Reviews
"The final Twilight of the Gods could not have been recreated with a more powerful sense of proportion and sensitivity of pacing than under the baton of Donald Runnicles. ... Runnicles's fine ear for texture and balance drew every shimmer of sunlight, every cross-current in the waters of the Rhine from the vast body of woodwind and divided strings."
-- The Times (London) [Hillary Finch]
"Runnicles is clearly among the most insightful, potent Wagnerians of our
day: his account was of spectacular brilliance and high, churning intensity."
-- The Sunday Times (London) [Paul Driver]
"Donald Runnicles conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Christine Brewer sang Brünnhilde for the first time in London. Both were phenomenal.
Runnicles' approach is, by and large, swift and urgent. There was a strong sense throughout of a world hurtling towards both physical destruction and metaphysical liberation. A violent lyricism underscored the playing, which was consistently superb, even in the second interlude of act one, where Wagner's often cruel brass writing can expose the slightest slip in the instrumentalists' technique."
-- The Guardian (London) [Tim Ashley]
"Runnicles' strength in Wagner is his ability to make everything sound natural, but here he pushed out the boundaries -- Siegfried set out on his Rhine journey as if he was travelling by rocket; the funeral march was shattering in its sonic grandeur. I have never heard the BBC Symphony Orchestra play better."
-- Financial Times [Richard Fairman]
"Taking the baton for this final leg of the Ring relay, Donald Runnicles provided a culmination at once beautiful and thrilling. A seasoned Wagnerite, Runnicles' [has a] sense of pace, paragraphing and climax ...
nigh on perfect. When Waltraute (the excellent Karen Cargill) visits Brünnhilde to tell of Wotan's decline, the moment when she recalls the god's undying love for his daughter brought an inwardness and tenderness from Runnicles that stilled the hall."
-- First Edition [Edward Seckerson]
"The conductor Donald Runnicles wields an expert baton over the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and this British-born maestro, music director of the San Francisco Opera since 1992, has the respect and admiration of Wagner fanatics everywhere."
-- First Edition [Jessica Duchen]
"The real heart of this overwhelming performance was the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which played with heart-stopping intensity and focus under Donald Runnicles."
-- The Daily Telegraph [Ivan Hewett]