Press

• More info  
  31 Jul 19 Mozart & Brahms Mostly Mozart Festival
  

  “In catching the symphony’s [Brahms Symphony No. 3 in F major] kaleidoscopic inventiveness—thrashing, delicate, complex, pastoral, titanic, dancelike, joyful—Langrée, with a vast imaginative sympathy, delivered the composer’s essence.”

  Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 31 July 2019

• More info  
  18 Jul 19 The Magic Flute Mostly Mozart Festival
  

  “The conductor Louis Langrée draws a lithe, articulate and elegant performance from the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra.”
  NYT Critic’s Pick
  Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 18 July 2019

  “Louis Langrée, conducting the first ever fully-staged Mozart opera in the Festival’s fifty-three-year history, draws a wonderfully supple, elegant and expressive reading of this brilliant and varied score.”
  ★★★★★
  Susan Stempleski, Classical Source, 17 July 2019

  “The Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra — assembled from some of the country’s top musicians — was as fresh, snappy, and inviting as could be imagined. Conductor Louis Langrée — incredibly, in his first outing with this opera — adopted fleet tempos, and nudged the musicians toward elegance and lightness. The rocketing overture alone foretold a night of fairytale exuberance.”
  Bruce Hodges, Seen and Heard International, 23 July 2019

• More info  
  15 Mar 19 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Music Hall Cincinnati

  “Langrée led exuberantly, and gave orchestral soloists the freedom to phrase expressively in the bluesy moments [Gershwin “An American in Paris”]… Just as striking was how Langrée managed to make sense of it all, balancing those moments of quiet serenity until the final, massive onslaught that ended the piece [Varèse “Amériques”].”

  Janelle Gelfand, Bizjournals.com, 15 March 2019

• More info  
  29 Oct 18 Philadelphia Orchestra
  Verizon Hall

  “For most audience members, I imagine, it’s hard to picture this piece [Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice] without seeing Mickey Mouse, but Langrée treated it seriously, drawing richly colored playing in the composition’s distinctive writing for bassoon. The jarring staccato and pizzicato playing in the strings made a nice contrast to the traditionally blended, sweeping Philadelphia sound… Ravel’s sweeping “Suite No. 2″ from Daphnis et Chloé concluded the evening on a high. Langrée drew cinematic swells from the strings, richly expressive playing from the percussion section, and an otherworldly contribution from Elizabeth Hainen on the harp.”

  Cameron Kelsall, BroadStreetReview.com, 29 October 2018

  “Langrée was particularly adept at projecting the Huntsman going to hell by highlighting the constant subtle shifts in orchestration.”

  David Patrick Stearns, The Inquirer, 26 October 2018

• More info  
  15 Apr 18 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Music Hall Cincinnati

  “There was freshness and spontaneity to Langrée’s conducting as he led the symphony from memory. The slow movement, one of Beethoven’s most sublime, was clear and flowing, enhanced by heartfelt contributions from principal clarinetist Ralph Skiano.”

  Janelle Gelfand, Bizjournals.com, 15 April 2018

• More info  
  23 Mar 18 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Music Hall Cincinnati

  “The listener was instantly drawn into this late-romantic, lush sound world … Langrée tempos were unhurried, and he brought great feeling to the performance. The arc of the piece  [Strauss Metamorphosen] was seamless as the conductor led from its sombre opening in the low strings to a majestic peak and back again”

  Janelle Gelfand, Bizjournals.com, 24 March 2018

• More info  
  20 Dec 17 Le Comte Ory Opéra Comique
  

  “Louis Langrée directs his first Rossini as a master builder, guaranteeing cohesion; a perfect synthesis of flexibility and stability. The result is disciplined, but without effecting the momentum of the music.”

  Christian Merlin, Le Figaro, 20 December 2017

• More info  
  27 Aug 17 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/European Tour
  Edinburgh/London

  “With Brahms’s First Symphony No. 1, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra revealed the subtlety they are capable of. Under Langrée, small swells in volume were superbly controlled, and during quiet sections, the conductor maintained the underlying energy.”

  4 stars, Hazel Rowland, The Herald, 26 August 2017

  “This was the orchestra’s Proms debut. This touring programme showed us what we have been missing. There’s that almost inordinate precision and sparkle, best experienced in its encore, Bernstein’s Candide overture; and an intense clarity of colour and line, so telling in the early stages of Copland’s Lincoln Portrait. And how about the sonic ballast, partly fuelled by the muscular buzz of double basses, placed on risers, facing the front?

  Yet Langrée’s band is no brash machine. The orchestra can play with genuine warmth and easily conjure up Old World charm. Consider the waltz movement of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, so winningly steered and accented…This is one powerfully equipped orchestra…Please, come back soon.”

  4 stars, Geoff Brown, The Times, 29 August 2017

  “The concert in London was a triumph; from the brass and percussion who played brilliantly, yet without aggression in the Bernstein and Copland, to the expressive string playing in the Tchaikovsky.”

  Christian Merlin, Le Figaro, 3 September 2017

• More info  
  25 Jul 17 Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
  Mostly Mozart Festival

  “Then Mr. Langrée conducted a spirited performance of the first movement of the “Haffner” Symphony. He drew crisp, buoyant playing from the orchestra in all four movements.” New York Times, 26th July 2017

• More info  
  18 Nov 16 Concertos for Orchestra CD Release Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  

  “the playing here is outstanding, the trickier corners of the three new works heard on this disc negotiated with a swagger which never descends into slickness … it’s the quality of the performances which make each work convince, Langrée demonstrating a very French ear for orchestral colour. Superb sound, too.”
  Grahmam Rickson, The Arts Desk, 4 Feb 2017

• More info  
  05 Jan 17 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Music Hall Cincinnati

  “Webern’s “Passacaglia,” Op. 1 … surprised listeners who only know the composer’s 12-tone output …. Langrée brought inventive character to each of its variations and swept up his forces in its majestic peaks!”
  Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com, 6th January 2017

• More info  
  03 Nov 16 The Philadelphia Orchestra
  

  “Langrée delivered a rugged antiethereal first movement [Brahms Symphony No. 2]; a brisk, crisp third movement; and a blazing, exuberant final movement — though always with close attention to how orchestration creates well-defined coloristic shifts. He encouraged a saturated string sound that was so echt-Philadelphia he seemed to channel Eugene Ormandy.

  Langrée has emerged as a major personality in recent years, so it’s no wonder that he was able to persuade the Philadelphia Orchestra to go his way so completely.”

  David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Enquirer, 4th November 2016

• More info  
  01 Oct 16 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Music Hall Cincinnati

  “In the program’s first half, Langrée perfectly caught the languid, sensuous mood of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” (again featuring Bowman as flute soloist). The hallmarks of Debussy’s “Nocturnes” included transparency and subtlety of expression. The musicians played superbly.”
  Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com, 1st October 2016

• More info  
  21 Sep 16 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Music Hall Cincinnati

  ” … nothing short of electrifying …. Langrée led a nuanced performance [of Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3] and also managed to elicit expressive color from the players … The most ravishing moment came in the lovely “Poco Adagio,” warmly underscored by organ. The orchestra’s ensemble was clear and precise, and finale’s majestic, brass-filled build-up was a thrilling conclusion to the program.”
  Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com, 22nd September 2016

• More info  
  08 Sep 16 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Music Hall Cincinnati

  “The brass of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra burst upon the finale of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 with electrifying power. It was the summit of a gripping performance led by Louis Langrée to open the orchestra’s season”
  Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com, 9th September 2016

• More info  
  29 Jul 16 Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
  Mostly Mozart Festival

  “This orchestral program, heard in the second of three performances, on Friday, was a gem in its simplicity and symmetry …. Mr. Langrée and the orchestra rendered [the works] in fine fashion”
  James R. Oestreich, The New York Times, 31st July 2016

  ★★★★ “Langrée drew spirited … responses from his resident orchestra …. In all, a good night at Geffen Hall.”
  Martin Bernheimer, The Financial Times, 22nd August 2016

• More info  
  30 Jun 16 Cosi Fan Tutte Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
  Aix-en-Provence Festival

  “… the Freiburg ensemble played with crisp, light energy under Mr. Langrée”
  Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times, 1st July 2016

• More info  
  06 Jan 16 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
  Lincoln Centre, New York

  “In the Fifth Symphony, Mr. Langrée, conducting from memory, brought weighty depth to the grim Andante opening of the first movement. The animated main section was at once purposeful and restless. He sometimes pushed the music to compelling extremes for expressivity … The finale was the highlight, played with fiery intensity and excitement”
  Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 7 January 2016

  “Two standing ovations for a program of symphonic warhorses is not what you’d expect from New York audiences, who regularly see the world’s most inventive musical offerings. But Louis Langrée and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra brought New Yorkers cheering to their feet – twice – for their all-Tchaikovsky program on Wednesday night at Lincoln Center.”
  Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com 7 January, 2016