GEORGE CLEVE
REVIEWS
MIDSUMMER MOZART FESTIVAL
George Cleve keeps musical standards high in annual festival
"...Where else in San Francisco during July and August can you hear orchestral music making so carefully considered, so artfully prepared and so respectful of an audience's intelligence?...
What you must love about Cleve is his resistance to musicological trends. These days, he divides his violins in the 18th century manner, but in other aspects, his approach to Mozart conservative in the best sense lowered pitches, no period instruments, judicious applications, vibrato and portamento and one of the most assertive, uplifting playing one will experience in a season...
Cleve has rarely sounded so impulsive in the "Prague" as he did Wednesday, at once clarifying the innards of the symphony and reassembling them before our ears." Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner
"Music Director George Cleve wasted no time getting the Midsummer Mozart Festival's summer season under way Wednesday night. Like a thoroughbred racer at the sound of the starting bell, Cleve and the orchestra dove headlong into the opening measures of Mozart's Symphony No 32 and didn't let up until more than two hours later. That sense of crisp, fearless forward motion is the reliable thumbprint of Cleve's approach to Mozart, making his performances among the strongest and most exciting available these days. From the moment he raises his baton, the listener knows there will be no shilly-shallying and no false sentimentality - just sinewy textures, crystal clarity and certainty of purpose..." Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
"With his bottomless barrel of vintage Mozart, George Cleve has a rare knack for lifting symphony concerts out of the everyday, catching up his audience in its magic - and doing it, during these Midsummer Mozart Festival concerts... Cleve knows his all-Mozart repertory like the back of his hand. Even the rarely heard Symphony No 28 in C Major - a lesser four-square piece, with far fewer surprises - he was able to interpret from memory, without a score..." Paul Hertelendy, San Jose Mercury News
Los Angeles Philharmonic - Hollywood Bowl
"... As bookends, Cleve led vital performances of Mozart's Magic Flute Overture and Brahms Fourth Symphony. The former assistant to Monteux and Szell seems to have learned a thing or two about the value of plain-speak. With the full orchestra in Mozart, he fashioned a swift, tidy and vivacious run-through... In his clear-eyed Brahms, he enforced rhythmic clarity and vigor, refused to dawdle over particulars, yet sculpted phrases and discovered nuances. The Philharmonic answered heartily and showed that Brahms straightahead works..." Los Angeles Times
Vienna Symphony/András Schiff
". pianist András Schiff, together with the Vienna Symphony and, in hs Musikverein debut, American conductor George Cleve performed Beethoven's interpretation that utilized all the possibilities of the modern piano and yet within sylistic bounds realized all the varied musical characterizations fully. Both musicians understood one another perfectly and also the Vienna Symphony seemd in its element. George Cleve further proved himself well-versed in matters of musical sculpture and shadings in performances of Berlioz' "Carnaval Romain" and Debussy's "L'apres-midi d'un faune"... Salzburger Nachrichten
English Chamber Orchestra - Prague Autumn Festival
"... I would designate the performance by the English Chamber Orchestra directed by G Cleve as the artistic high point of the Prague Autumn. The sound of the approximately thirty-member ensemble was almost ideal, whether in the lyric concertino-like composition of the contemporary Englishman R Holloway or all the Mozart works offered.... (including) the famous "Jupiter", played with a ravishing equilibrium of metric expression, expressive facility, variation and depth, with a literally cosmic plasticity of the polyphonic finale..." Milos Pokora
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
".. In the Mozart work, Cleve's polished and lively accompaniment was not only interesting in itself but succeeded in making the horn seem larger than life. And in the Knussen work, Cleve kept a sure and benign hand on the ebb and flow of its rich colors. Three decades ago, he was ranked among the biggest conducting talents of his generation. Cleve may not have achieved the fame he deserved, but that judgement still holds..." Stephen Wigler, The Baltimore Sun
St Paul Chamber Orchestra
"... Cleve brings an informed perspective on matters of technique. Balances are always well ordered, for instance. But there's something of an older school about him, too, in that he never races tempos the way the Baroque purists do. He lets the music breathe." Michael Anthony, Star Tribune
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
"... The Conductor, George Cleve, is perhaps one of the most sensitive Mozart-interpreters alive today.... Cleve has been hailed by the American press as "one of our canniest and most passionate Mozartians", a descriptio which seeks justely to identify the profound understanding Cleve has for Mozart's music: the sarcasm, the humour, the irony, the passion, the eroticism, the love, the genius, the intellect which is Mozart's own... Cleve carefully induced the players to listen cautiously to one another, creating an almost chamber-like intimacy... Cleve manages to bring out many hidden details which would usually remain obscure under less-capable hands. He coaxed all involved to emit a sound which was unified... This was undoubtedly a Mozart performance to remember; and George Cleve wanted to remind us that this was Mozart which belongs to a long line of Austro-German symphonic thought that ended with Mahler and Bruckner. Bravo!.." Darrell Ang
Ulster Orchestra
Cleve in a sunny mood for Mahler
"... Often called the sunniest of the Mahler Symphonies, Cleve brought to it a relaxed yet splendidly disciplined approach, a wide ranging slow movement with just the right amount of intensity and the Wunderhorn nature of the solo in the finale was a delight.... The concert ended with the Strauss Emperor Waltz, one of the best of its kind with Cleve reminding us in a beguiling performance that the often over-done rubato is not the key to the authentic performance of Viennese Waltzes." Rathcol, Belfast Telegraph
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
"...The interest of the audience at La Coursive is concentrated totally on the Bordeaux-Aquitaine Orchestra led by George Cleve.These are eighty musicians used to working together like a well oiled machine, responding to the conductor's eye and baton like a luxury automobile which one can drive with one finger. George Cleve does not abuse this situation. Sober and precise, he is certainly not content merely to suggest, yet excludes all unnecessary gestures. The OBA's interpretation of the work reflects his natural authority... George Cleve... almost caused one to forget the material aspects of the OBA's elements. The orchestra seemded to transcend its stands. We needed the Hungarian Dance to bring us back to earth, without breaking the spell..." Francois Blazy, Le Sud-Ouest
".. A conductor who came to tell the Bordeaux audience that it is "formidable", has every chance of being a man of taste as well as great intelligence. When, moreover, he adds to this compliment, which does not fall on deaf ears, a "Hungarian confection" by Brahms as a gesture of thanks, one has every reason to believe that he can return with the assurance of being well received... George Cleve deployed a thousand orchestral riches in virtuosic alchemies; an abundance which, balanced with nuances and tempi, created a radiant evocation. Roch Bertrand, Le Sud-Ouest
Colmar Festival - l'Orchestre National de Lille
"Si, Samedi soir, le chef titulaire s'installa avec le public, c'était pour laisser le soin à George Cleve de diriger en invité. Une manière élégante de donner à l'ensemble une expression différente...Pourtant, la barque, samedi soir, ne donnait nullement l'impression de sombrer et au contraire, les voiles furent tendues sous le vent, malgré l'avis de tempête. C'est que G. Cleve une sérénité contenue et rassurante. Apaisant les matelots, tout en leur demandant le maximum face au danger, il est celui que donne confiance...
Un émouvant au-revoir pour l'orchestre qui quitte le festival. Il fut salué dignement par d'admirable ovations." Michel Schuller, L'Alsace
"...L'orchestre de Lille mené ce soir par le chef américain d'origine viennoise George Cleve, est excellemment entré dans l'univers de Bernstein...
L'orchestre national de Lille et le chef y ont développé toute leur efficacité dans une interprétation de qualité artistique irréprochable. Beau succès, là aussi". Marc Munch, DNA
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
"It's been 30 years since George Cleve stepped on the podium to begin a two-year term as music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Cleve's guest appearance Friday night gave every sign that a special kind of bond still exists between them...Cleve has an innate sense of how to establish momentum and guide it without the smothering influence of beating every beat and cuing every entry. He lets the music self-regulate when it has to, unobtrusively applying control when the reins need tightening..." James Manishen, Sunday Free Press
Berkeley Opera - Magic Flute
".. Conductor George Cleve's supple, articulate dynamics and tempos, as well as the artistically stunning and ingeniously conceived and crafted sets by Peter Crompton, were among the most praiseworthy elements..." Cheryl North, The Oakland Tribune