John Corigliano, composer:
Dmitry Vassilyev is a marvelous conductor who has an extraordinary technique and great musicianship. His passionate interpretations of my music moved me greatly. His superb orchestra, the Omsk Symphony, can play anything with ease, and match his dramatic conducting in their playing. I was very impressed by their excellence and devotion to my music.
Norman Lebrecht, Sinfini Music:
New CD from SSO - Album of the Week 23 June
Norman Lebrecht is excited by a new recording of Mieczylaw Weinberg from the Siberian Symphony Orchestra, including the irresistible Polish Tunes.
The Siberian Symphony Orchestra, conductor Dmitry Vasilyev, play as if their lives depend on it and the sound in the Omsk Philharmonic Hall is immaculate.
Michael Cookson, MusucWeb:
Recording of the month
This was my first experience of hearing the Siberian Symphony Orchestra (Omsk Philharmonic) who under the reliable baton of principal conductor Dmitry Vasilyev excel in this wonderful and inexplicably neglected music. The Symphony makes compelling listening with Vasilyev’s unfailing instinct producing assured orchestral playing of striking directness.
Andrew McGregor and Stephen Johnson, Radio BBC:
Thats Weinberg's symphony #21 "caddish" and the performance of Siberian Symphony orchestra, known as the Omsk Philharmonic, conducted by Dmitry Vasiliev. […] I know I want to hear the rest of it after that opening. [...] Pretty creditable all round, the performance and the recording is very well indeed!
Rainer Aschemeier, The Listener:
Das Siberian Symphony Orchestra hatte schon anno 2012 auf einer grandiosen toccata-CD mit sinfonischer Musik Vissarion Schebalins einen sehr guten Eindruck hinterlassen. Auf dieser Weinberg-CD hat sich das Orchester aber selbst übertroffen: Wie viele Soloparts sind in dieser Musik, und das für ganz unterschiedliche Instrumente! Und alle, wirklich alle – zum Teil überdies schwierig zu realisierenden – Soloparts sind ausgezeichnet eingespielt worden. Der Klang geht in Ordnung, die Phrasierung ist vorbildlich. Auch die Sopranistin Veronika Bartenyeva hinterlässt einen tollen Eindruck.
Rainer Aschemeier, The Listener:
Die Interpretation durch das Sibirische Sinfonieorchester unter der Leitung seines Chefdirigenten Dmitry Vasiliev ist bemerkenswert gut. Dafür, dass man das Orchester aus Omsk hierzulande kaum je zu Ohren bekommt, ist es doch sehr bemerkenswert, wie viel interpretatorische und instrumentale Qualität sich hier offenbart. Das ist tatsächlich ein richtig gutes Orchester, und ich freue mich jetzt schon darauf, in toccatas Schebalin-Reihe bald hoffentlich auch dessen sieben Sinfonien in ebenso schönen Interpretationen hören zu können, wie wir sie hier erleben dürfen.
Geoffrey Norris, Gramophone:
It is a striking, viscerally anguished, emotionally powerful piece (Weinberg’s Symphony No. 21), as this fine performance by the Siberian Symphony Orchestra under Dmitry Vasilyev underlines. Lament, rage, defiance, horror and numbness are all drawn into the music’s expressive spectrum, with achingly poignant references to Chopin’s G minor Ballade and a final section deploying a soprano voice (Veronika Bartenyeva) in a wordless Requiem.
David Hurwitz, Classics Today:
The performances are quite good. The Siberian Symphony Orchestra is the ensemble of the city of Omsk, Shebalin’s home town team. Dmitry Vasiliev leads his players with conviction and admirable directness. There’s nothing interpretively tricky here: just good clean fun of a kind that will have you looking forward to the next volume in this series when, hopefully, we’ll have a chance to sample some of Shebalin’s more serious work.
Michael Cookson, MusicWeb:
The orchestra rewards its artistic director and chief conductor Dmitry Vasiliev with alert playing of vitality and substantial expressive character. Impeccably prepared by Vasiliev the unison of the orchestra is evident. Unquestionably this is a marvellous orchestra and an invitation to the BBC Promenade Concert series cannot come too soon.
Barry Brenesal, Fanfare:
Dmitri Vasiliev has exactly the theatrical measure of this music, however, moving easily on the fly between swiftly shifting expressive modes, as in the Second Suite’s “Potpourri.” Orchestra [...] has plenty of drive, discipline, and clarity, under its conductor’s capable hands.
Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found:
Following their acclaimed Shebalin (1902-1963) release for Toccata, conductor Dmitry Vasiliev and the Siberian Symphony Orchestra now give us this equally well played Spratley disc. The composer attended the recording sessions, and has nothing but praise for these fine musicians. Their performances are energetic in keeping with Spratley's young at heart style, yet sensitive and passionate in his more reflective moments.
Martin Anderson, Toccata Classics/Toccata Press:
It is some of the best orchestral playing I have heard in years – both sensitive and full of life. And there’s something else: anyone can plough into Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, but it requires acute stylistic awareness to play music like the Shebalin Suites with the right blend of symphonic power and ironic reserve – and you have done that. So my thanks and congratulations, and I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.
Victor Merzhanov:
Dmitry Vasiliev combines an exceptional sense of development of musical form with advanced conducting techniques. Also, one should particularly notice his artistry and deep emotional impact on the orchestra.
Martin Anderson, Toccata Classics/Toccata Press:
“I know Alexandr Nevsky backwards – but I had never heard it performed by Russians in Russian, and I was pinned back in my seat. I hadn’t heard of maestro Vasiliev before my invitation to Omsk, but he is plainly a conductor who deserves to be known far further”.
Eliso Virsaladse:
"In 2008, in Italy I performed with the Siberian Symphony Orchestra for the first time. The collaboration was very successful, and after that we decided to prolong it with our performance in Omsk. The orchestra is in very good form, and it has a great conductor Dmitry Vasiliev".
Maxim Schostakovich:
“ Dmitry Vasiliev is a talented and perceptive young conductor, with creative thinking, expressive gestures and a keen sense of rhythm. One of Maestro Vasiliev’s principal strengths is the ability to emotionally charge the orchestra musicians and the audience.”
