Oslo Philharmonic on tour
“Not every classical listener will be delighted with Shostakovich’s eighth … All the more impressive how the musicians built up the tension under Mäkelä – and kept it! The Great Hall, perfect for this music, seemed to shine over the massive Tuttis in the hellishly glorious apocalypse of the third movement.”
Die Presse, 24 January 2026, Jens F. Laurson
“Mäkelä sets the highest standards. A critical mind and precise analyst, he drives Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony and, on the second evening, the Sixth, the “War Symphonies,” with unbridled power, energy, and great emotion.”
Kronenzeitung, 24 January 2026, Karl-Heinz Roschitz
“The violins shimmer, the violas creak, the solo flute sounds alarmistically, whistling a mocking song at the dictator. Mäkelä shapes each motif with sublime clarity. He emphasizes the martial nature of the march rhythms, intensifies the oppressive atmosphere, and, in refreshingly dance-like passages, momentarily transforms bitterness into desperate joy.”
Kurier, 23 January 2026, Susanne Zobl
“Shostakovich lends himself perfectly to a meticulously detailed, technically flawless interpretation, and what the Oslo musicians and their conductor achieve—as we already observed during their last visit—is absolutely admirable. The strings, particularly prominent in the vastness of the first movement, and the formidable cohesion of a viola section rarely heard sounding so warm, send shivers down our spines. When Pierre Xhonneux’s small clarinet launches into the scherzo, the tone is set with an almost Cubist cacophony…”
Bachtrack.com, 21 January 2026, Jean-Pierre Rousseau
“In this music, gigantic in both its composition and its message, devoid of any double meaning, Mäkelä is in his element, and the Oslo Philharmonic displays impressive collective virtuosity, with all the necessary harshness of timbre and incisiveness of attack.”
Resmusica, Jean-Christophe Le Toquin, 21 January 2026
“Mäkelä probed energetically and unerringly deep into the wounds this music left gaping open; once again it was magnificent to witness how fearlessly and masterfully he can guide an orchestra through such a multifaceted work. The malevolent power machine that rattled mercilessly in the violas at the beginning of the third movement, and the stubbornly dull marching of the masses of sound, were the overture to the dark, grippingly staged demise of the piece in the finale. A long, stunned silence followed the last note. That’s how it should be.”
Hamburger Abendblatt, 19 January 2026, Joachim Mischke
“The true highlight of the weekend, however, was Jean Sibelius’s “Lemminkäinen Suite,” … Mäkelä draws on a wealth of resources here – driven by a profound understanding of this music and its inner landscapes.”
Concerti Magazine, Patrick Erb, 19. January 2026
TOUR VENUES AND PROGRAMMES
ESSEN PHILHARMONIE – 24 JANUARY
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Soloist: Lisa Batiashvili
VIENNA KONZERTHAUS – 22 & 23 JANUARY
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Soloist: Lisa Batiashvili
PARIS PHILHARMONIE – 20 JANUARY
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
HAMBURG ELBPHILHARMONIE – 17 & 18 JANUARY
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Jean Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite
Soloist: Lisa Batiashvili
