I suspect that few of us care if Osmo Vänskä has rescued Sibelius from dismissive remarks by mid-20^th century European critics like Theodor Adorno and Rene Leibowitz. But in his glowing review of the touring Minnesota Orchestra published Wednesday in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, critic Wolfgang Sandner sums up with a really big statement.

Here it is, in English translation:

“In every phase of the remarkable concert … a completely different universal notion was shown to be absurd: that of the American “Big Five,” the five leading music ensembles of the United States. They have long since become the “Big Ten.” And the Minnesota Orchestra from Minneapolis, which looks back on more than a century of tradition with conductors like Mitropoulos, Ormandy, Dorati and Neville Marriner, belongs to it absolutely as an undeniably homogenous ensemble.”

Strong words. The tour concludes today (March 5) and the orchestra will be back on the platform in Orchestra Hall next Thursday.

RELATED CONTENT: Minnesota Orchestra impresses critics in Europe, by David Hawley, March 5, 2009