor Jonathan Pasternack conducts.....[a] lushly romantic interpretation of Johannes Brahms' 1st Symphony. Pasternack goes through the work rather thoughtfully, but by no means ponderously, with an overall quite dark and very German sound. The symphony thus acquires the significance that this composition, fought for over many years, possesses de facto. The calm is matched by the underlying lyrical tone and clear lines that prevent stasis. This is a seriously austere Brahms, but it never becomes cold and unfeeling.... which fits the overall concept and helps to make the recording characteristic.  * * * *

(Translated from the original German)

Click here to read Kenneth Woods' interview with Jonathan Pasternack about this recording of Brahms' First Symphony.

Andrés Moreno Mengíbar, RITMO, August 2024

...This possibly explains the titanic force that emanates from the listening experience, hypnotic and captivating from beginning to end.  Solaun begins with a wild display of agility and strength in attacks and phrasing that are truly breathtaking, followed faithfully by the brilliant Moravian Philharmonic conducted with a firm and attentive hand to the changes in expressive character by Pasternack.

(Translated from the original Spanish)

Francisco J. Balsera, Melómano, July 2024
With the title Totentanz, the Valencian pianist Josu de Solaun and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Pasternack, offer us an intense and passionate musical journey through some of the most emblematic works of the Romantic repertoire...  Next, Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 also stands out for its emotional weight and virtuosity...  Throughout the work, the interaction with the orchestra is impeccable, highlighting the clear and highly cohesive vision of conductor Jonathan Pasternak. A similar experience is found in Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2...  The album closes with Totentanz, which combines the medieval melody of Dies Irae with pianistic virtuosity. In this version, the musicians manage to convey the dramatic tone that persists throughout the composition, immersing the listener in an intense and absolutely evocative experience. An essential album.  

* * * *  Melómano de Oro

(Translated from the original Spanish)

Riccardo Risaliti, Musica, July/August 2024

...Obviously, these are works [by Liszt] that have always populated the discography of historical names both in the pianistic and conducting fields; also Strauss’s. But the present proposal demonstrates that stellar names are not necessary to deliver convincing interpretations: the pianist Josu De Solaun has the virtuoso’s drive and fantasy, rhythmic freedom, and sense of improvisation... But in substance, one appreciates everywhere a logical and passionate discourse, far from standardized, full of personal and even novel elements. In my opinion, the most positive aspect of the disc is precisely the natural way of transitioning, in the Burlesque, from one episode to another, from the brilliant to the playful to the sentimental, of the pianist interpreter aided by his baton partner.  * * * *

(Translated from the original Italian)

Pierre Jean Tribot, Crescendo Magazine (Belgium), July 2024

... [T]he Moravian Philharmonic is a solid partner that listens to the soloist without ever covering him, under the competent and meticulous direction of Jonathan Pasternack... In any case, a recording that affirms two high-level artists who are very little known in our parts of Northern Europe.

(Translated from the original French)