"... Francois Leleux, was more extrovert than autumnal, dancing about the stage to give a nimble visual dimension to crisp, note-perfect playing."
“However, the evening’s virtuoso soloist, Francois Leleux, was more extrovert than autumnal, dancing about the stage to give a nimble visual dimension to crisp, note-perfect playing. This was a pronouncedly virile interpretation without reticence or much inner glow, and its comparatively few moments of wistfulness were moving enough to make you want more. But then Leleux was off again, darting here and there in a surprisingly large performance robustly supported by Carlos Kalmar and the orchestra. Leleux’s additional offering was a twittering solo encore, the third of six Etudes for Oboe by Gilles Silvestrini, which sought to evoke Claude Monet’s painting of the bustling Boulevard des Capucines in Paris.” (Chicago Tribune, August 5, 2017)