volodin in london again

three weeks after his London debut, Alexei Volodin returns on 12 October, this time performing Prokofiev Concerto No.4. While I missed Volodin's actual London debut, I was present the following night for what I considered to be a very exciting concert, despite feeling slightly stressed.*
Like me, the rest of the capacity Barbican audience enjoyed both the concerto and Gergiev's reading of the second symphony, there was a real buzz, and it was fantastic to hear a non-'stocking filler' interpretation of core repertoire. I'd managed to see Volodin during the day, but I had already heard how successful the night before had been (standing ovations, a few encores, very happy promoters and funders, and many orchestra members offering their congratulations, etc).
Therefore when the reviews started to land a few days later, I had no idea what was going on (neither did Volodin's management). It seemed that only the Guardian and classicalsource had anything positive to say about the concerts, and the Telegraph, Times and Independent tore the Rachmaninoff Festival, Gergiev, LSO and Volodin apart.
I am not a critic, and I respect the validity and point of critique whether I agree or not. However, as some comments felt particularly vindictive and unkind, especially for a young musician receiving a London debut, I could not help feeling that Volodin might have been unfortunately getting tarred with a perceived anti-Gergiev brush. When you take into account that Volodin had hardly received a bad review in the three years beforehand or since, then maybe the whole thing is an abberation. I guess we'll get some indication after his Prokofiev at the end of next week, but the proof will be in the reviews when Volodin and Gergiev tour with the LSO to Japan (Nov/Dec) and America (March), and whether Volodin gets booked for future LSO seasons.

*As mentioned previously, a coach of LFA members came down to London. I had gone through the timings and routes with the coach company, and despite leaving plenty of time to arrive, the coach pulled up at the Silk Street entrance one minute after the concert's advertised start time. I said at the time, and I'll say it again here - thank you Barbican staff for your calmness and professionalism and for your help in getting everyone seated just in time for Gergiev to walk on. By stretching the start time slightly, you had 20 extremely happy punters that had travelled 125 miles to be there.