Conductor Jakub Hrůša, stepping in at short notice to conduct A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne, has been lauded by critics for his performances of Peter Hall’s classic production.
“The youthful Glyndebourne stalwart” (What’s On Stage), not long after his highly acclaimed performances of The Cunning Little Vixen, returns to the stage to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra in this production, which has been revived to coincide with the Shakespeare 400 anniversary. Mr Hruša was at his magical best, according to Stephen Pritchard of The Guardian, who writes of the young Czech conductor: “Jakub Hruša casts a spell over the London Philharmonic”.
In his five star Bachtrack review, Mark Pullinger described the production as “eerily enchanting” and said “Hrůša brought the score to vivid life”.
Claudia Pritchard also wrote a five-star review for Culture Whisper, writing of Mr Hruša: “In the pit, Jakub Hruša conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra, whose palette is as rich as the stage is monochrome in Britten’s brilliant, witty, score.”
Richard Fairman of The Financial Times was also effusive in his praise for Mr Hruša, writing in his five-star review: “Jakub Hrůša takes his time over Britten’s music, but the reward is high-class playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra that finds not only the moonlit sparkle of the score, but also its sinister shadows.”
Mr. Hrůša’s conducting was also praised in Michael Church’s five-star review for The Independent: “Jakub Hrůša’s conducting honours every nuance in Benjamin Britten’s poised and magical music.”
Jakub Hrůša “clearly has a fascinating affinity with Britten’s music”, according to Rupert Christiansen (The Telegraph), who also writes of the Mr. Hrůša: “[he] conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a marvellously robust account of a score which in lesser hands can sound a bit etiolated and dainty in terms of its texture”.
Melanie Eskenazi, writing for MusicOMH, describes Mr. Hrůša as “an exceptionally sympathetic ‘singers’ conductor”, who is “as alert to the needs of those onstage as he was to those of Britten’s wonderful music, which he obviously loves with a passion.”
In Peter Reed’s four-star Classical Source review, the production’s “moments of fitful inspiration” were largely down to Mr. Hrůša’s conducting due to his “ability in drawing superb playing and an extraordinary level of detail from the London Philharmonic Orchestra”. Alexandra Coghlan (The Arts Desk) said “Jakub Hrůša conducts a neat, carefully shaded performance from the LPO, making much of Britten’s generous string writing”, whilst Mark Valencia (What’s On Stage) writes of Mr. Hrůša: “he pinpoints moments that seldom emerge with such clarity, such as the careless trombone flicks that herald the entry of the Mechanicals.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs at Glyndebourne through 28th August. For more information and tickets. please visitwww.glyndebourne.com.
Photo credit: Robert Workman