John Axelrod
A | EE
"Hollywood in Vienna with" enthusiastic film music | 09/17/2010, © APA
Große melodies from various blockbusters
John Axelrod puffs up, jumps up and down the left arm straight up, clenching his hand into a fist. Not special guest Howard Shore, composer of "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but Axelrod was as conductor of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra, the star of "Hollywood in Vienna" Gala on Thursday evening at the Vienna Konzerthaus. With sweaty dynamics and obvious fun of it, he presented a diverse mix of popular melodies from Hollywood productions before it in a tribute to Howard Shore, with an impressive, enthusiastic, world premiere listed in this form of "Lord of the Rings" suite. "Welcome to the world of adventure," Gedeon Burkhard leader said after sounding of the "Warner Bros. Fanfare" by the Viennese composer Max Steiner. Under the theme "Adventure activities," one hour followed by multi-layered melodies, played by an always beaming orchestra under the direction Axelrod. Standing ovations.
(Http://www.hollywoodinvienna.com) (APA)

The Philadelphia Inquirer | David Patrick Stearns
Axelrod was just as effective with longer-built climaxes and a more theatrical sense of timing. […] Axelrod smartly embraced the episodic nature in ways that downplayed the music's repetitious nature, and the orchestra responded with its best glamorous sonority.

"Two Pianos, Four Hands", 06.08.2009 | torontoist.com
Of course, it didn't hurt that they were backed up by conductor extraordinaire John Axelrod, as well as Toronto's most treasured orchestral musicians, most of whom can be found year-round performing as members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Even Axelrod suspended classical concert etiquette and relaxed in one of the violinist's chairs during some of these interludes, finding himself an irresistible front-and-centre seat from which he could appreciate the two stars. Such obvious displays of passion help break down the barrier between audience and performer and thereby assist in overturning the perceived rigidity that surely keeps classical and jazz audiences from growing.

Bresciaoggi | Luigi Fertonani
The most convincing performance of the whole night was “Symphony n. 1 in C minor op. 68” by J. Brahms, and the reason of this success is the ability of John Axelrod to take the most and the best out of the Orchestra, from the first notes where it is definitely not hard to find the Beethovenian heritage, to the ’”Andante sostenuto” of the second movement. This Symphony requires a very stable control of each section of the orchestral group. […] Axelrod managed to give life to that tension, sometimes splitting that is typical of this Brahms symphony, in a true final crescendo that at the end of the piece, unleashed the enthusiasm of the audience.

L’Eco di Bergamo | Bernardino Zappa
About the performers we could say many things, or just get by saying that they were simply outstanding: the clearness of the orchestra, sumptuous in the woodwinds and tireless in the brass, the charismatic and very American energy of John Axelrod, who was pragmatic and inspiring, and finally Fazil Say, completely comfortable with the rhythmic divagations and with the lyrical soliloquies of Bernstein first, and then with the languid light-heartedness, shifting from jokes to melancholy, of Gershwin.

Stuttgarter Nachrichten | Helmuth Fiedler
Und der aus Houston, Texas, stammende Dirigent ließ gleich Igor Strawinskys frühes, von Nicolaj Rimskij-Korsakow inspiriertes und in seiner Motorik an Paul Dukas' "Zauberlehrling" erinnerndes "Scherzo fantastique op. 3" (1908) mit derart irisierender Farbigkeit musizieren, dass man nur staunen konnte. Noch Leonard Bernsteins bleischwer-dunkel timbrierte Interpretation von Johannes Brahms' dritter Sinfonie F-Dur mit dem Wiener Philharmonikern im Ohr, bildete die Wiedergabe des Bernstein-Schülers John Axelrod einen veritablen Gegenpol. Das dichte Geflecht der thematischen Bezüge, die der kürzesten aller BrahmsSinfonien ihre formale Strenge und Konzentration verleiht, wurde mit größter Transparenz durchleuchtet. Dabei wuchs den konzentriert musizierenden RSO-Sinfonikern eine innere Kraft zu, eine aus der Musik abgeleitete Expression, die keinerlei emotionalen Drücker benötigt, um bis zur leise auslaufenden Schluss-Coda Ausdruck zu schinden.

LE MONDE | 29.05.2008
L'Orchestre de Paris et son choeur, dirigés par l'Américain John Axelrod, avec Samuel Pisar en récitant, viennent de créer magnifiquement, à Paris, ce mercredi 28 mai, cette dernière mouture.