Press
CD reviews:
Inferno
Unheard
Solemnis
Kanon Pokajanen
Honegger
Brahms
Prophetiae Sibyllarum
Poulenc Stabat Mater
Janáĉek
Ärkamine (Tüür)
Schubert
Golgotha
Mendelssohn & Kreek
Sweelinck Psalms
Treble & Bass
Lux Aeterna
Solomon (Händel)
Le Vin Herbé
(Martin)
Les Noces (Stravinsky)
Figure Humaine (Poulenc)
Messiaen/Martin
Reviews of concerts
Händel, Agrippina, the English National Opera, February 5, 2007, London Coliseum
This is a brilliant performance of a brilliant production, and a must-see even for those who
are not into Händel or his operas. (...)
A special word needs to be said about the crisp, tight, conducting style of Daniel Reuss, the
Principal Conductor of the RIAS Kammerchor, here making his debut at the ENO. In this opera pace
is everything, and Reuss keeps the whole show in rapid motion without a moment of sagging. I hope
we will hear more from him on this side of the Channel.
Robert Jackson, Times Literary Supplement, February 17, 2007
In the pit, Daniel Reuss leads a crisp and fresh account of the score,
with tempi very much on the brisk side. Any minor shortcomings in the solo work are swept aside in the exuberance
of the overall playing, which perfectly matches the antics on the stage.
Simon Thomas, Musicomh.com, February 6, 2007
In the pit, Daniel Reuss has encouraged a stylish performance: sharp, vivid, occasionally chaotic.
Anna Picard, Independent on Sunday, February 11, 2007
Aria after aria unfolds without the opera seeming interminably long,
and Daniel Reuss's propulsive tempi and transparent textures certainly
help - though at nearly four hours, the show does not sell
Händel short on music.
Andrew Clark, Financial Times, February 7, 2007
Daniel Reuss conducted sturdily: this isn't one of Handel's most beautiful or melancholy scores, and Reuss
and the orchestra rightly concentrated on keeping its energy level high.
Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph, February 7, 2007
In the pit, the German Daniel Reuss makes an auspicious debut.
To be frank, lesser-known Händel operas can be an evening of almost
unremitting tedium. After a slow beginning - Händel's fault, not ENO's - this was thoroughly entertaining stuff;
a kind of Carry On Up The Arpeggios that sends you out of the theatre with a smile on your face and a profound
appreciation of the greatness of Händels musical inspiration.
David Mellor, The Mail on Sunday, Februari 11, 2007
Requiem Brahms, Rias Kammerchor & Cappella Amsterdam,
Alte Musik Akademie, May 13 2006, Utrecht
Reuss shows mastery
The performance of Johannes Brahms' masterpiece requiem in the
Vredenburg in Utrecht Saturday night could have been put straight
onto a CD. And it should have been! It was a unique, deeply moving experience that reverberated in the ears '
and the soul - Reuss understands the art of give and take, and carefully chooses points in the score where
Brahms' genius best comes to the fore. The otherworldly sounds of the harp,
for example, in 'Denn alles Fleisch ist wie Gras' added a magnificent colour
to the total sonority. The wrenching dissonances in 'Tod, wo ist dein Stachel, Hölle,
wo ist dein Sieg ' shot into the hall like spears, and the phrase 'folgen ihnen nach'
sounded as humble and sweet as Brahms must have intended it to. Reuss took the various
alla breve indications in the score (Brahms often wants double-time at the beginning of
large-scale fugues) with verve. The build-up of 'Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit' was downright
magnificent. Soprano Sandrine Piau sang beautifully as a comforting mother, and the way
Reuss laid a foundation for her with the choir truly took one's breath away. Baritone
David Wilson-Johnson was also in fine form and
announced the last trumpet with dramatic authority.
Peter van der Lint, Trouw, 15.05.06
'Solomon', Rias Kammerchor
(....), das Raffinement, mit dem Reuss der fabelhaft
spielenden Akademie für Alte Musik und seinem Chor
vielfältigste Farbspiele entlockt, geht sinnvoll und unspektakulär in den Vortrag
ein, so dass die Musik allein bereits restlos beglückt.
Sie wird auch ?ber drei Stunden nicht zu lang.
Peter Uehling, Berliner Zeitung, 04.01.2006
Bach Christmas Oratorio, Rias Kammerchor, december 2005
...Reuss' animated conducting was a source of musical pleasure for the entire evening.
In the big choruses he made the music dance and swing as if the joy of all the angels
and heavenly hosts knew no bounds. And in the more intimate arias he subtly revealed
the delicate fabric of Bach's vocal lines, helped by noteworthy solo turns from oboe,
traverso and violin.
De Standaard, Belgium, 24.12.05
Festival Oude Muziek Bach/Brahms motets with Cappella Amsterdam
'Pieter Wispelwey and Daniel Reuss did some zany
things with Bach and Brahms. These fortysomething performers -
cellist and choral conductor, respectively - are taken by the occasional
roguish idea. In a performance by Cappella Amsterdam punctuated by phenomenal moments,
motets by Bach and Brahms accommodated one another splendidly.'
De Volkskrant, 05.09.05
'Under the leadership of Daniel Reuss, Cappella Amsterdam imbued the motets
by Brahms with a warmly Romantic sensibility. The highlight,
'Warum ist das Licht gegeben', was an intense experience of
harmonic colouring.'
De Telegraaf, 05.09.05
Messiah, with RIAS Kammerchor, December 2004
Reuss and his team certainly produced delight and ecstasy, (...) Reuss,
who kept everything tightly under control,
and even seemed to be conducting with his coattails at
times, achieved eloquent results with a finely balanced approach to the dynamics (...)
De Volkskrant, 22.12.04
There was something else to rejoice about Sunday, Reuss' astonishingly light 'Messiah',
with frisky tempi that sometimes seemed to skip along. Choir and orchestra showed
themselves to be a tight and nimble ensemble in sections like 'All we like sheep'.
A quick, exciting pace, in which the choir members sailed over the ornaments like
hurdlers, showing Bachian strictness and angularity in sections like 'He trusted in God'
and then reveal multiple layers in the 'Hallelujah'.
Trouw, 21.12.04
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