Alexander Walker

 
 
"... Alexander Walker's conducting captured the drama inherent in Grant's score while also emphasising its lyricism." Opera
 
"... The orchestra, led with spirit by the young Alexander Walker, ensured the ensemble tremendous pacing.  He led a cast that clearly gripped the public, who were enthusiastic and clearly excited." Forumopera
 
"Walker's players enchanted with a cavalcade of controlled, astute brass, refined woodwind and alluring low strings, all beautifully articulated." Opera
 
"... very well projected, a compelling performance from this talented conductor." Musical Opinion
 
"Alexander Walker welded the ensemble with tremendous energy and immediacy...Walker has a strong affinity for the Russian style, which came across in the intensity and warmth of this fully engaging performance."Music and Vision
 
"... a subtle musician possessing a feeling for style, concise conducting gestures and unusually expressive movements." Voronezh Courier
 
"... under Alexander Walker's dynamic leadership both chorus and orchestra gave a tremendous performance of this neglected opera [A Life for the Tsar]." Robert Hugill, Music and Vision
 
"Alexander Walker accompanied his singers expertly." Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard
 
"... A conductor with an understanding of structure and a special gift for building musical mood." Lublin Courier
 
"The Artistic Director [St. Petersburg Revelations] was the young British conductor Alexander Walker, who, as Principal Guest Conductor of the Voronezh State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, is also an expert in the performance of Russian music. The festival offered a fascinating and enriching glimpse into music from St. Petersburg, to mark this year's Tercentenary celebrations, and was held in association with the St. Petersburg authority itself.I attended the festival's thrilling final concert at the Conway Hall, Holburn on 15th September, given by the Russian Chamber Orchestra of London, a group formed in 1998, specialising in Russian music whose recent appearances included a premiere by Galina Ustvolskaya and Mukhmedov's Russian Ballet at the Coliseum. Here they were conducted stylishly by Alexander Walker in a stimulating programme that featured premieres by Vladimir Uspensky (born 1937), Andrei Petrov (born 1930) and Yuri Falik (born 1936), leading St. Petersburg composers of the senior generation, framed by two Russian "classics": Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky.A Russian flavour was immediately set with Prokofiev's Vision Fugitives, impressionistic piano pieces in a most effective string orchestra version by Rudolf Barshai. A daring work to begin with, Alexander Walker soon elicited a cohesive ensemble to convey the widely varied moods of these epigrammatic miniatures: from the elusive poetic to the boisterous, from piquant neo-classicism to virulently aggressive, the serene and visionary.The Russian Chamber Orchestra of London's vibrant sonority was displayed to great effect in the Fanfare and Requiem by Yuri Falik, a composer with a distinctive, often ravishing approach to new tonality. Especially effective was the idiomatic use of the medium, for instance the rhetorical power of allowing simple ostinato figures to continue beyond the stretches of melody they accompany, a device Tchaikovsky also uses eloquently in his Serenade that concluded the programme.In this popular masterpiece, the Russian Chamber Orchestra of London came fully into their own, with Alexander Walker welding the ensemble with tremendous energy and immediacy. A former student of Ilya Musin in St. Petersburg, Walker has a strong affinity for the Russian style, which came across in the intensity and warmth of this fully-engaging performance. The orchestra responded with rich sonorities, especially Tchaikovsky' many chordal themes, and after the balance of sumptuous melodic writing and delicacy in the Waltz, the touching Elegie was imbued with just the right amount of nostalgia, the finale bristling with zest. It formed a stirring conclusion to this rewarding and enlightening programme, an initiative for which much credit is due to the St. Petersburg Revelations festival organisers." Malcolm Miller, Music and Vision.
 
"A small chamber ensemble of virtuoso musicians drawn from the National Chamber Orchestra was conducted by Alexander Walker in masterful and precise fashion... Alexander Walker conducted with authority and verve."Roger Jones, Gloucestershire Echo.
 
"Performances of both works [by Finzi and Pergolesi] were first rate, showing an understanding of style and a fine blend and balance of voices."George Allan, The Hounslow Chronicle.
 
"The 35th Symphony written by the mature Mozart was dedicated to his friend Zigmund Haffner on the occasion of being awarded his title. The combination of joie de vivre, profundity and the heart-felt qualities of Mozart's music, underpinned by a refined approach to structure were deftly conveyed under the leadership of Maestro Walker.It was the first performance in Voronezh of Soirees Musicales, by Benjamin Britten. These charming miniatures, exploring with originality, the colours of the orchestra were performed with panache and with understanding of the style of the music.The second concert in Voronezh was entitled "Pushkin in Music". Maestro Walker proved himself to be a sympathetic accompanist in this concert. The complex accompaniment to Lauri's Songa from Dargomidjsky's Opera "The Stone Guest" (soloist of the Philharmonic, Galina Raznichenko) was performed splendidly.A storm of applause greeted the performance of "The Three Wonders" from "The Fairy Tale of the Czar Sultan", where the orchestra subtly conveyed the contrasts between the fantastical images.In Alexander Walker, we saw a subtle musician, possessing a feeling of style, concise conducting gestures and unususally expressive movements. It will be marvellous if this acquaintance continues."Elena Semenova, Voronezh Courier.
 
"He is comfortable in a wide range of styles..He has a good rapport with the musicians of the orchestra, and is able to produce the results he requires from them. He has a deep understanding of music, and his conducting is energetic and committed." Leonid Korchmar, Director of Opera, Kirov Opera.
 
"It is without doubt that this young conductor will show himself to be a superlative director of the orchestra possessing outstanding musical and conducting qualities." Professor Ilya Musin, St. Petersburg State Conservatory.