Page 369 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

7 February 2023

Szeps-Znaider and the RLPO stun, dazzle and

exhilarate at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings,

Wow! As Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider took to the Symphony Hall stage at the start of Monday
evening’s Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra concert, not many of us can have had
much of an idea what lay in store. His demeanour and body language seemed relaxed, self-
effacing, almost discreet, with none of the swish and swagger that accompany rather too
many of today’s conductors.

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and the RLPO rehearsing in Symphony Hall
© Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
As Bruch’s Violin Concerto no. 1 in G minor began, with Szeps-Znaider also taking the role
of soloist, his movements were similarly low-key: vague waves of the hand or bow, a slight
lean of his body, the makings of a nod. Yet what emerged from this almost absurdly