Opera
HET BRABANTS ORKEST / LA BOHÈME / MAY 2005
„The French conductor Laurent Wagner lets play Het Brabants
Orkest with colour and passion..."
De Telegraaf, Eddie Vetter, 9.5.05
„...The French conductor Laurent Wagner often urges Het
Brabants Orkest on to delightful romantic performance..."
Limburgs Dagblad, Wim Hekking, 9.5.05
„…one can enjoy the music. First of all thanks to
the French conductor Laurent Wagner. I a masterly way he combines
the floating movement in Puccini's music with extreme rhythmical
precision.“
Haagsche Courant, Aad van der Ven, 9.5.05
MAIFESTSPIELE WIESBADEN / ORFEO ED EURIDICE / MAY 2005
"Eine risikofreudige "Orfeo ed Euridice", aus Irland
in Wiesbaden"
"...das vom Franzosen Laurent Wagner dirigierte Orpheus-Ensemble
im Orchestergraben spielte mit extremen Echo- und Sordino-Effekten
überaus farbig und risikofreudig..."
Frankfurter Rundschau, 7.5.05
"...Die Produktion der "Opera Ireland" ...unter
der Leitung von Laurent Wagner gastierte bei den Maifestspielen
und wurde zu einem gefeierten Publikumserfolg. ...Die Frische
des authentischen, scharf akzentuierten und flexiblen Musizierens,
für das Laurent Wagner mit energischem Einsatz sorgte, ließ
die Interpretation der italienisch gesungenen Wiener Fassung nicht
zuletzt orchestral zum erfreulichen Erlebnis werden..."
Wiesbadener Kurier, 7.5.05
GAIETY THEATRE, DUBLIN / ORFEO ED EURIDICE / NOVEMBER
2004
“If I have not mentioned the music so far it is because
the pantomime element had been so strong; the great triumph of
the evening was the playing of the RTÉCO under Laurent
Wagner. Here was the nobility, the purity and the restraint that
Gluck was aiming at.”
Douglas Sealy, 23 November 2004
OPERA IRELAND / JENUFA / APRIL 2004
The next night’s Jenufa … as a result, this tremendous
piece of intelligent verismo gets the full treatment of horror-folk
costumes and happy peasants – a kind of Central European
Riverdance. This is a particular drag (does anyone still want
literalism in the opera?) since the evening (well conducted by
Laurent Wagner) features two of the most centred, eviscerating
performances you could hope to see.
The Times, 20 April 2004
Wagner’s sharp contouring of the instrumental writing was
an essential component in ensuring the success of this often understated
production in the composer’s terms.
The Irish Times, 20 April 2004
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Concert
Haydn – The Creation / Mahony Hall in The Helix,
Dublin / February 2005
This nexus of the spirits of Handel and Haydn was vividly evoked
by conductor Laurent Wagner with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
and the National Chamber Choir in Thursday night’s performance
at The Helix.
Wagner’s lean and lively direction … gave a fresh,
period sound…
Michael Dungan, 12 February 2005
Mozart – Schubert – Mahler / National Concert
Hall / February 2005
Wagner conducted the work (Mahler) with keen responses. He was
sharp in his observation of its extraordinary colour and gesture,
taking the music’s vividness at face value rather than attempting
to smooth things out in the pursuit of some grander plan.
Wagner is a man who makes good use of light and shade, and whose
notions of orchestral give-and-take involve a lot in the way of
redrawn balances for players used to the cluttered middle-ground
that often passes muster in both of RTÉ’s orchestras.
This concert marked Wagner’s debut with RTÉ’s
bigger orchestra. Let’s hope he’s extended the opportunity
to continue the work.
Michael Dervan, February 12, 2005
RTÉ CONCERT ORCHESTRA DUBLIN / BEETHOVEN-CYCLE
IN IRELAND
"...Laurent Wagner and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra´s
concert at The Helix are setting new standards in Dublin."
The Irish Times, 4 October 2004
"Beethoven himself gave his Symphony No. 6 its "Pastoral"
title. ... One of the reasons for this freshnee was the way in
which Laurent Wagner appeared to allow the musicians to discover
each detail for themselves."
Martin Adams, October 2004
The orchestra, under Laurent Wagner, sensibly gave him space and
never crowded in on the essential beauty of his playing. Muraro’s
power and passion burst forth dramatically when required, but
my abiding memory is of moments when notes, barely touched, hung
like exquisite pearls in the hush of the auditorium. Pure magic.
Sunday Business Post, 10 October 2004
RTÉ CONCERT ORCHESTRA DUBLIN / 1ST SEASON AS PRINCIPAL
CONDUCTOR
"The highlight of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra’s
final Tales from Vienna concert at The Helix on Saturday was the
performance of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. Wagner unfolded
it with an unusually light touch, while at the same time keeping
closely in contact with the music’s melancholy lyricism,
the sweet sadness through which it continues to keep listeners
in thrall. Laurent Wagner continues to impress in his first season
as principal conductor of the RTÉCO, particularly in the
earlier part of the repertoire he’s chosen to explore and
in the general tightening of performances under his leadership."
The Irish Times, 5 April 2004
"The RTÉ Concert Orchestra’s new principal conductor,
Laurent Wagner, has been winning plaudits for the way he has stirred
up the orchestra’s playing.
Mozart’s late Symphony in E flat was sculpted with incisive
rhythmic attack and sharply articulated phrasing. This symphony,
which lies rather unfairly in the shadow of the two that followed
it, the G minor and the Jupiter, here fairly throbbed with vitality.
Wagner sees Mozart as a composer with a real spring in his step,
and his stylish handling of this music bodes well for an area
of repertoire that’s surely going to be central to his years
at the helm of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra."
The Irish Times, 22 March 2004
"It is hard to believe that Laurent Wagner is still in his
first year as principal conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
The first concert in the Tales from Vienna series seemed to have
har more experience behind it than that ... The responsive orchestral
playing depended as much on listening as on watching the conductor.
That impression was reinforced by the lively account of Haydn’s
Symphony No. 103: disciplined, full of life and earthy but never
earthbound. The promise of this series and of Wagner’s work
with the orchestra was embodied in the Sinfonietta by Zemlinksky."
The Irish Times, 16 March 2004
"Laurent Wagner … as the principal conductor of the
RTE Concert Orchestra he has made his mark by his thorough programme
preparation and quiet, authoritative approach. He has at the same
time forged an excellent working rapport with his musicians, inspiring
them to play with more style and musical panache, and above all,
has concentrated their minds to a greater degree. This was made
cristal clear in the seiries A Tale of Four Cities last October,
so much so that its success has whetted music-lovers appetites
for the second series, Tales from Vienna."
Sunday Independent, 7 March 2004
"Wagner’s opening series last October was a landmark
in the history of the orchestra, a dynamic new principal conductor."
The Irish Times, December 2003
"It has been a delight to see the rapport between the players
of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and their new principal conductor,
Laurent Wagner. Their Tales of Four Cities concerts and their
playing for Opera Ireland in Bellini’s Norma featured the
most consistently well-formed and stylish playing i have heard
from this orchestra. So, for achievement thus far and for a promising
future, Wagner’s arrival is my highlight for Irish orchestral
music."
The Arts, December 2003
"And the début of the Frenchman Laurent Wagner as
principal conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra demonstrated
what a quantum leap the right man in the right place can achieve."
The Irish Times, October 2003
