Symphony No. 2 / Finlandia

"Great music, great sound-this is what a good CD is all about."
-Audio

"Sound: second to none in the catalogue. Levi: one of that rare breed who give you what the composer wrote without any intrusive 'interpretation'."
- MusicWeb Jan 2005

"The recording is admirably faithful. No wonder Telarc's early CDs quickly acquired a reputation for genuinely high fidelity. The strings in the opening bars have a lovely, velvety tone, whereas the woodwinds' chattering phrases have a crystalline clarity and the sense of front-to-rear perspective heightens the contrasts in Sibelius' material. In the haunting second movement, the multi-dimensional nature of the recording illuminates the scoring of the walking bass (shared between cellos and double-basses) beautifully. To crown it all, the closing pages have a tremendous depth and weight. In terms of sound, this is second to none in the catalogue.
Levi is one of that rare breed of artists who give you what the composer wrote, without any intrusive 'interpretation'. This is a performance to live with."
- MusicWeb Dec 2004

Maestro Yoel Levi is the Principal Guest Conductor of The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the first Israeli to hold this distinguished position. The 2004 United States Tour is his first with the Israel Philharmonic. The Orchestra is performing in 11 cities with noted soloists André Watts, Emanuel Ax, Joseph Kalichstein and Pinchas Zuckerman. In addition, he is Music Director Emeritus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Music Adviser to the Flemish Radio Orchestra. In September 2005, Levi will become the Principal Conductor of the Orchestre National d'Ile de France. In June 2001, he was named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, one of the most prestigious awards given by the French Government. .

While he was Music Director of the ASO from 1988 to 2000, Mr. Levi's impact on the orchestra was summed up by Gramophone Magazine, which said, "Yoel Levi has built a reputation for himself and for his orchestra that is increasingly the envy of the big five American counterparts in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston and Chicago," Among his many ASO milestones, are a highly successful performance of Mahler's Symphony no. 2 ("Resurrection") featuring the award winning ASO Chorus in New York's Avery Fischer Hall, a featured role at the Opening Ceremony of the Centennial Olympic Games in July of 1996, an extensive and critically acclaimed European Tour by the ASO in 1991, and the nomination of the ASO as "Best Orchestra of the Year" for 1991-92 by the First Annual International Classical Music Awards.