The Ulster Orchestra Finale Concert
A diverse collection of classics and Barry Douglas close the Ulster Orchestra's season
The Ulster Orchestra's 2008/2009 programme looks to be one of the most eclectic in years, with performances from artists including violinist Tasmin Little, clarinettist Julian Bliss, and the Dankworth family.
Let's not forget the closing concert of the current season, however, featuring one of Northern Ireland's most popular classical exports, pianist Barry Douglas.
Opening the concert is Copland's 'El salón México', a charming homage to a Mexican dancehall the composer visited in 1932. It contains all the hallmarks of his music, quirky rhythms and dissonant chords with a light-hearted touch.
Following this, Beethoven's exquisite 'Fourth Piano Concerto in G Major', one of the great concertos in the repertoire, in its day an incredibly progressive work. This concerto is distinctly Beethoven - a composer endeavouring to re-invent one of music's great genres. In doing so, Beethoven created a work of harmonic invention and formal uniqueness, something which would become a signature of his later work. Douglas's recital is right on the money, a fantastic performance of both technical dexterity and skilful musicianship. Douglas has a fierce respect for the classical form and his fellow musicians. Soloist and orchestra move as one, with excellent direction from principal conductor Kenneth Montgomery, whose interpretative energy and flair marks him as one of the finest conductors around.
Diversifying the evening's proceedings is Prokofiev's 'Symphony No 5', a triumphant, sterling performance of what Ulster Orchestra chief executive David Byers describes as 'one of the great symphonies of the 20th century'. The number five has a special place among symphonic composers, particularly those writing in the years following the First World War. Consider Shostakovich's 'Fifth Symphony' or Vaughan Williams's fantastic 'Fifth', with its nostalgic wink back to his earlier pastoral style. For many, Prokofiev's 'Symphony No 5' is a definitive work, a culmination of style and character. The same can be said of his magnum opus, '100', a vast work encapsulating the composer's personality and style. The symphony is an enigma, both dark and colourful. It recalls other Prokofiev works including Romeo and Juliet, and some of his work on motion pictures. Of particular note during this piece is the 'Allegro giocoso finale', an intrepid orchestral engine furiously running toward the finish. Clarinettist Paul Schumann's performance provides the giocoso element with flair, and with Prokofiev's spectacular finale flourish, the orchestra end their 2007/2008 season in fine form.
Principal conductor Kenneth Montgomery has said that 'innovation, participation and creative enrichment' are the key words of the forthcoming season. The future certainly looks bright.
The Ulster Orchestra will shortly return to its spiritual home, the modernised Ulster Hall, allowing for a greater relationship with the public. And as far as creative enrichment is concerned, with the enduring support of the Arts Council and other sponsors, the Ulster Orchestra can only go from strength to strength.
(Graeme Stewart / Culture Nothern Ireland)
Prokofiev's symphonies tend to be overshadowed by those of his compatriot Shostakovich. The Fifth is one of his most frequently heard works; even so, it is a far less familiar piece than Shostakovich's equivalent. The reasons for this lie within the works themselves, which was strongly suggested by this performance of the symphony from the Ulster Orchestra and principal conductor Kenneth Montgomery.
Prokofiev's Fifth is an enigmatic work, lacking the overarching narrative drive and dramatic resolution of a Shostakovich symphony; for a piece written near the end of the second world war, there is little in the way of epic struggle, heroism or black despair written into the music. Montgomery took a moderate, primarily lyrical approach. Though the acidic sharpness of the bouncy scherzo was still heard, it did not overwhelm, but was part of the overall musical colour, underpinned by a deep-rooted warmth. Only the slow movement was less successful; the high string writing needing more than Montgomery's laid-back approach to bring out its film score-like intensity.
While the Prokofiev was a good choice in the orchestra's temporary home of the Waterfront Hall, Copland's El Salon Mexico, which opened the programme, fared less well in the dry acoustic, the sound harsh and even approaching brutal at times.
Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto was more happily accommodated: local boy-turned international soloist Barry Douglas gave a distinctly personal performance, juxtaposing delicacy with grandeur and making the familiar seem new and even strange, although entirely appropriate.
(Rowena Smith / The Guardian / 29/05/08)
Click here to see casting and design team details for this production
Perhaps the star of the evening was British conductor Kenneth Montgomery, who was making his Atlanta Opera debut, like most of the singers. Montgomery paced the evening briskly. He supported the singers as if they were breathing together. He also drew lovely sonorities from the players in what might be called a neo-classical style. In some respects, his approach blended the heft of the modern orchestra with the tonal zest of "historically informed" performance practices by underplaying the strings and letting the woodwinds sing and squawk and offer pointed attacks. It all felt freshly scrubbed and wonderfully Mozartean.
(Pierre Ruhe / Atlanta Journal)
Dat luisteren was trouwens een groot genoegen. Kenneth Montgomery vuurde de Radio Kamer Philharmonie aan tot gedreven orkestspel, wel hard, maar zonder significant kleurverlies. Ondanks het opgeschroefde volume bereikte hij een weldadige eenheid met de solozangers en het als altijd uitmuntende Groot Omroepkoor.
Listening was a great enjoyment. Kenneth Montgomery fired the Radio Kamer Philharmonie to passionate playing, loud, but without significant loss of colour. Despite turning up the volume, he achieved a beneficient unity with the soloists and the - as always - excellent Groot Omroepkoor.
(Eddie Vetter / Telegraaf)
Aan de ijver van dirigent Kenneth Montgomery lag het niet dat deze Lucie nergens écht de adem benam. Hij draaide Lucia flink de duimschroeven aan en pookte het Radio Kamerorkest en immer imponerende Groot Omroepkoor op in straffe tempi.
That this Lucie never really started to breath had nothing to do with the zeal of conductor Kenneth Montgomery. He tightened down the thumbscrews on Lucia and stirred the Radio Kamerorkest and ever impressive Groot Omroepkoor up to stringent tempi.
(Mischa Spel / NRC Handelsblad)
Tinney, Collins, UO/Montgomery
NCH, Dublin
Tchaikovsky - The Tempest
Liszt - Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Stravinsky - Firebird Suite (1919)
Thursday's Ulster Orchestra concert at the National Concert Hall offered a pretty rare kind of musical sandwich. In the centre were the two piano concertos of Liszt, each featuring a different soloist. And enclosing them were two atmospheric Russian works, Tchaikovsky's rarely-heard The Tempest and Stravinsky's riotously-coloured Firebird Suite.
Tchaikovsky's symphonic fantasia after Shakespeare's play has a lot going for it. It has strong ideas and generates both an effective moodiness and some ardent love music. The composer didn't, however, manage to blend everything into a persuasive whole, and the piece also suffers from the fact that certain related musical impulses were expressed with much more point in his fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet . Stravinsky's Firebird is, by comparison, simply irresistible, individual, pictorial, characterful and sensual at every turn.
The Ulster Orchestra under principal conductor Kenneth Montgomery gave each work its all without in any way disturbing posterity's verdict on the two pieces.
It was a fascinating idea to offer a contrast of soloists in Liszt's two shortish piano concertos in a single concert. Hugh Tinney played the first with a dashing thoughtfulness and also engaged fully with the opportunities for chamber music-making that Liszt opened up through a range of orchestral solos.
Finghin Collins in the second was freer in delivery and fuller in tone, with his climactic delivery sometimes sounding like an unstoppable force of nature.
There was an attractive fluidity in quieter moments, too, and a sense of musical rightness in every gesture. Orchestra and conductor were with him every step of the way in this highly impressive performance.
(Michael Dervan / The Irish Times)
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La Vertu et la Passion
Le public marseillais n'a été déçu ni par un plateau de voix impérial, ni par la direction impeccable du chef Kenneth Montgomery.
La direction de Kenneth Montgomery, à la tête d'un Orchestre de l'opéra en formation réduite, parvient contre toute attente à faire sonner la partition de Haendel sans anachronisme. L'ancien chef de Glyndebourne accomplit un travail remarquable, et chaque pupitre se détaille avec raffinement et justesse.
(Patrick de Maria / La Marseillaise / 04/02/08)
Kenneth Montgomery n'avait pas la tâche facile avec un orchestre pratiquement étranger à la musique baroque; c'est donc une sorte de miracle qu'il
ait réussi à obtenir une exécution correcte, sans flamme particulièreaim s très homogène, avec une légèreté de touche et d'accents favorable aux chanteurs. Dirigeant dans la fosse disposée comme à Genève pour Ariodante il obtient par sa prudence d'emmener l'équipage à bon port. Ce n'est pas un mince mérite, et il est bon qu'il ait eu sa part des ovations au rideau final.
(Maurice Salles / Forum Opera)
La musique baroque de Haendel, placée sous la direction de Kenneth Montgomery, est parfaitement servie.
(Philippe Faner / Marseille l'Hebdo / 02/08)
Music to warm the heart and soul
THERE was more than a little frost in the air on Friday night as people made their way to the Waterfront Hall for the Ulster Orchestra's concert. All was temperate within, however, with a programme calculated to get the circulation going and warm one's blood and heart.
Dvorak's Carnival Overture got things off to a lively start, suggesting bohemian merry makers dancing in Slavic streets. This had the fast pace required and a quality of bounce also so necessary to drive it forward. A quiet interlude in the middle was illuminated by a velvety violin solo before the revellers' return, this time seemingly bringing with them a hostage tambourine player, whose frantic virtuosity brings the piece and the party to a riotous end.
The star turn of Friday's concert was violinist Nicola Benedetti, familiar to audiences here from her appearance two years ago in Proms in the Park. She spoke with conductor Kenneth Montgomery in a pre-concert talk about her approach to great violin repertoire which is familiar and also works that are not as well known. Certainly the Tchaikovsky is of the former category. Thought to be unplayable when it appeared, it eventually found favour, though not before a review of its première suggested that it evoked "wild and vulgar faces ... curses and bad brandy". I'm guessing that these exaggerated qualities are actually part of the secret of this work's eventual success. There are great sweeping tunes, and Nicola Benedetti has a warm, sensuous approach to melody, bolstered by solid technique and exquisite tuning. The instrument she plays, a Stradivarius, has a remarkably rich lower register. She consistently melds the sound of the instrument with a thoughtful, fully realised approach to the notes. Even when several high harmonics in the cadenza went slightly wrong, her musical ideas won through. In the fiendish finale, she managed a relentless pace, expertly supported by the orchestra in tricky tempo changes and sturdy rhythmic underpinning.
After the interval, much needed for breath-catching, some tidy Mozart, perhaps as an antidote to the romanticism of the rest of the programme. The Haffner Symphony is reflective of a particularly chaotic period in Mozart's rather fraught life. In fact, this was a very happy reading of this piece, though in addition to fun, careful phrasing was the order of the day. The fifth note of the important opening phrase was tapered off, and a general lightness of touch prevailed. This was conductor Montgomery at his most sure-footed, and the orchestra played keenly and with real style.
More Tchaikovsky rounded off the evening with a spirited, narrative account of the fantasy Overture Romeo and Juliet. In the same way we know the story well, we are mostly familiar with this music, but Friday's performance illuminated some of the secondary themes, and with a tempo that didn't hang about, even the big tune sounded fresh. There was detail and colour and a chance for each section of the orchestra to shine, a fact acknowledged at the end of the concert with Montgomery's "meet the orchestra" style acknowledgment of the sustained, richly deserved applause.
This Friday's Concert features pianist Nikolai Demidenko playing Tchaikovsky, and works by Beethoven, including the Fifth Symphony. Prior to the concert, at 6.45, there's a short concert of compositions by students who recently took part in UO/UYO workshops with composer Brian Irvine.
(Andrea Rea / Newsletter / 27/11/07)
Click here to see casting and design team details for this production
L'OCG sert Ariodante sur le plateu de l'Opéra
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Photo © L.Giraud |
L'Orchestre de chambre de Genève, qui occupait pour la première fois la fosse de l'Opéra, a surpris par son adresse et sa maîtrise des instruments anciens dans le répertoire baroque sous la conduite éclairée de l'Irlandais Kenneth Montgomery.
The Geneva Chamber Orchestra, making its debut in the pit of the Opera, surprised with its skill and mastery of authentic instruments in baroque repertoire under the enlightened guidance of Irishman Kenneth Montgomery.
(Jean-Louis Valadire / Le Figaro / 13/11/07)
La divine surprise vient enfin de la fosse, où l'Orchestre de chamber de Genève était pour la première fois confronté à une production du Grand Théâtre. En compagnie du chef Kenneth Montgomery, la phalange a été ovationnée pour son jeu vif, nerveux et précis. Cet Ariodante peut donc être consommé les yeux fermés.
In the end the heavenly surprise came from the pit, where the Geneva Chamber Orchestra was confronted for the first time with a Grand Théâtre production. In company with conductor Kenneth Montgomery, this "phalanx" received an ovation for its playing - lively, vigorous and precise. This Ariodante is best enjoyed with eyes closed.
(Rocco Zacheo / Le Temps / 13/11/07)
Ecrin orchestral de rêve
La frontière entre apparence et réalité, mensonge et vérité, le metteur en scène la situe en répétition, de nos jours. Sur les murs noirs se dessinent en direct, au trait blanc, les personnages costumés. Entre ces deux mondes destinés à se compléter et à se rejoindre, un abîme se creuse pourtant, que seule la musique parvient à combler, magnifiquement.
C'est ainsi dans la fosse rehaussée que se tissent les délicatesses haendeliennes, sous le geste accueillant de Kenneth Montgomery. Le chef a disposé L'OCG de profil, ce qui permet une écoute fine entre le plateau et les instrumentistes, et une direction attentive aux moindres frémissements vocaux. Le résultat est saisissant tant l'OCG se révèle d'une parfaite sensibilité baroque et d'une technique irréprochable.
A dream orchestral jewelcase
Only the music bridged the two worlds that were destined to complete and meet each other; and it did so magnificently.
It was thus in the orchestra pit that Handel's delicateness came to form under the soothing hand of Kenneth Montgomery. The conductor placed the orchestra sideways, which allowed for finer attention to be paid to the space between the stage and the instrumentalists, as well as to even the softest of vocal sighs. The result was stunning, as the Geneva Chamber Orchestra demonstrated a perfect baroque sensibility and an irreproachable technique.
(Sylvie Bonier / Tribune de Genève / 13/11/07)
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Kenneth Montgomery and the unsung Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, an ensemble that has never graced a pit before, give a surprisingly rounded performance. True, Montgomery starts conventionally with a stodgy overture, like Raymond Leppard years back though with slightly more zip, but then he quickly converts the orchestra to baroque technique while avoiding dryness with broad, emotional phrasing. The natural horns are spot on, the strings alert and generous.
(Francis Carlin / Financial Times / 13/11/07)
With the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève in the pit, under the direction of Kenneth Montgomery, this miraculous score was given its full worth. The musical performance received a rapturous reception...
Montgomery's perfectly paced conducting was an ideal compromise between Early-music "authenticity" and a more contemporary approach. The chamber orchestra played with a respect for controlled Baroque phrasing and controlled vibrato but embraced warmer pulsations when tragedy loomed. The continuo players were onstage, giving them an extra prominence that underlined the glorious harmonic invention of the arias.
(Stephen J. Mudge / Opera News / 11/11/07)
... la musique règne incontestablement
... une fosse surélevée, occupée par un Orchestre de Chambre de Genève débordant de verve, très inspiré par le chef Kenneth Montgomery ...
... a raised pit, occupied by a Geneva Chamber Orchestra brimming with energy, greatly inspired by conductor Kenneth Montgomery ...
(Jonas Pulver / Le Courrier / 15/11/07)
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... l'Orchestre de chambre de Genève, caressé avec une infinie attention par Kenneth Montgomery, invente des trésors de douceur et des griffures d'effroi.
(Matthieu Chenal / 24 Heures / 15/11/07)
Venendo all'esecuzione musicale ginevrina, sulla quale merita certo soffermarsi più a lungo che sullo spettacolo, c'è da lodare la direzione dell'irlandese di formazione inglese Kenneth Montgomery, alla guida dell'Orchestra da Camera di Ginevra, un complesso che suona con strumenti moderni ma con una rarefazione espressiva delicata e carezzevole. La stessa che si intende delineare da una concertazione che pare lontana dalle scansioni dinamiche nervose fortemente contrastate e quasi "strappate" di alcuni complessi di specialisti che utilizzano strumenti originali. Qui tutto risulta leggero, vaporoso, quasi sonante nell'intenzione di donare alle grandi pagine dell'opera, che sono soprattutto quelle elegiache, un sapore estatico che sublima l'astrattezza degli stati d'animo e permette loro di esprimersi attraverso la bellezza di una musica che descrive gli ambienti, o diviene espressione diretta dell'interiorità dei sentimenti dei protagonisti.
(Alessandro Mormile / OperaClick / 11/07)
... Händels Musik ... wird vom Orchestre de Chambre de Genève unter Kenneth Montgomery mit ihrem kontrastreichen Affekt- und Stimmungsgehalt spannungsvoll zum Klingen gebracht. Dass der Dirigent nicht in der Mitte, sondern seitlich im erhöhten Orchestergraben steht, wirkt sich für die klangliche Kompaktheit vorteilhaft aus, ohne der Transparanz und Leichtigkeit der Intonation abträglich zu sein. Und das von Montgomerys oft rasanten Tempi aufs Äusserste geforderte Sängerensemble hat viele Glanzlichter zu bieten, allen voran Joyce DiDonato in der Titelpartie.
(Marianne Zelger-Vogt / Neue Zürcher Zeitung / 16/11/07)
St Anne's perfect venue for music
In the second concert of the Ulster Orchestra's 2007-2008 season in St Anne's Cathedral on Friday night, the theme 'music in time and space' was continued.
Kenneth Montgomery conducted two very contrasting works and both sounded great in the vast space and large acoustic of this magnificent building.
Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams was a strikingly beautiful opener.
Scored for double string orchestra and string quartet, this atmospheric and melodic piece was given a detailed and delicious performance by the strings.
The clever spatial seating arrangement gave the piece a physical depth which never once marred the tremendous sense of ensemble.
The ecclesiastical character of the theme was almost spiritual as Montgomery allowed the exquisite string sonorities to ebb and flow as the phrases demanded, without any sense of exaggeration.
The very weighty Symphony no 5 in B flat major by Bruckner provided great contrast to the Vaughan Williams.
Montgomery seemed to energise the players into giving this massive work an extremely enthusiastic performance.
From the magical string opening to the loud brass ending, there was never any sense of weariness during 80 minutes.
The wind section was equally impressive and Mark Robinson's timpani playing was responsive and precise.
Each movement had direction with some lovely quiet moments and climaxes that were full of life.
Mention must be made of Chris Blake's very sensitive and expressive oboe solo at the beginning of movement two.
This is the second concert of the season where the Ulster Orchestra has played exceptionally well and excelled in detail and precision.
New Principal Conductor Kenneth Montgomery is certainly making the mark. The series continues in the Waterfront Hall next Friday.
(Ruth McCartney / Irish News / 2/10/07)
Orchestra begins new season in style
The inaugural concert of the Ulster Orchestra's new season began with a rousing success in St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast.
Tickets had long sold out to see Kenneth Montgomery's first concert last Friday as the new principal conductor for the Orchestra.
Kenneth, a native of Belfast, led the players with a graceful and confident energy through a programme of Copland, Vaughan Williams, and Beethoven.
The opening clash of percussion and brass seemed to shake the rafters of St Anne's as the orchestra launched into Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. Hugely dramatic, it was an uplifting and joyous celebration that set the mood for the evening.
The orchestra was then joined on-stage by the English bass-baritone Matthew Hargreaves and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir for a riveting performance of Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs. Hargreaves has a fine voice, rich in timbre and with a clear, steady vibrato. However, as with many bass-baritone roles, his part was occasionally absorbed by the textural forces of the orchestra and choir.
The reverberant acoustics of St Anne's added an extra touch of colour to the choir of a hundred voices. Under the expert tutelage of the chorusmaster Christopher Bell, the choir's artistic standard continues to grow.
Beethoven's cherished Symphony No 9 closed the evening, with soprano Rebecca Nash, mezzo-soprano Anna Burford, and tenor Joshua Elliott also taking to the stage to join the other performers. Depending on where you were sitting, the textures of the piece were either crisp clear or, occasionally, a little muddy. Nevertheless, the sense of drama and vibrancy was impossible to ignore. The intimacy and idealism of the event left the audience enthusiastic and visibly satisfied. A promising start to the season.
(Rathcol / Belfast Telegraph / 25/09/07)
Polished concert an ideal start ot exciting season
In the splendid surroundings of St Anne's Cathedral the Ulster Orchestra's first concert of the season was an outstanding success. Under the direction of new principal conductor Kenneth Montgomery, the Ulster Orchestra, the Belfast Philharmonic Choir and four excellent soloists provided the audience with a polished programme full of variety and colour.
Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man was a suitably high impact opener. This brief, yet stirring work, played brilliantly by the brass and percussion sections, set the scene and a real sense of occasion.
Vaughan William's delightful and diverse Five Mystical Songs came next. Soloits Matthew Hargreaves gave a characterful and expressive performance of each song.
His diction was good and his voice carried well in the large acoustic.
The Belfast Philharmonic Choir was in very good shape and their focused singing was most impressive, particularly in the extremes of dynamic range. There was some interesting interplay between choir, soloist and orchestra and the fifth in the set, Let all the world in every corner sing, was tremendously uplifting.
Beethoven's Choral Symphony gave us an exciting and exuberant second half. Montgomery set a very fast tempo from the outset and his clear beat gave a super drive to the symphony.
The orchestra seemed happy with the speed and there was some magnificent playing, particularly from the strings. There were minor lapses of ensemble and occasional flaws in the brass section but the great resonance of the building disguised these well.
The slow movement exuded passages of great warmth and the last was played with no less conviction than the first.
Soloists Rebecca Nash soprano, Anna Burford mezzo soprano, Joshua Elliott tenor and Matthew Hargreaves bass-baritone acquitted themselves very well and the Belfast Philharmonic were in sparkling form. This is a choir that has been transformed under the direction of chorus-master Christopher Bell. They were polished, energetic and a delight to listen to. What an ideal start to an exciting season.
(Ruth McCartney / Irish News / 24/09/07)
A Tale of Two Finales
... Montgomery's direction of the orchestra, choir and soloists was secure and passionate, and brought about an intense and reassured performance from the orchestra, elevating an audience already charged with the echoes of Vaughan Williams' Antiphon.
... Montgomery produced a fantastic performance from the orchestra, allowing the audience to hear every nuance of material, regardless of the vast acoustics.
But the crowning achievement of the evening was without doubt the Ode an die Freude or 'Ode to Joy'. Montgomery did not disappoint, and the orchestra provided an equally full-bodied performance, aided by the solo quartet of singers. ...
It was said that at the end of the original performance of the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven needed to be turned around at the end because he could not hear the audience applaud him at its close. There was no need for Kenneth Montgomery to be aided on this occasion, as the audience's appreciation at the end of the performance was obvious to all. For me, this concert was a tale of two finales, it was the best of times, it was the best of times.
(Graeme Stewart / CultureNorthernIreland.org / 25/09/07)
A former Belfast choirboy has returned home to take over the top musical post in Northern Ireland.
Kenneth Montgomery, the first local man to be appointed Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, will return literally and musically to his roots later this month when he opens the season in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, where he sang as a choir boy more than 50 years ago.
He will conduct the Orchestra in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which is sold-out, with a long waiting list.
He told the Belfast Telegraph: "I went back to the cathedral a few days ago, and it rekindled a host of memories from my boyhood. I remember in particular the organist and choir-master Captain CJ Brennan. He was then an elderly man, and still a great musician and communicator. He was a gentle, warm person and I found him to be encouraging and inspiring."
Kenneth Montgomery's late father worked in Shorts, and his mother Lily is now 96. He said: "She is amazing, though unfortunately she is deaf and cannot hear my music making. When I told her I had been appointed Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, she held up her finger as if to say 'I told them so. All that travelling across Belfast with you as a boy to attend music rehearsals has paid off '!"
Kenneth's early promise as a musician was fulfilled, and he made his name as an opera specialist and conductor in the Netherlands, and extended this to a varied and highly successful international career.
He was delighted to be appointed to the Ulster Orchestra, with which he has worked on many occasions.
He said: "This is one of my favourite orchestras, its members are very gifted. The Ulster Orchestra is one of the best."
Montgomery had a busy summer as music director of the Santa Fe opera season, and recently conducted the Ulster Orchestra at Clonard Monastery, and at Carrickfergus Castle for the BBC's Proms in the Park.
He is working on the score for the opening concert in St Anne's on Friday, September 21.
He added: "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is an enormous challenge, which has lots of layers, and I am looking forward enormously to performing it again, this time with the Ulster Orchestra and the Belfast Philharmonic, and the distinguished soloists."
The chorus master is Christopher Bell, another Ulsterman.
Kenneth Montgomery and the Ulster Orchestra are embarking on an ambitious new season, and expectations are high that this former Belfast choir boy will hit all the right notes with the music-makers and the public.
His second concert in St Anne's on September 28 features the Fifth Symphony by Bruckner, and is also selling well.
"This is also a great challenge, with wonderful blocks of sound, and all that contrast between darkness and light," he said.
(Alf McCreary / Belfast Telegraph / 13/09/07)
One can always feel in good hands with conductor Kenneth Montgomery, here leading this score with verve and dynamic flow in true heroic style. Wagnerian it may be, but there are plenty of moment of Straussian classicisme, most notably the prelude, scored for woodwinds alone. Wind play throughout was exemplary, especially the flute illustrating Leukippos and the oboe, Daphne.
(D.S. Crafts / ABQNews / 16/07/07)
Conductor and acting SFO music director Kenneth Montgomery drew shimmering sound from the orchestra and helped the players bring out the interweaving woodwind lines clearly, especially Margaret Butler's warm-grained oboe solos.
(Craig Smith / The New Mexican / 15/07/07)
... veteran Santa Fe conductor Kenneth Montgomery led the orchestra and capable chorus with care and trusting authority
(Michael Lodico / Ionarts / 06/08/07)
Kenneth Montgomery, Santa Fe's acting music director, upheld the august Straussian credentials established long ago by its founder, John Crosby.
(George Loomis / FT.com & Financial Times / 22 & 23/08/07)
... this was John Crosby's favorite Strauss opera, it is an important work for Santa Fe, and Kenneth Montgomery's impassioned conducting suggested it still matters to the company ... Daphne is no placid idyll, as reputation has it. On the contrary, with Montgomery conducting, this must be, decibel for decibel, one of the noisiest operas ever written; even Wagner is mute by comparison.
(Simon Williams / Opera News / November 2007)
Fixated by a fantastic night
A thrilled and excited audience greeted conductor Kenneth Montgomery and the Ulster Orchestra in the Ulster Hall last night.
The gentle opening texture of Weber's Oberon was conveyed in a powerful and qualified manner by the Orchestra. The bold and brassy orchestration of the overture was given a suitable vibrancy and the growing crescendo dynamics echoed thunderously in the acoustics of the Ulster Hall. A great opening piece - fresh, short and mesmerising.
Next, the Orchestra was joined onstage by Benjamin Schmid from Vienna on violin and Quirine Viersen from Holland on cello for Brahms's Double Concerto in A minor. The audience was fixated by the blazing virtuosic counterpoint playing of this dynamic duo. The music was beautifully balanced in its dynamics and the elegant soloists were rewarded with roaring applause, returning to perform a lively variation of Handel's Passacaglia, which portrayed a wonderfully controlled use of tremolo.
After this welcomed surprise, the concert ended with the serious and dramatic First Symphony from Jean Sibelius. It is a testament to the level of invention within this work that it can maintain the listener's interest for almost forty minutes. The Orchestra performed lyrically.
I do not say this lightly, but this was a fantastic night of music.
(Rathcol, Belfast Telegraph, 12-02-07)
Thursday's Ulster Orchestra concert at the National Concert Hall was an occasion of sadness and jubilation. The sadness stemmed from the absence of János Fürst, founder of the first Irish Chamber Orchestra, original leader of the Ulster Orchestra and one-time member and later principal conductor of the RTÉSO, who died last week.
Had he lived to conduct the concert, it would have been his first appearance in Dublin since he parted company with the RTÉSO back in 1989. Both the Dublin concert and its repeat in Belfast were dedicated to his memory.
The jubilation stemmed from the character of the music-making secured by the evening's stand-in, no less a figure than the orchestra's principal conductor elect, Kenneth Montgomery.
Montgomery, who takes a great interest in the developments of the period performance movement, is on one level like a whiz-kid lighting designer, who can use the subtle skills of illumination to swell or diminish the apparent size or contents of a room.
The Ulster Orchestra is smaller in size and weight of tone than the RTÉSO, but Montgomery balanced his forces in such a way that he made this seem a consistent advantage.
He brought extra strength to the wind and an equality of dialogue between the various sections of the orchestra in Beethoven's Prometheus Overture. This was Beethoven with bite.
He allowed his players to thrust forcefully at Brahms's First Piano Concerto without overpowering the soloist, Barry Douglas. And the freedom of give-and-take in Dvorák's Sixth Symphony was a consistent and joyful pleasure in this most pleasurable of symphonies.
Barry Douglas was both gentle and titanic in the Brahms, playing with an inspired freedom and managing to seem spiritually seamless with the orchestra, even when there were momentary lapses in co-ordination.
Brahms's First Piano Concerto is a young composer's concerto, and Douglas played it with all the fiery temperament of youth, even though in a couple of years' time he will be twice the age Brahms was when he composed it.
(Michael Dervan, Irish Times, 13-01-07)
In the first of three Mozart anniversary concerts with conductor Kenneth Montgomery, the Orchestra of St Cecilia illustrated the growing fashion for placing modern instruments at the service of historically informed interpretation.
Montgomery was clearly less concerned with strictly directing the music than with optimising performance potential. Frequently entrusting the time-keeping to the players themselves, he encoraged them to respond to the music and to each other.
This informal approach may have made for some loose coordination at times, but it ensured that there could be nothing drab or routine about the execution. The OSC's constitution and layout were not without disadvantages. From their raised position, the oboes could be altogether too vivid to integrate with the dozen or so strings.
And with the second violins and violas positioned on the right - thus projecting their sound away from most of the audience - the string balance could verge on the hollow. At their best, however, the balances resulted in lively, ear-opening effects: silky chording from the upper strings in the andante of the Violin Concerto K218, a cheery fife-and-drum chorus from the winds in the first movement of the Piano Concerto K467, and a well-disposed tutti in the minuet of the Jupiter Symphony K551.
Catherine Leonard was an agreeable and sweet-toned soloist in the Violin Concerto, sustaining a charming and silvery legato that gave way to more pointed textures only the finale. Clearly in his element in the Piano Concerto, soloist Finghin Coliins sat facing the audience at a lidless instrument, surrounded on three sides by the orchestra.
In this historical stage formation, the piano seemed to enjoy easier conversation with the winds in particular, and the solo passage work had a driving rather than a merely decorating effect.
(Andrew Johnstone, 10-06)
Mozart - Requiem, Mass in C minor K427
Back in the dark old pre-NCH days of symphony concerts in what was then the St Francis Xavier Hall in Sherrard Street there was one conductor who could be relied on to achieve results that stood out. Proinnsías Ó Duinn took a leaf out of Leopold Stokowski's book, and rearranged the orchestra with the wind players at the front of the platform, on the right, a position which guaranteed them a degree of audibility simply unattainable from their normal position towards the back of the stage in that acoustically nightmarish venue.
Kenneth Montgomery's platform rearrangements for his current Mozart series with the Orchestra of St Cecilia hark back to much earlier models.
But part of the effectiveness of his undertaking stems from the different responses of musicians and singers finding themselves hearing sounds that are unusually balanced. Think of it as a first drive in a new car. The different vehicle dimensions and the unfamiliar rear-view mirrors create new awarenesses, which trigger different reactions and reflexes.
Montgomery here arrayed his choruses across the front of the stage, with their own conductor, Blánaid Murphy at the very front. A continuo organ (or, more correctly, a continuo synthesizer) was centrally placed among the singers. Montgomery and most of the orchestra were ranged behind the chorus, and the soloists were placed on high, at the back of the stage. Most unusually, the orchestra's three trombonists were placed as far away from the rest of the orchestra as possible - towards the front of the stage, two on the left and one on the right.
The keyword for the evening was transparency. Nobody seemed to want to hog attention at anyone else's expense. The trombones blended with creamy smoothness, the choirs (the Palestrina Choir in the Requiem, the Dublin Back Singers in the C minor Mass) sang without strain, and with a sure sense of which vocal line was carrying the most important musical material. The main orchestral body played with a rhythmic spring in its step, and the four soloists - soprano Sylvia O'Brien, contralto Alison Browner, tenor Robin Tritschler and bass Nigel Williams - worked with respectful collegiality.
It was quite an extraordinary sight to see two conductors waving their distinctively-styled ways on the one stage, with the centrally-placed Montgomery working as a kind of crossroads communicator, rather than the dynamic dictator that conductors are often felt to be.
Murphy, as the follower, had the harder task and, although the point of her beat was much more loosely defined than Montgomery's, overall co-ordination did not seem to suffer, and the choirs must surely have appreciated having their regular conductor to work with.
It was the performance of the Requiem which made the stronger impression, not least because of the greater security and refinement of the group of soloists. Strange as it may seem, for such frequently-heard and much-loved work, the Requiem is a piece which often congeals in performance to become, musically speaking, a kind of heart-warming mess of potage. Under Montgomery and Murphy everything stood clear and distinct, and turned out to be all the more heart-warming for that.
(Michael Dervan, The Irish Times, 8-11-06)
Montgomery moves orchestra into a new era
The Ulster Orchestra has just announced the appointment of a new principal conductor for next year's concert season. Kenneth Montgomery was appointed principal guest conductor just last year, so the announcement is a bit of a surprise, though not an unwelcome one.
This 40th anniversary year is an important one for the Ulster Orchestra, and the process of choosing a principal conductor has been a major consideration for the orchestra administration and board for much of the last two or more years. In many ways it has been an exciting time for audiences, who have had a chance to see more conductors working with the orchestra than would normally be the case. It has been interesting hearing the orchestra play under the baton of a number of different people, wondering from time to time if this or that musician might be "the one". The players have also had the experience of playing for this wide variety of conductors, and their response is obviously an important part of the decision. For a time it seemed as if the Finn Tuomas Ollila was a front runner, or possibly Christian Gansch or Rumon Gamba.
In the end, we have someone from close to home with a long history with the band and an obvious rapport with the musicians. Ken Montgomery was born in Belfast and decided to become a conductor at a very early age. His early experiences in music (playing bassoon and piano) led him to the Royal College of Music, where he studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult. He continued his studies in Germany and Italy and began his career in opera at Glyndebourne and Sadler's Wells. It is opera which has been a constant in his musical life and which informs his style.
There is a vocal sensibility in his technique, a tactile approach which uses no baton and shapes phrases gently and musically. As much as anything, Montgomery's interpretations are governed by breath and dramatic context, as well as a unique commitment to scholarship. His knowledge of the history of specific works can be quite exhaustive, and his interest in historial performance practice has been a feature of recent projects with the Orchestra.
In addition to conducting a proportion of concerts each year, a principal conductor has a substantial input into choice of repertoire and the construction of an orchestra's season. Each organisation will vary as to the extent of the principal conductor's involvement in the day-to-day running of the orchestra, and an individual's personality will also have a strong bearing on the role they ultimately play. As it happens, Montgomery has personal qualitites that should make him ideally suited to the job he's about to undertake. He's a born communicator on many levels without flamboyance or arrogance. He seems to understand the importance of connecting with people in many contexts, on the public stage and behind the scenes. He's expanded the role of principal guest conductor over the last year and played a vital part in the Orchestra's outreach activities. By taking on the conductorship of the BBC's Last Night of the Proms for the past two seasons he has increased his visibility locally and nationally, conducting an extraordinarily wide variety of repertoire. This is in addition to his undisputed reputation for calm concentration in the face of unpredictable circumstances and the vagaries of live television.
Indeed, Montgomery has been somewhat of an oasis of calm and quiet purposefulness in his approach to the orchestra over the years. His passion for the music, however, has not been disguised and many of his concerts are remembered for their sense of breathing new life into standard repertoire. Now we can all look forward to Kenneth Montgomery, a true gentleman of the podium, breathing life into many more concerts to come as the Ulster Orchestra's new principal conductor. Welcome home Maestro Montgomery.
(Andrea Rea, 9-06)
Click here to see casting and design team details for this production
"I certainly do not wish to fault the excellent Santa Fe musicians or conductor Kenneth Montgomery, who gave the best possible reading of this music, making it lively and amusing most of the time, and hoping for loud audience laughter, to turn Massenet's sow's ears into silk purses, the rest of the time."
(Gerald Dugan, Opera West 23/08/06)
"Kenneth Montgomery conducted briskly but with a keen feel for Massenet's orchestral colors ..."
(Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle 07/08/06)
"Whatever Gallic style this campy travesty could boast came from the lyrical elegance and transparency conductor Kenneth Montgomery enforced in the pit."
(John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, 23/08/06)
"The production is led by veteran SFO conductor Kenneth Montgomery who can always be called upon for an intelligent yet vivid handling of the orchestra."
(D.S. Crafts, Albuquerque Journal, 17/07/06)
"Given how gloriously sung and magically played the performance under conductor Kenneth Montgomery was, and what a well-balanced mix of comedy and pathos director Laurent Pelly provided, it's hard to fathom that neglect -- especially when you can find someone like the truly magical Joyce DiDonato to take on the title role, and when you have such a vociferous and positive audience reception as this received."
Craig Smith, The New Mexican, 17/07/06
Photos Copyright Ken Howard
Click here to see casting and design team details for this production
"... thanks to a world-class cast and conductor, the exquisitely sung baroque opera will be remembered as the highlight of San Diego Opera's 2006 season."
"... the 44-piece orchestra (complete with harpsichord and baroque cello), conducted masterfully by Kenneth Montgomery, present a fresh and vivacious reading of Handel's score."
(Pam Kragen, North County Times, 19-04-06)
"Exacting yet flexible support came from conductor Kenneth Montgomery and the San Diego Symphony"
(Valerie Scher, San Diego Union Tribune, 17-04-06)
"The score, played by a small orchestra including a baroque cello, theorbo and harpsichord, was wonderfully and modishly conducted by Kenneth Montgomery."
(David Gregson, Opera West, 16-04-06)
City celebrates Mozart's 250th birthday in grand style
"The Ulster Hall was the scene of a birthday bash at the weekend, attracting large and appreciative audiences over three days.
As Mozart fever spreads throughout the world from its epicentre in Austria, the occasion was the Ulster Orchestra's celebration of the composer's 250th anniversary. All three concerts were presided over by a sculpture bust of Mozart perched above the organ console, suitably spot-lit and sporting a party hat set at a jaunty angle.
The concerts on Friday and Saturday followed a programme order that consisted of an overture, a piano concerto, a solo piano sonata and a symphony. This was a successful formula which created a nicely sustained sense of flow and focus for the packed audience. Friday's Magic Flute overture would be better known than Saturday's Idomeneo, but conductor Kenneth Montgomery drew us in to the drama of both pieces, with the right amount of flexibility of tempo melded with terrific clarity of purpose. You could imagine the evening moving straight into act one of the opera, so sure-footed was the pace and style of the playing. Thoroughly warmed up, the orchestra seemed to really enjoy playing this exacting, detailed music.
Hugh Tinney and Finghin Collins were the soloists on Friday and Saturday respectively, each bringing a distinct sensibility to two very different concertos. Tinney captured the stormy, epic quality of Concerto No.24, projecting the piano line up and out of the middle of the orchestra where the piano was situated. His performance was balanced and mature, mirroring the balance of the orchestra which was divided equally to the left and right of the piano. This seating arrangement worked well for all three concerts, at times creating the feeling of chamber music and evoking the intimacy that would have informed performances of Mozart's own time.
Intimacy is a word that captures Finghin Collin's approach to Concerto No.27, which he performed with intense concentration and a velvet touch. The inclusion of a solo piano sonata in Friday and Saturday's programmes gave the audience a chance to experience yet another dimension of Mozart's art. It also gave the pianists a unique opportunity to share in greater detail their thoughts and feelings about Mozart's music - thought more in the case of Hugh Tinney, and feeling from Finghin Collins.
When the Ulster Orchestra returned to the stage, most of the musicians' chairs had been removed and those musicians who could stand to play did, in the manner of performances in Mozart's day and beyond.
Conductor Kenneth Montgomery spoke to the audience at each concert and explained this point, as well as speaking about the music itself, focusing on keys and the stories and moods behind Mozart's music.
On Friday the joyful Linz Symphony emphasised the dexterity of the Ulster Orchestra's wind players while Saturday's Jupiter Symphony was complex and stylish, a triumphant end to a concert that was truly a celebration from start to finish. Special praise to the Orchestra's trumpets who played wonderful looking and sounding valveless trumpets.
Sunday's programme emphasised Mozart's writing for the voice and soloist Mary Nelson was in excellent form for her concert aria, Exsultate, Jubilate. This was coloratura singing at its best and all her singing, Mary Nelson projected warm feeling for the text. Pianist Andrew Smith created lovely textures for the song accompaniments and the showpiece Concert Aria. The ever-popular Eine Kleine Nachtmusik opened Sunday's concert and Symphony No. 25 was the finish, both wonderfully detailed and dextrous. Most importantly, there was a quality of joy and energy in the playing, all carefully and compellingly led by conductor Montgomery. His enthusiasm was utterly infectious and these birthday celebrations couldn't have had a more able master of ceremonies."
(Andrew Rea, 31-01-06)
Mozart's Birthday
"This 250th birthday year could well become a defining juncture in the public appreciation and understanding of Mozart.
The weekend was saturated with the enigmatic composer, of course, and Radio 3's CD Review highlighted the many diverse approaches on offer.
On recommending a recording of the Ninth Piano Concerto, for instance, Jeremy Siepmann felt the need to say that a pure, non-eccentric or neutral rendition would only do for newcomers to Mozart.
On the other hand, a couple of hours later, on that same programme Andrew Manze - who dazzled
Belfast audiences a couple of weeks ago at the Waterfront - offered an A major Violin Concerto that was complex and playful, full of association and never patronising.
The truth is, Mozart is far from being an unproblematic composer. The Ulster Orchestra's own tribute spanned the weekend and stood between these two extremes; traditional in intent it nevertheless introduced some effective and telling pieces of authentic practise.
The valveless trumpets and eighteenth century timpani in Friday night's Overture to The Magic
Flute signalled a weekend that was to be thoughtful and questioning if not radical.
And what further endeared the series to the dedicated audience was its assemblage of home grown talent, from the pianists Hugh Tinney and Finghin Collins to soprano Mary Nelson under the baton of the orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor Kenneth Montgomery.
Montgomery is an inveterate Mozartian and he was in his element here working with responsive players to produce Mozart that was sometimes serious and respectful - the Piano Concerto No.24 - sometimes light and graceful - Eine kleine Nachtmusik - and other times surprisingly vigorous - the opening of the 'little' G Minor Symphony was a revelation.
But Mozart's music comes alive most fully with the human voice and Mary Nelson's performances of secular and sacred song yesterday afternoon was an exposition in miniature of the best and most directly moving work of the great man.
An affectionate and rewarding celebration."
(Rathcol, Belfast Telegraph, 31-01-06)
"While the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's occasional foray into Handel's extensive output is generally something to look forward to, no discovery has proved as exciting, no performance as exhilarating as this most recent one. For his first appearance with the orchestra, conductor Kenneth Montgomery resurrected Athalia, the third of Handel's English oratorios and one of the more obscure. What he presented, though, was no second-rank work, but a piece of pure Handelian brilliance, a model for the dramatic flair and pathos that characterises his later masterpieces.
Montgomery is a conductor whom the SCO has been trying to engage for some time; and having caught him, it should invite him back quickly. Arranged around the podium in circular fashion, the orchestra played with poise and verve that gave the period-instrument recordings of Athalia a run for their money, bringing a vitality to the music that was reflected in the singing.
As the eponymous tyrannical queen of Judah, Geraldine McGreevy clearly relished the dramatic potential of the role, with a performance that made the most of the bravura character of her music. The other soprano roles aren't perhaps such a gift; after an uncertain start, Sarah Fox didn't always seem entirely comfortable as the saintly Josabeth, while Mary Nelson gradually relaxed into the smaller role of the young boy, Joas. And although tenor Colin Balzer's theatrical dying aria as Athalia's lackey rather reinforced the stereotype that the baddies have the most fun, baritone David Wilson-Johnson made the most of his turn as captain of the royal guard, and countertenor Iestyn Davies, a young singer to watch, was extremely impressive as the noble high priest Joad.
However, the real star of the show - as Handel intended - was undoubtedly the SCO Chorus. Given all the best numbers, including a Hallelujah chorus (not that one) and a stirring exhortation to "bless the true church and save the king" bearing more than a passing resemblance to Zadok the Priest, its members looked - and sounded - to be having a ball in what was undoubtedly their strongest performance of recent times."
(Rowena Smith, The Herald, 5-12-05)
"The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus gave a performance packed with drama and excitement. The players - strings and wind reinforced with harpsichord, organ, trumpets, timpani and archlute - were ranged as dual forces encircling conductor Kenneth Montgomery, their tight, disciplined musical interplay echoing the oppositions in the plot."
(The Scotsman, 3-12-05)
"Returning to the rapidly transforming Ulster Hall, the Ulster Orchestra with its new principal guest conductor Kenneth Montgomery and pianist Ronald Brautigam launched a new series of concerts this weekend. Beethoven Plus will look afresh at the last three great piano concertos with a few new ideas on staging and presentation. The strangeness of the experience underlines how staid the concert performance has become over the years and decades. The usual setup - conductor as conduit between the orchestral 'rabble' and the genius that is the concert soloist - is very simply undermined by placing the pianist in the heart of the ensemble looking out at the audience and the conductor to one side. The experiment paid great dividends; this was a performance that reinstated the chamber music quality of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto and opened up a great number of lines of communication between the players. As the intricacies of the first movement were relived, the orchestra very carefully considered its interjections with a counterpoint of timbre proving every bit as important as that of pitch and gesture. Brautigam's second movement was tender and poignant and the third a light and agile display of wit and precision playing. The next two instalments in this series sees Brautigam move to the more experimental Fourth and Fifth Concertos. On the evidence of this concert, the results should be fascinating."
(Rathcol, Belfast Telegraph, 21-11-05)
Rossini bruist in de Opera-Matinee
"Sprankelend, tintelend en spetterend, precies zoals Rossini moet zijn, klonk zijn komische opera Le comte Ory zaterdag in de Matinee als feetelijke opening van de operaserie."
"De Radio Kamer Filharmonie speelde contrastrijk, licht en flitsend. Het Groot Omroepkoor klonk voortreffelijk. De hele cast was uitstekend ..."
Rossini fizzes in the Opera Matinee
"Sparkling, scintillating and stunning, just as Rossini should be, so sounded his comic opera Le comte Ory Saturday in the Matinee as festive opening of the opera series."
"The playing of the Radio Chamber Philharmonic was full of contrast, light and brilliant. The Radio Choir sounded excellent. The whole cast was outstanding ..."
(Kasper Jansen, NRC Handelsblad)
De truffel op de tournedos
"Geniale, abstracte muziek, door Kenneth Montgomery en de Radio Kamer Filharmonie met veel inzicht en overgave gespeeld. Het orkest zat weer eens in een experimentele Montgomery-opstelling en de dirigent had wederom studie gemaakt van bronnen. Het leidde tot het gebruik van heerlijke glissandi in de strijkers, fantastisch snelle pizzicati in de celli en kraakheldere riedels van de houtblazers. Montgomery kent zijn Rossini!"
The truffle on the fillet steak
"Brilliant, abstract music, played by Kenneth Montgomery and the Radio Chamber Philharmonic with great understanding and dedication. The orchestra sat in another experimental Montgomery arrangement showing the original source studies so typical of this conductor. As a result we heard sumptuous glissandi in the strings, fantastically fast pizzicati in the celli and crystal clear melodies in the woodwind. Montgomery knows his Rossini!"
(Peter van der Lint)
Rossini fonkelt en schittert
"De schitterende muziek tilt het geheel ver uit boven het niveau van een samengeraapte klucht. Het is Rossini op z'n best: spiritueel en verrassend van begin to eind. De dirigent Kenneth Montgomery weet dat als weinig anderen, ook al dreigde hij aanvankelijk de luidruchtige kant op te gaan met de Radio Kamer Filharmonie. In de loop van een kleine drie uur begon de muziek steeds meer te fonkelen en te schitteren, waarbij het orkest een hechte eenheid vormde met het Groot Omroepkoor en de zangers."
Rossini sparkles and dazzles
"The dazzling music elevates the whole piece far above the level of a hotchpotch farce. It is Rossini at his best: spiritual and surprising from start to finish. The conductor Kenneth Montgomery knows that like no other, even if he and the Radio Chamber Philharmonic tended to be a little too loud at the outset. In just under three hours the music sparkled and dazzled ever increasingly, and the orchestra formed a tight ensemble with the Radio Choir and the singers."
(Eddie Vetter, De Telegraaf)
Click here to see casting and design team details for this production
"The company's sparkling if generally straightforward take on "Barber" proves to be a winner in nearly every way. It is an ideal ensemble cast of singers who are virtually all strong actors with a delightful knack for comedy - exactly what one of opera's funniest farces needs.
Santa Fe's excellent pit orchestra is in top form in each production. Kenneth Montgomery and Music Director Alan Gilbert offer impressive conducting turns in "Barber" and "Turandot" respectively."
(Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post) - Click here to read the full article
Santa Fe's 'Barber' provides plenty of laughs
"Veteran Santa Fe conductor Kenneth Montgomery keeps the action continually rolling as the orchestra revels in Rossini's colorful accompaniment. If you've never seen "The Barber of Seville" (or any opera, for that matter) don't miss this classic production."
(D.S. Crafts, Albuquerque Journal)
Figaro's close shave
A 'barber' better heard than seen. You'll hear fresh young voices making company debuts: Four of five singers are new to principal roles here. You'll hear the closeknit ensemble work the SFO is famous for. You'll enjoy the same youthful energy and high spirits that made the 'Barber'
a star that first season in 1957 and remain very much alive 48 years later. Old-timer Kenneth Montgomery is back in the pit, leading a lively orchestra that's playing with greater accuracy, brightness and transparency every year. Vizioli's staging recalls the manic, over-the-top madness of any classic, cold-hearted Marx Brothers movie."
(John Stege, The Santa Fe Reporter)
Santa Fe Opera stages a "Barber" to bet on
"'Barber' is doubtless Rossini's most popular work, and the Santa Fe Opera's Saturday performance reminded me why. The SFO production not only looked and sounded good, but was a fine ensemble effort; it left me wanting more rather than praying for the end of an act. Conductor Kenneth Montgomery's beat was light and unflustered. He never flailed, and drew precise, unprissy playing from the orchestra - an ideal Rossini advocate, in other words. The cast was the kind SFO likes to be known for: mostly young, rising artists, all committed actors and competent singers, able to give an even and forward-moving performance."
(Craig Smith, The New Mexican)
Bélier-Garcia's Don Giovanni a Success
"And then there is Mozart ... He must have shuddered at the start of this performance of his score. For, after a rather well played overture, the extraordinary emotional trio on the death of the Commendatore was painfully banal. The rest of the opera fared better, and even included musicians on the stage. All this under the baton of Kenneth Montgomery, a Mozartian, who conducted the orchestra well. All in all, a fine success for this Don Giovanni which deserves proper appreciation."
(Michel Egea, La Provence, 16-05-05)
"Of course, all this was possible only because of the miraculous balance in volume between the pit and the stage, an osmosis in which some slight divergences in tempi were transformed into so many opportunities to restore harmony and beautiful music-making. And even the members of an orchestra reputed to be difficult found the necessary elegance and colours, with Yvon Repérant impeccable on the continuo, under the attentive baton of Kenneth Montgomery who carefully shaped the work, modulating its ebb and flow."
(Maurice Salles, www.forumopera.com)
"KM has worked a small miracle by getting a much reduced house orchestra to sound like a disciplined baroque band"
(Francis Carlin, Financial Times, 20-05-05)
Christ was at Saint-Michel's church
"Conducted - superbly - by Kenneth Montgomery, the Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Gilles Ragon, Eric Martin-Bonnet and Burcu Uyar gave a performance of this work which managed to avoid the twin pitfalls of musical hyperbole and excessive religiosity. Clear, well-articulated, powerful, but expressive voices and an orchestra and choir which one could feel were at one with the conductor (he will be conducting the forthcoming Don Giovanni) led the hero (for that is how Christ appears in this score) through his final night to his death. Performed with urgency and great intensity, the oratorio which we discovered on Saturday left us to regret only its brevity."
(Gisèle Laval)
Triumphant debut at Saint-Michel's church
- Superb interpretation of Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge marks the opening of the tenth festival of sacred music -
The Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera Chorus showed themselves in their best light. Indeed, under Kenneth Montgomery, the incomparable Irish conductor, it was difficult for anything to go wrong."
"FRAAI PROGRAMMA IN MATINEE Requies (Berio) is zonder enig effectbejag, subliem eenvoudig en toch verrassend geïnstrumenteerd en roept enorm raak een sfeer van verlies en verzoening op in een zacht ontvouwende lijn. Dirigent Kenneth Montgomery en het Radio Kamer Orkest tekenden voor de prima interpretatie. Wat minder - maar ook nog best in orde was de uitvoering van Stravinsky's Mis.
De altijd integere Montgomery is zeker geen opgepoetste egodirigent die overal maar zijn eigen emotie opplakt, maar hij is ook niet de geboren technocraat die deze muziek de genadeloze brille en precisie kan geven waar ze om vraagt.
De uitvoering van Mozarts Requiem deed de kleine kanttekening bij de interpretatie van Stravinsky's Mis geheel verdwijnen. Mozarts Requiem kreeg een prachtige directe, karakteristiek integere uitvoering, waarin alles vanzelfsprekend voor zichzelf sprak."
(Roeland Hazendonk, De Telegraaf)
Click here to see casting and design team details for this production
... and click here to see a short excerpt from this production
"In de ruime akoestiek van het Apeldoornse Orpheus - wat een verademing vergeleken bij de naargeestige klank van de Enschede schouwburg waar de meeste premières van de Reisopera zijn - is het niet gemakkelijk om zacht en mysterieus te spelen. Alles klinkt al snel luid en direct. Desalniettemin wist dirigent Kenneth Montgomery het orkest Holland Symfonia tot prachtig gedifferentieerd spel te brengen. Hij maakte er een stormachtige 'Peter Grimes' van: krachtig en energiek. Maar tegen het einde, als het noodlot toeslaat en er weer een kind bij Grimes doodgaat, weet hij toch ook een zachte, onheilspellende klank uit het orkest te halen."
"In the generous acoustic of the Orpheus in Apeldoorn - what a relief in comparison with the dreary sound of the theatre in Enschede where most of the Reisopera premieres take place - it is not easy to play either softly or myseteriously. Everything tends to sound loud and direct. Nevertheless conductor Kenneth Montgomery was able to achieve a wonderfully differentiated sound with the Holland Symfonia orchestra. He delivered a stormy 'Peter Grimes': powerful and energetic. But towards the end, as destiny takes over and another child dies at Grimes' hands, he was able to draw a soft and ominous colour from the orchestra."
(Sandra Kooke, Trouw 07-02-05)
"In de bak zorgt het jonge, in klankhomogeniteit nog groeiende Holland Symfonia onder leiding van de ervaren Kenneth Montgomery voor een fors orkestraal aandeel. Het verzorgt kolkende en stuwende uitvoeringen van de prachtige orkestrale tussenspelen, maar werkt ook Brittens muzikale typeringen van de personages uit met gevoel voor humor en theater."
"In the pit the young, but in sound-homogeneity still growing, Holland Symfonia provide a robust orchestral contribution under the experienced direction of Kenneth Montgomery. They delivered churning and impelling performances of the splendid orchestral interludes, but also managed to present Britten's musical caricatures of the personalities on stage with both humour and theatre."
(Mischa Spel, NRC Handelsblad 7-2-2005)
"In de orkestbak houdt deze keer Holland Symfonia zitting. Onder leiding van Kenneth Montgomery brengen de musici het drama muzikaal in vol ornaat tot leven, beschaafd meeslepend en waar nodig met impressionistische verfijning. Wat een prachtig orkest is dit toch, als er een goede dirigent voor staat."
"This time it's the Holland Symfonia residing in the orchestra pit. Under the baton of Kenneth Montgomery the musicians fully bring the drama of the music to life, refinedly compelling and where necessary with impressionistic sophistication. What a splendid orchestra this is - when led by a good conductor."
(Thiemo Wind, Telegraaf)
"Nu staat Kenneth Montgomery voor Holland Symfonia, het ensemble dat de experimentele fase na de fusie Nederlands Balletorkest/Noordhollands Philharmonisch Orkest grotendeels achter zich heeft gelaten en nu in het operamétier voortreffelijk functioneert. Muzikaal en scènisch is dit een prachtige, beklemmende Peter Grimes, die niemand onberoerd kan laten."
"Kenneth Montgomery leads the Holland Symfonia, the ensemble that has progressed on from an experimental phase, following the merger of the Netherlands Ballet Orchetra and the North Holland Philharmonic Orchestra, and now functions excellently in the opera repertoire. Musically and dramatically this is a splendid, dark Peter Grimes, that cannot fail to move."
(Aad van der Ven, Haagsche Courant)
"Rarely - let me say it again - have we heard Rachmaninov's Variations so beautifully performed. The accompaniment provided by the Monaco orchestra, beautifully conducted by the British conductor Kenneth Montgomery, was magnificent and sharply focused."
"Following this, the concert ended with Elgar's rather uninspired second symphony. This work, which seemed to go on and on - and which might just as well have saved itself the trouble of starting - does not have the captivating quality of the same composer's well-known Pomp and Circumstance march."
(André Peyregne, Nice - Matin 11-01-05)
"UO's Mozart season ends on a high"
"KM cajoled a stunning performance from the orchestra with the cellos and woodwind dark and ethereal against the Sturm and Drang force of the remaining strings."
"The Belfast-born conductor let the narrative inform his interpretation, underlining the plight of the protagonist and the tempestuous nature of the retribution against him, through his choice of contrasting tempi and sharp changes in the works dynamic trajectory."
(Paul O'Reilly, Belfast Telegraph)
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"Replacement Montgomery lets Alceste swing"
"The highly experienced Montgomery chose for an exceptional arrangement: the orchestra sat in a half circle around the choir and soloists. Montgomery let the Radio Kamerorkest sing and swing with a cheerful tempo, rendering a charming flexibility to the strings' sound.
The Groot Omroepkoor's contribution was just as harmonious, giving powerful form to not only the joy and dread of the people, but also to the voices from the Underworld, which all served to compete with the soloists' performancess."
(Frits van der Waa, De Volkskrant)
"That it was KM who took over from Brüggen was a welcome bonus. Montgomery assembled the RKO on stage following the example of old engravings. Orchestra and singers formed a sort of circle: to the front of the podium sat the strings with their backs to the audience. This old orchestra pit arrangement - here with the conductor off centre to the left side - provided optimum contact between singers and musicians. Furthermore Montgomery knows what you can (must) do with an 18th century score. Where necessary it sounded wonderfully raging, with rasping horns and threatening trombones."
(Peter van der Lint, Trouw)
"Mariss Jansons once said: 'It's not about where they sit, it's about how they play.' Nevertheless the resultant sound was strikingly fine and well-balanced with a lively-playing Radio Kamerorkest and a strongly present Groot Omroepkoor."
(Eddie Vetter, de Telegraaf)
"Much temperament in Gluck's complete Alceste"
(Aad van der Ven, Haagsche Courant)
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"... conductor Kenneth Montgomery led the SFO orchestra with gusto and a bouncy beat."
(Craig Smith, The New Mexican, 19-07-04)
"Led by Kenneth Montgomery, the orchestra gave a vivid, boldly coloured performance ..."
(Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News, 11-08-04)
"Conductor Kenneth Montgomery keeps the orchestra in top form throughout Berlioz's richly-scored music ..."
(D.S. Crafts, Albuquerque Journal, 20-07-04)
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"The chief pleasures came from the chorus - a truly vintage Glyndebourne corps - and the pit, where Kenneth Montgomery's wise and vitally theatrical conducting recalled Glyndebourne in the Pritchard years, when Montgomery was an assistant and the GTO music director. Why do we hear so little of this experienced and deeply musical British conductor in this country?"
(Hugh Canning, Opera, December 2003)
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"Montgomery ... allows the score to unfold with a ratchet-like intensity and a remarkable sense of its architectural and metaphysical grandeur, without ever losing sight of the inner torment of the protagonists."
(Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 9/10/03)
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"Kenneth Montgomery is not a Mozart conductor who likes to hang around ... his keen sense of rhythm and propulsion ..."
(Richard Fairman - Financial Times 9/10/03)
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"It also helps to have a conductor who understands theatre. Kenneth Montgomery, a Glyndebourne veteran, brings dramatic energy in place of Simon Rattle's hard-driven approach, and the change is all gain. He draws sleek, lively playing from the orchestra. The chorus sings beautifully, too, while delivering the Sellars semaphore with conviction, and their quiet delivery of "Placido é il mar" is a wonderful moment."
(John Allison, The Times, 14/10/03)
"The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has been replaced by Glyndebourne Touring Opera's own orchestra and Simon Rattle replaced by Kenneth Montgomery.
Somehow in this process the music has become sharper.
All the flab has been removed and Montgomery conducts with discipline and plenty of colour."
(Mike Howard, Brighton Evening Argus, 10/10/03)
"The musical side is much better ... Kenneth Montgomery's conducting is spruce.
Keep your eyes shut, and there are the makings of a very good evening."
(Geoffrey Norris, Daily Telegraph, 16/10/03)
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... and click here to read an article (in Dutch) about Santa Fe Opera.
"FULL DISCLOSURE
Strauss' personal Intermezzo is odd, but it works. But it is the orchestra that is the real hero of the piece, in those instrumental interludes that connect and comment upon the action. They include another of Strauss' great orchestral waltzes, one of his lush, melancholic meditations on love and human frailty and a windy Straussgasm that prefaces the couple's faintly phony reconciliation.
Kenneth Montgomery's command of the score is sure-footed and flexible.
John Crosby who was to have led the Intermezzo, and this season's performances memorialize the founding impresario's championship of Strauss' stage works.
In a memorial program last Saturday, the SFO's remarkable opera house was reconsecrated the Crosby Theatre. Among the tributes was a performance of Strauss' "Four Last Songs" by Christine Brewer and the orchestra under Mr. Montgomery. We have experienced many unforgettable moments at the SFO over the past 47 seasons, thanks to John Crosby, his vision and his company. This was one of them."
(John Stege, The Santa Fe Reporter)
"While here I also attended a revival of a vibrant 1994 production of Strauss' seldom heard 'Intermezzo'. Most of the surging Straussian melodies are carried by the constantly abuzz orchestra, here conducted with sweeping energy by Kenneth Montgomery. This vivacious production offered the suave baritone Scott Hendricks and the dynamic soprana Judith Howard as Robert Storch, a famous composer, and his bossy, fretful and snappish wife, Christine (stand-ins for Richard and Pauline Strauss). And during the storm scene in Vienna's Prater, the back walls of the set parted to reveal, as if on cue, real flashes of lightning in the distant mountains. Only at the Santa Fe Opera is Mother Nature conscripted as a scenic designer."
(Anthony Tommasini, New York Times)
"... Kenneth Montgomery's conducting dominated the evening. Some interludes had a heartrending intensity, so the repetition of their themes in the dialogue underscored the character's profound feelings. The waltzes in the ballroom scene were brought off with intoxicating verve, and Montgomery extracted a wry irony from other interludes that made one question one's sympathies for the briefly estranged husband and wife. He made a good case for Intermezzo as one of Strauss's most fluent scores."
(Simon Williams, Opera News, November 2003)
"The intricate score was sometimes a challenge to the orchestra, but the experienced Kenneth Montgomery guided it safely through and obviously revelled in the one really lush episode, the glorious interlude depicting Christine's loneliness and her softer side."
(Michael Kennedy - London Sunday Telegraph)
"The true hero of 'Intermezzo' is the orchestra, and Montgomery's emphasis on the lush sensuality of the score's several orchestral interludes made clear that this is indeed music by the composer of 'Rosenkavalier'."
(Wes Blomster, Musical America)
"Intermezzo was to have been conducted by John Crosby, Santa Fe's guiding force from its inception untill 2000 and the man who made this company in the American desert an oasis for Strauss. But he died last December, so Kenneth Montgomery presided knowledgeably."
(George Loomis, Financial Times)
"Mr. Montgomery conducts the opera with real feeling for its impetuousness as well as its lyricism."
(Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News)
"INTERMEZZO CONTINUES SANTA FE OPERA'S STRAUSS TRADITION
Kenneth Montgomery's forceful conducting made the orchestral interludes speak expressively. The voices were given sympathetic support."
(Joanne Sheehy Hoover, Albuquerque Journal)
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"LA BELLE HÉLÉNE DIZZILY, DELIGHTFULLY MAD
Susan Graham in the title role had everything: lustrous looks, easy movement and a command of humour. Then there was her superb singing in which her sultry mezzo tasted the sung French and spoken English dialogue like ripe fruit. It helped, of course, that she and the rest of the cast had Kenneth Montgomery as conductor. Light-hearted in manner and beat, Montgomery adroitly guided pit and stage."
(Craig Smith, The New Mexican)
"SFO's Helene tilts to comedy
For its season opener Friday night the Santa Fe Opera let its hair down to deliver what Broadway would call a hit show. Its sparkling version of Offenbach's "La belle Helene" set off tidal waves of laughter. Fronted by the stunning 6-foot-tall Susan Graham as Helen and the Paris of William Burden, who has the looks of a Holywood hunk, the finely integrated SFO production trips along on the lightest and most inventive of steps.
The music was delivered with verve by conductor Kenneth Montgomery."
(Joanne Sheehy Hoover, The Albuquerque Journal)
"WICKED FUN
'Wicked' doesn't begin to describe last weekend's opening of the Santa Fe Opera's 47th season. Susan Graham made a Héléne that could have launched a billion ships: vocally impeccable, visually delctable. Cast as Paris, buff William Burden looks great and sounds good. Mr. Pelly's outlandish staging and costumes and the sets of Chantal Thomas cast the action in the form of Héléne's dream, so don't be suprised when eight balletic sheep wander onstage in the middle of her and Paris bewitching second act love duet. Chalk up winning moments for Laura Scozzi and her dancers. Plus the SFO chorus, especially when in bathing costume, has never looked so good, and old-timer Kenneth Montgomery conducts the smallish orchestra and big cast with his customary deft authority."
(John Stege, The Santa Fe Reporter)
"ALL THE PIECES FIT TOGETHER IN OPERA OPENER
The director took excitingly bold risks in this highly innovative staging that paid off both in artistic terms and audience appeal.
Not only were all the performers in the principal roles fabulous singers, they all completely looked their parts, especially the fetching Susan Graham as Helene.
Even though a strong emphasis is placed on theatricality, the staging is never allowed to overshadow Offenbach's inspired, enduring music, for which conductor Kenneth Montgomery has an obvious knack."
"Musically ... there was plenty to enjoy, Offenbach's score sparkled under Montgomery's deft baton ..."
(Hugh Canning, Opera, November 2003)
"Kenneth Montgomery conducted with spirit."
(George Loomis, Financial Times)
"Kenneth Montgomery conducts with unforced vigor, and the orchestra plays well - except, of course, when it's parodying a drunken town band."
(Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News)
"It is an enjoyable romp, slickly staged with Broadway-level dancing, especially the episode for eight sheep which won all hearts in spite of diverting attention from the music of one of the best duets.
Kenneth Montgomery conducted with zest and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Me too, up to a point."
(Michael Kennedy, London Sunday Telegraph)
"Achilles in Polka-Dot PJs
Updated English dialogue meshed splendidly with frothy, infectious tunes, sung in French and conducted with style by Kenneth Montgomery. Ms Graham and Mr Burden looked stunning, sounded even better, and connected with a chemistry as sexy as it was funny."
(Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal)
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"Whenever the conductor Kenneth Montgomery stands in front of the 'Orchestra of the East', something happens. It is a pity that he was
not invited sooner to work regularly with this orchestra, as he has been active in this country for several years. The programme offered lesser known music, a rather special instrument and even various orchestral layouts. At a previous concert, I had noticed that his preference was apparently for the classical layout (violins left and right, cellos and violas in the middle). On this occasion for two Chopin works a different (historical?) positioning was chosen with the woodwind on the right."
(Frans Heijdemann, Tubantia, 7/03/03)
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"... leading without a baton, Montgomery elicited an unusual wealth of color and contrast from three tone poems from
Czech composer Bedrich Smetana's symphonic cycle, "Ma Vlast."
"... Even for abrupt mood shifts, and there were many, Montgomery spearheaded them with a convincing sense of
architecture and momentum.
"... Montgomery and company provided elastic, keenly responsive support, highlighted by fine solo work from section principals."
(Diane Windeler, Express News, 12/01/03)
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Beethoven Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'
X 2nd Movement ·
X 3rd Movement
"... Beethovens Sixth was quite a revelation. Montgomery has a completely unique vision for this music: passionate and rich in contrast, with a brisk tempo and unexpected accentuations. Remarkably enough the orchestra played standing and responded with great alertness and inspiration."
(Wijnand van de Kamp, Haagsche Courant, 23/12/02)
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"Thanks to Kenneth Montgomery 'Iphigénie en Aulide' really is beautiful"
"The big star of the afternoon was conductor Kenneth Montgomery, who led the Radio Chamber Orchestra and the Radio Choir through the score with much feeling for colour and drama. Montgomery searched behind the notes and that was translated into a highly unusual orchestra setup and a sophisticated plan for dynamics and tempi. Thanks to him it really was beautiful - to speak with this lady - thus this seldom performed opera showed its hands, feet, voice and heart."
(Peter van der Lint, Trouw, 25/11/02)
"In the spirit of Gluck's striving for 'pure simplicity', conductor Kenneth Montgomery achieved with the Radio Chamber Orchestra and the Radio Choir a narrative, and in the orchestra colour and arrangement beautifully balanced performance of Iphigénie en Aulide.
(Mischa Spel, NRC, 25/11/02)
"... well administered by conductor Kenneth Montgomery ... the Chamber Orchestra ... steered to great heights."
(Guido van Oorschot, De Volkskrant, 25/11/02)
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"Montgomery approaches Mozart powerfully"
"Montgomery is a real opera conductor, who gives his singers space. The soloists are able to profit from this in every way." (Aad van der Ven, Haagsche Courant, 2/11/02)
"Kenneth Montgomery allows the music in turn sparkle and then caress .... his vision for Mozart is certainly dramatic."
(Frits van der Waa, De Volkskrant, 2/11/02)
"The "Sturm und Drang" is brought out of the Orkest van het Oosten by conductor Kenneth Montgomery underlined with broad, expressionistic strokes."
(Kasper Jansen, NRC Handelsblad, 2/11/02)
"Nevertheless the Reisopera has succeeded in making the majesty and drama of Idomeneo sensitive. Especially from the music side, where there were major cuts made in the score. This feeling was for the greater part suggested by the Orkest van het Oosten and conductor Kenneth Montgomery: from the orchestra we heard a vibrant and expressive reading of this highly colourful music."
(Paul Herruer, Dagblad van het Noorden, 4/11/02)
"The conductor Kenneth Montgomery and the Orkest van het Oosten lay down a firm foundation, not excessively subtle, but with a strikingly dramatic core."
(Thiemo Wind, de Telegraaf, 4/11/02)
"The conductor, Kenneth Montgomery, projected the throbs and thrusts of this impulsive score, but also its tragic timelessness, with
total mastery."
(Michael Davidson, Opera, 03/03)
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"Everyone not only sang well; they worked as a cohesive musical unit, in large part because of conductor Kenneth Montgomery's urgent but not flustered tempos and the dramatically incisive recitatives."
(Craig Smith, The New Mexican, 15/07/02)
"Conductor Kenneth Montgomery elicited graceful, precisely articulated playing from the orchestra"
(Joanne Sheehy Hoover, Albuquerque Journal, 15/07/02)
"Irish conductor Kenneth Montgomery led the surging but well-paced accompaniment by the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra; his special contribution was the simultaneous use of fortepiano and harpsichord to add tonal color to the recitatives."
(Houston Chronicle)
"Another star was British conductor Kenneth Montgomery who led the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra in a luminous reading of the score. He took chances with tempi so that well-known arias such as Sesto's Parto, parto sounded unfamiliar, placing the showy coloratura within the meaning of the text with effective use of pauses. Thus the excellent cast of singers musically emphasized drama and motivation rather than pyrotechnics. M is simply one of this generation's great opera conductors, and rarely has Mozart sounded so intelligent, perceptive and humane."
(The Globe and Mail)
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"The orchestra, raised in their pit so we can actually see and hear them clearly, is thrilling. Kenneth Montgomery directing with exuberance and care. Unlike Diamond, he respects the music."
(Glenn Sumi - Now - 11-17/04/02)
"But the sound of this production is all business. Conductor Kenneth Montgomery led a transformed COC Orchestra, which had been slimmed down to a smart simulation of a period-style band. The fleet overture managed to make even the Hummingbird sound like an intimate venue. M consistently kept his hand near the rhythmic spring that propels each aria, though his soloists occasionally had other ideas."
(Robert Everett-Green, The Globe and Mail, 08/04/02)
"Kenneth Montgomery led a stylish, animated reading of a musical treasure-house of an opera."
(William Littler, The Toronto Star, 08/04/02)
"The conductor is splendid; the production stinks. Kenneth Montgomery led the modern orchestra in a stylish, graceful and well-paced performance that included excellent instrumental solos."
(Tamara Bernstein, National Post, 09/04/02)
"Conductor Kenneth Montgomery led a wonderfully detailed orchestral performance, highlighted by its sensitive continuous playing."
(Jan Jezioro, buffalonews.com, 10/04/02)
"For this production the pit has been raised so that the smaller orchestra will be better heard. Under the expert guidance of conductor Kenneth Montgomery, they play with such lightness and clarity of texture one would think they were a band of original instruments. The music-making in this Julius Caesar is of such a high order that the enterprise would succeed without sets or costumes."
(Christopher Hoile, Theaterworld Internet Magazine, 15/04/02)
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"I imagine Kenneth Montgomery's rehearsal time with the BSO for Schubert's glorious Ninth Symphony was exacting."
"Even in performance the score was to hand and from the nicely-sprung opening bars it was evident that the orchestra had been thoroughly prepared. Attention to the finest detail made this an absorbing performance that never lost sight of musical direction."
"The lower strings offered a real sense of depth in the second movement with Ellen Marsden's beautiful oboe solo piercing the shadows. Rhythmic impetus was implacable and every phrase turned with loving generosity."
"The Scherzo's humour gently engaged in a touch of swagger and whatever the dynamic in the finale the