"Klaus Mäkelä presented Stravinsky's musical fairy tale (The Firebird) as a largely lyrical play of tonal colours, finally firing up the finale with razor-sharp, controlled discharges of power." Der Standard, Christoph Irrgeher, 20 November 2023 "Great sensitivity, deep sensuality and dazzling beauty of sound were also the advantages of Maurice Ravel's “Shéhérazade” at {…}

"The programme for this concert has been very intelligently concocted … the conductor came up with the idea - at first sight absurd, but in truth vertiginous because of the connection it made - of linking, without a break, a Lachrimae Antiquae by John Dowland with Symphony No. 2 by Schumann … To go from four violins, two violas and a cello playing this poignant music by {…}

"Mäkelä's Mahler is out of this world … He opened the Concertgebouw Orchestra's subscription season on Thursday with a masterful interpretation of Mahler's Third Symphony. I realize you have to be careful with words like ‘masterful', but it was the only word that came to mind while listening to this exhilarating performance  …  all led in fantastic {…}

Shostakovich Symphony No. 5:“In a truly magnificent performance Mäkelä squeezed out every drop of energy at key moments, the burnished Oslo heavy brass and stormy unison strings notching up the turmoil … keeping undercurrents turbulent, he struck the ambiguous balance with thrilling perfection.” ***** Bachtrack.com, David Smythe, 23 August 2023 “The opening {…}

"What could follow all this aural splendour and magic? More of the same but taken to the nth degree, was the answer, as the BBC SO and Chorus came together for that Proms favourite William Walton’s brazenly dramatic Belshazzar’s Feast. Both were on terrific form, both gave their all under Mäkelä’s rivetingly incisive direction."The Telegraph, Ivan Hewett, 5 August 2023"Energy {…}

“By its virtuosity, conviction and evocative power, the interpretation of the Orchestre de Paris and its conductor Klaus Mäkelä is indisputable  … The brilliance, liveliness, sense of contrasts, the suppleness of the line animated and made The Firebird shine with a thousand colours. The imperious precision of the rhythm, the panache, the humour gave wings to Petrushka. {…}