Reviews

Harvey Felder

Conductor

"Felder directed the piece ["Pictures at an Exhibition"] with verve, using grand sweeping gestures and nuanced glances. He got a fine balanced presentation that showed off the strengths of his musicians as individuals as well as sections. The audience responded strongly to the performance."

"Conductor Harvey Felder shaped a refined, stylistic performance."

"Yesterday morning at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Harvey Felder led the National Symphony Orchestra in a program that left the audience literally screaming in the aisles. . . Felder's strength was his refusal to talk down to listeners."

"Guest conductor Harvey Felder elicited a tightly controlled sound from the Honolulu Symphony throughout, whether with Mozart's small orchestra or Berlioz's large one. . ."

"Guest conductor Harvey Felder, assistant conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony, brought discipline and sophistication to his debut with the local ensemble. . . Haydn's 'Roxelane' symphony gave the audience, unfortunately quite small, a chance to concentrate on Felder's crisp direction, thoughtful interpretation and refined approach to music of this period. Not one to over-romanticize the classics, Felder likes neat, carefully organized Haydn working within a small but subtle emotional range appropriate to the style."

"Echoes of Tchaikovsky were also heard in the orchestra's major contribution, Symphony No. 1 by Jean Sibelius. It is a work abounding in contrasts and the transition between the romantic intensity of expression and classical directness were effortlessly accomplished by Harvey Felder. His balancing of the different choirs of the orchestra resulted in a richly atmospheric reading."