Christian Lindberg
A | sundry

Kölner Stadtanzeiger, 21 June 2010.
Appearance of the multi-talent Christian Lindberg shines with Gürzenich Orchestra It was a night of musical transformation, inspiration and imitation that Christian Lindberg presented to the audience with the Gürzenich Orchestra. the amusing Swedish muliti talent digged deep in to the crate of novelties, mixed it with desolating moments, but put all this together in a very humorisous way. The audience in Philharmonie gave him huge ovations. Also Allan Pettersson writes music with great respect for history and tradition, but what Lindberg does out of the lust to play, is for Pettersson existential distress....in his Seventh Symphony here performed by in a totally grandiose manner, could one feel every part of his pain, lament and desperation in a way that reminds of Schostakovich and Mahler. It was a capturing concert.

Kölnische Rundschau, 21 June 2010:
Christian Lindberg in Cologne presents a colorful blend as well as sympathetic self irony. The agile Swede is full of surprises... the audience could admire Lindberg´s art of directing and trombone playing straight from the front. No nuance of his highly virtuosic instrumental performance was lost, and in his conducting, he managed to lead in a casual-precise style. A colorful mixture, then, with a sympathetic touch of irony and self awareness, that gave the whole thing high entertainment value. After the break Lindberg undertook a complete change of character, when he as conductor presented a very exciting and sophisticated version of Allan Pettersson 7th Symphony. Gone was the entertainer and there was an artist bringing out chromatic lines, disturbing screams and painful shattering from a composer born in the Stockholm slum in 1911. And the Gürzenich orchestra let this 45-minute passionate piece take a compelling shape.

International Record Review, May 2010 | Colin Anderson
This is a splendid recording...Christian Lindberg's interpretation of the Legends is as fine as any on disc, period. His tempo choices invariably work, the orchestra seems to be an ideal size to let every detail of Dvorák's orchestration tell (listen to the harp in No. 6), and the playing is outstanding. The concluding Legend is deliciously nostalgic without ever sounding too sentimental. Furthermore, these pieces still aren't as well known as they deserve to be, so to have another outstanding version available (in addition to Kubelik, Mackerras, and Fischer if you can find them) on a label that tends to keep its titles in print for a reasonable amount of time is a very good thing.

Classic Today, 31 March 2010 | David Hurwitz
The concerto also receives an excellent and, more importantly, distinctive performance. Lively tempos keep the music moving with what I can only call passionate freshness; the interpretation sounds like no other. There are moments, particularly in the central Adagio and the "Dumka" interlude in the finale (which Dvorák marks "the same tempo" and where most performances slow down dramatically), where you feel that the music can't be played any other way.



Klassik Heute, 08.07.2008 | Benjamin G. Cohrs
Künstlerische Qualität: 10 (Bewertungsskala: 1-10) Klangqualität: 10 Gesamteindruck: 10 ...ein Ausdruck der ungeheuren köperlichen Energie dieses Musikers ist, ein Teil seiner eigenwillig-eckigen Körpersprache...ein immer freier, zugleich elektrisierender Orchesterklang, ob beim kleiner besetzten Swedish Wind Ensemble, beim Nordic Chamber Orchestra oder bei großen Sinfonieorchestern. Erstaunlich ist auch Lindbergs stilistische Bandbreite als Dirigent: Kurze Ausschnitte deuten an, daß er mit Mozarts Jupiter- und Beethovens siebter Sinfonie (durchaus "historisch informiert" wirkend und vor Energie berstend) ebenso zurecht kommt wie mit romantischem Repertoire (atemberaubend schön das Streicher-Impromptu von Sibelius gegen Ende) und natürlich zeitgenössischer Musik.

International Record Review
Christian Lindberg and the Nordic Chamber Orchestra also get right to the heart of the matter by looking forwards to future symphonic triumphs. Fascinatingly, having given the Nielsen a thorough springclean, Lindberg is inspired by violinist Richard Tognetti to produce the most enraptured and heartfelt rendering of the inexplicicably neglected Svendsen Romance I have ever heard. This is music--making at a truly exalted level. The delight don´t end there, however. Not since encountering a collegium Aureum LP of Francesco Durante´s Concerto grosso some 30 years ago have I been so totally captivated by a recording of obscure eighteenth-century music as this three´movement Overture by Anders Wesström(1720-81).

Music web international
It is fresh, melodic but with some odd twists that make it stand out from the mainstream string repertoire...these musicians must have been playing together for some time. The Intermezzo of the Nielsen Suite is played with elegance and charm and there is glowing intensity in the third movement. Judging from this disc, which I believe is his(Lindberg) first recording as a conductor, he might well rise to the stars even in this profession.

Classical source.com
The Nordic Chamber Orchestra plays with virtuosity, unanimity and feeling, Christian Lindberg (his trombone left at home pro tem) leads an enlivening performance. Excellent renditions and recording complete a very attractive issue.

Klassik Heute
9 out of 10 possible points: Da wird mit einer spontanen, unverbrauchten Frische, wo nötig aber auch mit einer Sensibilität musiziert, daß die einstündige Lektion über sechs markante Profile des Nordens wie im Fluge vergeht.

Mike D. Brownell, Allmusic:
Two familiar names (Nielsen and Sibelius) joined by four much lesser known names end up yielding a wonderful album of Nordic chamber music performed by the Nordic Chamber Orchestra. The eclectic styles are admirably performed by the NCO, lead by Christian Lindberg. Equally at home with the Baroque overture of Anders Wesström through the more modern Concerto Piccolo of Bo Linde, its well-rounded, robust sound belies the small size of the ensemble

Classics Today | May 2007
Nordic Showcase | Nordic Chamber Orchestra

Artistic quality 9 of 10
Sound quality 10 of 10

Both the playing and Lindberg's conducting are uniformly outstanding, particularly in Leifs' quirky Pastoral Variations on a theme of Beethoven, where a tune from the Septet gets taken on a whirlwind tour of Iceland before returning home, evidently having enjoyed itself. There are other delightful discoveries as well: Anders Wesström's (1720-81) overture to Armida is a delicious three-movement tribute to the Mannheim school, full of characterful syncopations in its opening, while Bo Linde's charming, neoclassical Concerto Piccolo pits a sometimes naughty wind quintet against the larger body of strings. Nielsen's Suite and Sibelius' Impromptu, the pieces that bracket this recital, come off graciously while maintaining a nice, firm rhythmic profile. The sonics are also outstanding.
So by all means, go ahead and try this disc, but make a firm promise to give it a whirl more than once, and file it in such a way that you can find it easily when the mood takes you.

David Hurwitz