PRESS - ‘Orchestral power, lyrical intimacy, and formal rigor’
Kristiina Poska recently collaborated with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra in a series of warmly received concerts, shaping performances of works by Bartók, Glière, and Tchaikovsky with clarity, balanced sound, and a keen sense of expressive and structural focus. Discover here what the press wrote about these concerts.
Essener Theaterring: Between the archaically grounded mobility of Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, the expansively breathing late-Romantic gesture of Glière’s Horn Concerto, and the fate-laden urgency of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, a dramaturgically intelligent concert evening of great inner tension unfolded at the Essen Philharmonic.
The Essen Philharmonic Orchestra performed under the direction of Kristiina Poska with a convincing balance of tonal precision and emotional openness that did equal justice to the program’s contrasting stylistic worlds.
In the Romanian Folk Dances, the orchestra combined rhythmic sharpness and pointed articulation with a vivid, breathing phrasing that made the folkloristic impulse immediately palpable.
The horn concerto became a highlight of the evening thanks to Radek Baborák: his warm, supple tone and effortless virtuosity blended seamlessly into the finely balanced orchestral sound. Poska’s conducting was marked by clear impulses, flexible shaping of tempo, and a sensitive feel for dynamic transitions, which especially deepened the dialogic interplay between soloist and ensemble.
In Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, this musicality ultimately culminated in a tensely sculpted interpretation in which the relentless fate motif was presented with great clarity, and the emotional contrasts between inner turmoil and eruptive sonic release were consistently sharpened. Orchestral power, lyrical intimacy, and formal rigor combined to create a reading of compelling coherence.
Thus, this concert evening was received by the audience with palpable enthusiasm and, in the end, celebrated with long-lasting applause and standing ovations for all involved.
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung: That the Seventh Symphony Concert met with such open ears was due, alongside soloist Baborák, to the excellent Essen Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Kristiina Poska. The Estonian guest conductor, baton in her left hand, without any outward showmanship and with clear, precise body language, already knew how to explore the tension between melancholy and compelling temperament in Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, before ultimately giving Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony sharply defined lines within a well-balanced sound picture.
This “Fate Symphony” did not drown in emotion, but instead set threatening exclamation points alongside precisely timed passionate surges, a pizzicato movement tiptoeing lightly, and a radiant, redemptive finale. Within the orchestra, a wonderfully silky string ensemble joined forces with finely cultivated brass (the main theme!) and woodwinds that strung together one soloistic gem after another. Jubilation for this as well came from an enthusiastic audience.
