. . . . Conductor Jordan de Souza is a 35-year-old Canadian prodigy. He has already moved through career phases as a virtuoso organist and a Baroque choral conductor, and now heads the prestigious Komische Oper Berlin and globetrots as an opera conductor. His crisp cues, rhythmic flow, and ability to create a transparent and delicately balanced soundscape signal remarkable self-assurance in someone conducting this difficult score for the first time. A decade from now, he may well be hailed as one of the greats among modern opera conductors – and I imagine that he will develop a firmer command of this opera’s climactic moments. The orchestra responded splendidly through the night – with the despondent English horn solo in Act III more beautifully phrased than I have ever heard.
Seattle Opera 2022-23 Review: Tristan und Isolde
From the second bar of Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” in the hands of conductor Jordan De Souza, it was clear Seattle Opera’s production (which opened Saturday night and runs through Oct. 29) would be sonically something special.
True spectacle as Robert Carsen’s Carmen is revived at Dutch National Opera
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.
Full text of review
Operawire-Glyndebourne Festival Opera Review 2022: La Bohème
La Bohème at Glyndebourne 2022 – Review
Chicago Tribune:‘Florencia en el Amazonas’ review: Inspired by Gabriel García Márquez, a Spanish-language opera finally docks at Lyric Opera
… Here, those in the first few rows could see first-hand conductor Jordan de Souza’s masterly control of the mood and pacing in the crucial final passages. Even if you didn’t buy the butterfly bit (we’ll keep it vague, though scenic designer Peter J. Davison certainly doesn’t) you could hear the magic.