Andris Nelsons
press quotes – Bayreuther Festspiele: “Lohengrin”, July 2010
The young Latvian Andris Nelsons, making his debut at the podium of the Festival Orchestra, threw himself into Wagner's score with verve. The Prelude sounded silky and transparent, and the precipitous Ortrud and Telramund motif was expressionistically jagged. The instrumental gestures were played eloquently and lovingly. -- Julia Spinola, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27.07.10
The young conductor Andris Nelsons, in particular, already marketed as a star, is responsible for the lightness. If the director, whose mission is enlightenment, dislikes swirling magical legends, then Nelsons follows suit. He shapes the sound with consistent delicacy and develops a coherently crafted orchestral narrative in which the beautiful passages are not particularly conspicuous at all, because every bar is worked out with musicianly fluency and no transition or break is apparent as such. Even the noisy Prelude to Act III, in which Nelsons puts the triumphal melody on an equal footing with the surging undulation of the strings, does not sound like inappropriate sensationalism. Nelsons and his voluptuously playing musicians always make Wagner's complex and all too often inaudible orchestral polyphony the focus of their performance. They produce a rich sound that is of this world, far from the murmuring of musical mythology, noble, exquisite and never obtrusive. […] This conducting ranks with Bayreuth's best during the last few years, however, alongside Christian Thielemann's Meistersinger and the Parsifal of Pierre Boulez. -- Reinhard Brembeck, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 26.07.10
The youngest conductor in the history of Bayreuth, Andris Nelsons, has amazed us again. 31 years old, the Latvian creates miracles of dramatic energy and poetic finesse by making the orchestra strings sound with a rare transparency. An impressive physical presence and an unbelievable sense of atmosphere make for a conductor beyond the norm. -- Christian Merlin, Le Figaro, 27.07.10
The clinching factor was the performance’s musical character – not just the superlative festival chorus and orchestra but the conducting of Andris Nelsons, whose daringly slow, serene handling of the Elsa theme midway through the second act was outstanding. -- Andrew Clark, Financial Times, 27.07.10
The Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons charmed a woodwind-dominated Lohengrin from the pit – a vivacious, vibrant entity which undeniably lacked boastfulness and muscularity. Wagner in lightweight construction – many interpret it that way, but Nelsons does it particularly well. He accompanied the singers in an exemplary manner, and the Festival Orchestra's playing was first-rate, as always, apart from minor insecurities at the beginning. -- Wolfram Goertz, Rheinische Post, 27.07.10
The orchestra, conducted by 31-year-old Andris Nelsons, also played clearly, elegantly, never bombastically. Lohengrin was composed long before Bayreuth's Festspielhaus was built, however, and at times a more direct sound than the covered pit allows would have been desirable. At the same time, this architecture enhances the instrumental magic that defines the later Wagner. The way the first Prelude shone down from the celestial realms to the earthly depths already told half the evening's story. During an interview Nelsons said that it is important to keep the future in mind at every moment. What he meant by that and how he communicated it to the singers could be heard at all times. -- Susanne Kübler, Tagesanzeiger, 27.07.10
We see Nelsons, the 31-year-old Latvian, appear briefly in the reflection of Elsa's glass swan terrarium. He tries to spin a delicate, continuous thread with untiring enthusiasm. His brilliant feat of coordination – achieving a clear tonal concept at his Green Hill debut, after only four rehearsals in the covered orchestra pit – earned him great respect even before the premiere. The Festival Orchestra played marvellously 'this worldly', wide-awake rather than drugged, without any bombast whatsoever. An interpretation which director and conductor devoted themselves to in equal measure. -- Ulrich Amling, Tagesspiegel, 27.07.10
The young conductor Andris Nelsons took a great deal of time, laid sphere upon sphere, like the shadows cast by a silken scarf. And if the attack by the strings of the Festival Orchestra had been a little more uniform, this opening would have been enchanting. But a trace of earth remained – and it did not detract from the young Latvian's success that during his Bayreuth debut he occasionally had to render tribute to the unique circumstances – not only the acoustics, but structurally in general. -- Rainer Wagner, Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 27.07.10
And suddenly – far-away at first, then ever closer – conductor Andris Nelsons was reflected in the glass. He stood in the orchestra pit, Wagner's 'mystic abyss', which no audience member had ever seen from his seat, in a white T-shirt and conducted this enchanting music with complete abandon. Before the premiere Neuenfels had stressed that he would like to open the pit, which is covered to the audience side, so that everyone could observe Nelsons during his sweaty work. He managed it indirectly. Thus the real star of the production could not only be heard but seen as well. Nelsons's conducting is fabulous – light, full of spirit and oxygen-rich contrasts, delicate harmonic progressions and melodic pulse. Preludes and interludes as beautiful as a dream. A brilliant musical mind with an inspired tipsy head. These two masterminds conceived a Lohengrin that at times deprives gravity of its power but at the same time must struggle arduously with its concept. -- Gregor Dolak, Focus, 26.07.10
Conductor Andris Nelsons presented himself rather as a hope for the future. The orchestra sounds solid. Nelsons has tremendous inner excitement, provides transparency and has a feeling for the delicately shimmering subtleties of the score. -- Ljubisa Tosic, Der Standard, 27.07.10
