Rome – Auditorium Conciliazione – Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma – Rossini, Casella, Stravinsky conducted masterfully by Matthias Manasi (English Translation)

Last weekend the young German conductor, Matthias Manasi, conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma together with three magnificent soloists;Alexander Hülshoff, German cellist, Filippo Faes, Italian pianist, Hugo Ticciati, English violinist, all four stars of the international world of music, and it was just pure magic.
The program began with Rossini’s brilliant William Tell Overture, followed by the Casella’s Triple Concerto, Op. 56. Casella is also remembered as being one of the most famous Italian piano virtuosos (who founded in 1930 the Trio Italiano together with Arturo Bonucci as cellist and with Alberto Poltronieri as violinist).

After the break it was time for Stravinsky’s rarely played Symphony in C in a sensational performance, conducted by Matthias Manasi, who seems to have an almost mystical musical feeling that always brings out the best in Rossini’s, Casellas’s and Stravinsky’s music. This all added up to a marvelous evening of beautiful music. Manasi’s reading of the Guglielmo Tell overture was masterful, resulting in a sensational interpretation rich in mystery, brilliance, power and detail. Also excellent were the three soloists in the Triple Concerto who are all exceptional masters of their instruments.

A pure musician, Matthias Manasi does not require hype or engage in theatrical gestures, his skills and his relationship with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma were such that,from the very beginning, he created an optimal orchestral sound.
Matthias Manasi’s conducting style was also surprisingly direct and well-phrased, allowing the musicians of Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma to express their maximum virtuosity. Everything was magnificient, and it was as if the music flowed in the veins of Manasi with a decidedly intense interpretation.
It would seem that, on stage, Manasi knows how to turn everything into gold.The young German conductor fulfilled the highest expectations of both the audience and this reviewer. He is a master of his craft, with a precise combination of good taste, absolute clarity, solid structure, joy and sensuality.

With Manasi, the other stars of the concert were the musicians of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, conducted with elegance and unerring sense of proportion, with nothing overdone. Even in the third movement, where the energy can sometimes overwhelm the clarity of the line, the dramatic power seems not to have interfered with the musical interpretation.That Matthias Manasi conducts magnificently was immediently evident, but never more so than in listening to his interpretation of Stravinsky’s Symphony in C, conducted with color, spirit, and particularly dramatic urgency, but also with so much tenderness and flexibility of the melodies.

All this was accomplished by Matthias Manasi’s expressive gestures, which were efficient and often minimal, but with nothing that took away from the emotional intensity and commitment.
It was a marvelous interpretation that added value to the work of Manasi and who is showing himself to be one of the most important conductors of our time, giving it a well-deserved success in his debut in Rome. What you see in his conducting is great timing, no exaggeration in the tempi, and strength, all the while maintaining a superior mastery on the podium. Having Manasi as a conductor, if only as a guest conductor for two concerts, was quite fortunate for the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma.
(Elide Apice, Factanet Rome, 8 March 2014)

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