«The encounter with Shostakovich's 13th Symphony in the Herkulessaal became a stirring experience. Under the sovereign, concentrated direction of John Axelrod, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the BR men’s choir and bassist Mikhail Petrenko devoted themselves to this 1962 opus with great devotion.[…] Barber's streaming string Adagio and Stravinsky's long-lost "funeral song" rounded off the program. Axelrod's precisely directed ensemble took every opportunity to savour Stravinsky's colourful instrumentation almost theatrically. Great applause. » Gabriele Luster, OVB Online 29.06.2018