Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra at Lincoln Center

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Wednesday, 02 September 2026 13:45

Written by Jack Angstreich

Keri-Lynn Wilson leading the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra on August 25, 2026, at David Geffen Hall in New York City. Photo: Richard Termine / Met Opera 

At Lincoln Center’s wonderful David Geffen Hall, on the night of Tuesday, August 25th, I had the exceptional pleasure of attending a superb concert—the first of two on consecutive days—performed by the outstanding Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, under the impeccable direction of Keri-Lynn Wilson.

The event started splendidly with a sterling realization of the marvelous, one-movement Suite from the new opera by the Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets, The Mothers of Kherson. (I predict that this Suite will enter the orchestral repertory.) The extraordinary, Norwegian soprano, Lise Davidsen—whose terrific, debut recital at Carnegie Hall this June I have already reviewed here—then entered the stage for an unforgettable rendition of Richard Strauss’s magnificent Four Last Songs, from 1948, written for the legendary Kirsten Flagstad. The initial three lyrics in the sequence are exquisite poems by the major novelist, Hermann Hesse. The first of these, “Fruhling,” is the most optimistic of the set, while the remaining songs express a more fatalistic outlook, beginning with “September” and followed by “Going to Sleep.” The final song, “At Sunset,” is a setting of a poem by the great Romantic lyricist, Joseph, baron von Eichendorff. The singer and the ensemble were enthusiastically applauded.

The second half of the evening was comparably memorable, consisting of an enchanting version of Ludwig van Beethoven’s amazing Symphony No. 7. The first movement opens suspensefully with a Poco sostenuto introduction, at length anticipating its joyous, recurringly propulsive main body which at times reflects an almost pastoral ethos, although it finishes emphatically. The ensuing Allegretto is much more solemn in mood, but it too has an insistent—if much slower—rhythm; a central section has a sunnier, more lyrical quality, but the darker, more elegiac music soon returns, elaborated in a fugue-like episode—the movement closes somewhat abruptly, if satisfyingly. 

The succeeding, energetic scherzo, is cheerful, even playful at moments, displaying the composer’s boundless capacity for surprise, but the second half of the movement becomes more serious in tone before the dance-like, initial music is recapitulated, although the second, statelier theme is soon forcefully restated—it too ends unexpectedly. The Allegro con brio finale is jubilant, dynamic and breathless, with lilting passages, and it builds to a rousing, triumphant conclusion. 

A standing ovation elicited a fabulous encore: a beautiful arrangement of the Ukrainian national anthem.

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