City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Litton's reading of Elgar's Enigma Variations was refreshingly unsentimental (thank you for such an honest, unaggrandised Nimrod) but always tender. Tempi flowed easily, and instrumental solos emerged naturally from an orchestral texture shaped by Litton with remarkable clarity, and with the capacity to command breathtaking pianissimos. Elgar for the English? The hands of this American proved otherwise. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Elgar: Enigma Variations
— Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post
Andrew Litton proved yet again that it's not only British conductors who hold the secret to Elgar. His reading of Falstaff, a masterpiece valedictory in tone, was sensitive to mood, allowing so much character to come from the players themselves. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Elgar: Falstaff
— Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post
Litton realised such an urgency and defiance in the opening Allegro as to suggest a conviction that this work - written in the early 1930s - could speak with renewed immediacy to the audience of today. Litton ensured a thrusting, rhythmic precision, but he was also able to underline the characteristically quirky moments and its edgy, malicious bite. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Walton: Symphony No. 1
— Rian Evans, The Guardian
[Litton], who was influential in his time as Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, displayed a firm comprehension of the score from its outset, setting an unsentimental tempo that accentuated the work's iciness. Litton doesn't sugar-coat his demands and the CBSO responded with great flexibility, shaping the first movement's giant crescendo into a terrifying, muscular climax. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
— Elmley de la Cour, Birmingham Post
Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture, carefully-delineated and sustained at first, then driven crisply and rhythmically, moved towards a love theme whose intensity here was almost too much too bear. And Vaughan Williams' Symphony no.4 was searing and passionate, taking no prisoners, in Litton's reading with this pliant orchestra. Textures and timbres were consummately layered, instrumental solos were engaging, and the drama unfolded with relentless timing.
— Christopher Morley , Birmingham Post
Sandwiching the Barber were two authentically Shakespearean works, beginning with the suite from Walton's fabulous score for Laurence Olivier's wartime film of Henry V. Litton drew a vivid and engrossing reading from this huge orchestra which seems unable to play at less than superlative form, and there were some wonderful solos as well, flute and cor anglais among them.
— Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post
No centenary celebration of Shostakovich would be complete without his mighty Leningrad Symphony - and this was a performance to remember. Andrew Litton crammed more than 100 players from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on to the stage, with brass reinforcements up in the gallery, for a breathtaking display of power and poise.
— Patsy Fuller, Coventry Evening Telegraph