(…) The dapper Thibaudet, in a red brocade jacket, is for all his virtuosic flash a pianist of glittery elegance. The tall Denève, with his mad scientist hair and his emphasis on a robust orchestral sound, has an inner elegance that keeps him too at, but never over, the edge of overindulgence. Together, they make an exceptional pair.(…)
It would be hard to find a greater variety of approaches to “La Mer” than from the great French conductors. (…) Denève comes closest to Munch, but with 21st century touches. The orchestra was very large and the performance grand and glorious. A conductor as connoisseur of fine lines, Denève tempered enthusiastic wildness with a sense of poetry, might with a feeling for the distinct personality of orchestral sections and, indeed, discrete instruments. The L.A. Phil was at its best being treated as both a body of individuals and a collective, which is to say an enlightened citizenry.”