New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommassini has been beating the Alan Gilbert drum for quite some time now, and he freely admits that he expected to be disappointed in the end, and is thrilled to have been proven wrong. “Mr. Gilbert is an unpretentious musician with no whiff of the formidable maestro about him. And that is just what makes him such a refreshing choice for the Philharmonic… Mr. Gilbert presents himself simply as a solid, utterly professional conductor who will try to instill a collegial atmosphere within the ranks of the players rather than be their teacher.”