You The Critic: I, Culture Orchestra, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Tom Zembzycki, five stars:

A good performance can leave us with a feeling, an emotion we understand the composer felt while carefully arranging his masterpiece. The I, Culture Orchestra, and its conductor, Kirill Karabits, left us not only with a feeling, but with a vision.

Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, is no simple score to manage. Its moving melodies and often aggressive rhythms captured the tragedies of the Soviet people, perseverance of the populace caught in the 900- day Leningrad Siege, and the world defiance of Nazi totalitarianism.

The symphony opened with a grandiose theme from the strings, echoed by the woodwind, melting into a soothing section driven by flutes. Without warning, the movement climaxed as screaming brass and possessed strings quarreled for dominance.

It then fell into a slower, two-part section. A beautifully played bassoon solo, coupled with an elegant recapitulation of the first theme, and a short coda brought us to the end of the movement.

The last movement was where Karabits and his orchestra really left us mesmerised. Opening with another calm melody, the lower strings swiftly interjected with a march-like theme. Karabits then reined in the energy for a well paced section showing his control, and the absolute attention his orchestra gave him. The ending, a colossal and powerful chord, was met with an equally powerful ovation.

Although their first appearance in the Edinburgh Festival, the ICO led by Karabits has left us all with vivid glimpse of the past, and will undoubtedly be performing again.

Malcolm Goodare, five stars:

I, CULTURE. What an exciting name for an orchestra of talented young musicians from Poland, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, conducted passionately by Kirill Karabits. With the theme of war in this year's Edinburgh International Festival, to remember the centenary of WW1, they gave us a remarkable performance of Shostakovich's 'Leningrad' Symphony and Panufnik's Sinfonia Elegiaca.

The Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik wrote his Sinfonia Elegiaca as an "anti-war protest against violence and the aggressive element in mankind", and I, CULTURE brought this out wonderfully, with beautiful, wholesome sound. The 'protest' middle section was powerful and rhythmic, and every player had movement and vitality, bringing the sound together and making it a real collaborative performance which was a joy to experience.

They really needed something as powerful and memorable as the Leningrad to follow that up. They threw us in and out of suspense from start to finish, showing an unheeded love for Shostakovich's music. They almost recreated the emotion which would have been present in its performance in besieged and war-stricken Leningrad in 1942. Even in the relative peace and comfort of the Usher Hall, the unanimous whoops from the audience afterwards showed that they had really hit us all with Shostakovich's feelings and of the people around him during the terrible conflict.

The orchestra not only reflected the power and emotion in Karabits' conducting, but they added their own too. Each individual added their own flair to the great mixture, and this made it so uniquely exciting.

Jo Stapleton, four stars:

Although no one can deny the potent political and social messages associated with Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony, some dispute its musical quality. The same cannot be said, however, of the newly established I, CULTURE Orchestra, performing under the baton of Kirill Karrabits. As well as being founded to improve relations between Eastern Partnership states and Poland the youth orchestra plays to an extremely high standard.

The performance began with Panufnik's Sinfonia Elegiaca, a deeply harrowing piece, dedicated to war victims. A well-controlled timpani roll gave way to a magnificent cello sound, something that became a feature of tonight's performance. There was an impressive dynamic range, especially during the crescendo leading up to the end of the second section which culminated in a tremendous cymbal clash, stunning the audience.

From the first note of the Shostakovich the strings played with a satisfyingly full, intense tone. The snare drum had its notoriously difficult part well under control. Woodwind solos were fantastic - haunting, delicate flute performances as well as powerful oboe playing penetrating right to the back of the hall.

Entitled "Memories", the start of the third movement felt rather rushed and attacked; not reflective enough. However later on, spine-tinglingly, anguished upper string playing made the impacts of war feel very real, as they may be to some of the players. Sheer volume of the immense ensemble, much aided by blasting brass made the finale what it was - a horrifying, terrifying picture of war.

Audience enthusiasm was so great that the orchestra ended the evening with a much needed uplifting waltz.

Callum Morton, five stars:

If you want a musical performance of post war terror, this is the right concert for you. A fitting line up brilliantly depicted the harsh conditions both composers struggled through, and the marathon of the Leningrad powerfully took you through the experiences of a Nazi invade. And hell, at some points it was as if the Usher Hall was being invaded! Conducting the juggernaut that was the I, Culture orchestra, Kirill Karabits pulled you through a roller-coaster of excitement and thrill yet never missed a down stroke. The tone was set by Andrzej Panufnik's Sinfonia Elegiaca, a short three movement stunning piece of work which was conveyed perfectly by the band, the atmosphere was electric after the first first movement and then cut contrastingly by the thunderous sounds of the the second, only then to be seduced by the smooth, rich harmonies undulating and ascending in the strings the movement after.

The Ukrainian conductor then had the mettle to endure the Leningrad symphony which, although incredibly demanding, was played tremendously and with great gusto; moving the audience and submerging us in a world of conflict and unrest. It's intertwining melodies, boasted by I, Culture, really gave the audience a taste of the Russian defiance, however, the finale of the Leningrad was the highlight of the concert; it was as if I, Culture had replaced their percussion section with siege engines and the Karabits was calling the shots. Not to be missed!

Rory Anderson, four stars:

On Sunday night, the final notes of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 were met with whoops and cheers from the audience at the Usher Hall.

The gripping performance opened with Panunifnik's beautiful Sinfonia elegiaca, a 3 movement work protesting violence and the innate anger of mankind.

This was followed by the Leningrad symphony, which was written during the siege of the Russian city in 1940. The movement of the German army was captured by a simple rhythm on the snare drum, which grew throughout the movement until the climax in the brass - particularly in the trumpets - when a new agitated theme came in signifying the arrival of the German invaders.

The second and third movements were more calming and peaceful, and by the end of the fourth movement the audience were so engrossed in the captivating performance that a pin drop could be heard.

100 years after the start of the great war, this fantastic performance reminded us that war is a terrible, yet ongoing affair.

Mark Reid, five stars:

A gripping performance by the professional I, CULTURE Orchestra displayed Shostakovich's intense emotions of terror and grief flowing out of his famous war-time classic Symphony No.7 "Leningrad". The sense that people had arrived equally to see this great piece rivalled the turn up for the stars of the orchestra (a few members of the audience were positively head-banging throughout the finale) with conductor Kirill Karabits create a sombre tone that only the Usher Hall can produce. The famous acoustic merits of Edinburgh's grand concert hall accompanied tonights performance and the air of experience shone off the musicians even though it was their debut in Edinburgh, with the solo from Bassoonist Joanna Gancarz  in the first movement singing expressively and echoing despair and poignant emotion.

Equally to forget Andrezej Panufnik's "Sinfonia elegiaca" would be criminal as this piece was a diamond in the ruff compared to the crushing work of the Leningrad. Although sharing its sad tone of war and despair, the piece had a much more cantabile sound and really displayed musicality, especially in the last slow section where warm rising semitones from strings and perfect harmonies from the horns showed synergy in the orchestra and made for a very enjoyable first half.

Alas, after the rip-roaring finale of the Leningrad the ovation was a staggering five minutes but I felt it was much deserved. A swift encore delighted the audience into more applause and cheers as the orchestra bowed to end this magnificent night of War music classics and exceptional talent.