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Press:
“Anna is one of the most talented and promising young conductors I’ve come across and her potential is truly extraordinary. It is a joy to watch her conduct. Her expressions are powerful yet refined and come from a deeply profound musicianship. One of her strong qualities, among others, is her human side; her sensitivity and deep psychological understanding of our work.”
– Andris Nelsons
...In the Fifth (Symphony No. 5 by P. Tchaikovsky) the outstanding playing of the DSO Berlin under Anna Rakitina evoked a voyage that commenced in the shadows and concluded with the soaring light of redemption. The orchestra will know this work well and it felt and looked as if Rakitina was guiding with empathy rather than issuing commands. The playing was unified, and the range of expression achieved was wide. Considering the acoustic of the Frauenkirche can be quirky the orchestral sound felt well focused, and the woodwind and brass sections excelled.
Michael Cookson
[ June 4th, 2024 - Seen and Heard International ]
...the music’s subsequent fire was sharp and brutal, with Rakitina delivering astonishing vividness in its large, roiling tuttis. Though unexpected, Rakitina’s ‘Romassical’ interpretative approach yielded significant details and wonders, rethinking music that has become all too familiar, allowing it to speak afresh.
Simon Cummings
[ November 13th, 2024 - Bachtrack ]
Her handling of the opening movement balanced the conflicting atmospheres of martial pomp and somber introspection. The Allegretto frolicked to the point of being tipsy. Then came the Largo.... Rakitina made the music ache with sadness, like a cry for salvation. Then with explosive energy, she ignited the finale.
Jim Farber
[ August 21st, 2023 - San Francisco Classical Voice ]
Rakitina caught the ebb and flow of Sibelius’s continual tempo changes, maintaining tension, drawing the string melody out at the end before the darkling horns intruded with a suggestion of the trombone theme. In the final bar you could clearly make out the strings surging from B into a final affirmative, of sorts, C. Rakitina created a Seventh to cherish.
Jeffrey Gantz
[ April 8, 2022 - The Boston Musical Intelligencer ]
Rakitina shone in the more rhythmic passages of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, especially in the second movement Allegro marcato. The accents here in both melody and ostinato were so emphatic as to be rude, almost grotesque, which was fantastic fun; when that material returned slowly at first after the more lyrical middle section, I wrote down “Monsters!”
David Wolfson
[ April 2, 2022 - Bachtrack ]
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