Michael Tilson Thomas opened the NY Philharmonic’s 2024/25 season conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. The program also included Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 14 featuring Emanuel Ax as soloist.

Selected as a New York Times Critic’s Pick, Zachary Woolfe raved: “Some conductors can convey Mahler’s intensity without overkill, and some cannot. Mr. Thomas certainly can.”

Photo: Chris Lee

New York Classical Review praised the Tilson Thomas/Ax pairing, reporting: “The two bowed to the audience, then to the orchestra, and were repeatedly called back to the stage—a custom that may be going out of fashion in classical concerts, but seemed driven on Thursday by a genuine reluctance to part with these two gentlemen.”

Photo: Chris Lee

The Financial Times, lauding Tilson Thomas and Ax for “still finding new things in familiar works,” noted that MTT “…is not only one of the great classical musicians of the past 50 years, but his every appearance is special.”

Photo: Chris Lee

For more, read the full reviews from theThe New York Times, New York Classical Review, and The Financial Times.