Melinda Bargreen
….Fortunately, the singers and the orchestra, under the direction of conductor Jordan de Souza, also ensure that the musical values are paramount. The orchestral Prelude to Act III was especially fine, with a warm, rich symphonic sound ushering in the tragic finale.
. . . Jordan D’Souza directed the Seattle Symphony in a meticulously shaped, beautifully tinted and propulsive reading of Wagner’s Tristan. For a young conductor’s first take on this cornerstone of operatic history, d’Souza impressively drew myriad details and color from the score and contributed to his accomplished ensemble’s musical success.
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By Rose Dodd, 11 September 2022
Walking into the auditorium for Dutch National Opera’s revival of Robert Carsen’s 2009 production of Carmen there was much bustling as people claimed their seats. Glancing towards the stage gave the appearance of ‘theatre in the round’ with a wall of red plastic seating where other audience members seemed to be taking their seats. But this was not so. On closer inspection the staged audience was uniformly dressed in pastel 1950s-style costumes, with men wearing the same cloth caps. They too were waiting as keenly as us for Carmen to begin. This was the first unseating of us as a conventional opera audience attending a conventional performance. Let the game begin.
. . . . Under Jordan de Souza’s baton the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra created sweet and lyrical moments of tenderness. Choreographed direction of both the Dutch National Opera Chorus and New Amsterdam Children’s Choir was both fun and precisely characterised, adding to a wholly persuasive textured rendition – a wondrous spectacle, a starkly innovative approach – of one of the most notorious operas in the repertoire.
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. . . Jordan de Souza conducts the London Philharmonic, and it’s as if all the colour that has been leached from the stage is brimming over the edge of the pit. It’s not only love that is defiant in the face of death, but music, too.
The New York Times (Jan 18, 2018)
A.J. Goldmann
With three full-time opera houses, seven major symphony orchestras and numerous world-class choirs, all lavishly funded by the German government, Berlin may well be the most musically active city on earth. It has also reached a moment of transition, with the rise of a new generation of young, international musical chiefs. . .