Finland, Joensuu City Orchestra Conductor Philip Ellis was the splendid interpreter of the sound world of his British compatriot (Elgar's Serenade). The orchestra's playing was nothing less than excellent. Weber's Symphony No. 1 is an imaginative, glittering celebration and Ellis's baton worked its magic. (KARJALAINEN)
The London Mozart Players enjoyed playing for conductor Philip Ellis. Indeed they sat and applauded him at the end of the first half. He began by directing a most sensitive and finely shaded account of Schubert's Rosamunde overture. His reading of Mozart's Jupiter symphony was notable for clarity of texture and refinement of phrasing. Ellis is definitely a talent to watch. (DAILY TELEGRAPH)
Philip Ellis was equally at home with the concert's more intimate scenes and the large-scale canvas of the Eroica. The first movement's conflicts were carefully built, the relative claims of form, sound and expressions finely observed. The tread of the famous funeral march sent a shiver down the spine, before the brief comfort and joy of the major-key trio. And the movement's final statement of grief had an epic ring to it. (NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST)
His clear indications, his extraordinary ability to map out the course of the musical thought, enabled a fast flowing interpretation of the overture to Verdi's La Forza del Destino. He made the brass make the most of the threatening moods, made the tremoli of the strings, promising happiness, linger and accelerate again and again to the glissandi of the winds which keeps the work together. One can only wish to hear this guest conductor again." (SUDWESTPRESSE)
Right in the opening work the lively style of the young British conductor came into its own. For Ellis, Verdi's La Forza del Destino is not a bombastic melodrama, but a thriller as tough as nails. The analytical power of the conductor proved its worth in Dvorak's E flat Symphony; it was his spirited interpretation which showed us that we have nothing less than a hitherto unjustly neglected stroke of genius. One thing is certain; with this performance the young conductor made himself friends in Reutlingen. One should remember his name when the question of the Music Director will be discussed. (REUTLINGER NACHRICHTEN)
Philip Ellis and the (Württembergische) Philharmonie get on with each other fabulously; the rehearsals must have been great for both parties, because the result showed quality not just due to precision and tonal fine-honing, but also to a good measure of verve and plain good fun. It was fresh, expressive music-making, pulsating with power and clear warmth. (REUTLINGER GENERALANZEIGER)
Popular guest conductor Philip Ellis launched the second half of the Brighton Philharmonic's season with a cohesive and refreshingly positive performance of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. Ellis set about cleaning the canvas in admirable fashion revealing a collection of deft musical colours. The haunting theme of the shepherd's song restored the idealised picture in poetic fashion. I have seldom heard it played as movingly as this. (MID SUSSEX TIMES)
Under guest conductor Philip Ellis, the Nottingham Philharmonic gave us every assistance. Their drive, lucidity and attention to detail were outstanding. Pensive and idyllic moments left their mark, before the worldly aspects of the symphony (Elgar's "A Hero's Life”, if you like) exploded in a final glow of triumph. (NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST - Elgar Symphony 1).