CRITICAL ACCLAIM
LA FARSA AMOROSA
Lincoln Center, New York.
….But the star of this show was the conductor, David Wroe, who led a performance of bristling energy and sharp detail.
NEW YORK TIMES - Tommasini
GERSHWIN: PORGY AND BESS SUITE, CONCERTO in F.
L'Orchestre National de Lille/David Wroe Bruno Fontaine, piano.
TransArt label. (DDD)
….In the Porgy and Bess Suite they [David Wroe/L’Orchestre National de Lille] came into their own with an idiomatic, well recorded performance worthy of the composer.
GRAMOPHONE - Jeremy Nicholas
An unfamiliar rescue tale from a familiar composer
….Teatro Grattacielo celebrated its 15th anniversary at Avery Fisher Hall…with Il Piccolo Marat, Mascagni’s 14th opera, heard in its United State Premiere. ….The strongest impression was made by David Wroe, who drew an urgent, polished performance from the orchestra.
New York Tiimes - Steve Smith
Guest Conductor Transfigures Night.
If conducting is about clarity and showing a composer's design, David Wroe is your man. He guided Symphony Nova Scotia through the expressionist tangle of Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht with a sure hand and high sense of musical drama ... Wroe, conducting from memory, clearly understood the significance of every single gesture in the music and how to indicate that to the musicians in the fraction of a second before they had to play it. ….another demonstration of Wroe’s penchant for clarity, energy and drama in Haydn’s London Symphony. He conducts the layers of the music and you hear what you never heard before.
Nova Scotia Chronicle-Herald - Stephen Pedersen
J. C. Bach’s Amadis, with temperament and precision.
Oper der Stadt Heidelberg.
... Under the rousing leadership of David Wroe, the orchestra delivered the score with temperament and exactitude – as though they were the legendary Mannheim Orchestra of the 18th Century. The energy center of this performance came from the pit.
Frankfurter Allgemeine
David Wroe conducts l’Orchestre Symphonique de l’Opéra de Toulon with Gautier Capuçon
….Led by guest conductor David Wroe, the orchestra was full of energy, but also with finesse….David Wroe and the Orchestra left a stunning impression that blossomed in the fabulous Larghetto, endowing it with an impressive power…yet respectful of the Enlightenment model…the little Gavotte that made you smile delighting the hearts of every one there…..
Anaclasse (France)
L'INCANTESSIMO AND L'ORACOLO
Avery Fisher Hall
What a difference the right conductor can make. Most of us who only knew Leoni’s verismo one-act shocker from Richard Bonynges’ 1975 Decca recording had been disappointed by the work. It seemed like a lackluster affair….That was proven November 13th when David Wroe conducted a fiery concert at Avery Fisher Hall….that forced one to make a complete reevaluation. L’Oracolo is no masterpiece, but in the right hands it can be an effective, atmospheric thriller with moments that anticipate Turandot.
OPERA NEWS - Eric Myers
TANGLEWOOD TRIUMPHS
Wroe, Yo Yo Ma highlight banner weekend.
[with the Boston Symphony Orchestra]…. The performance put new life into an old workhorse. In both the symphony [Dvorak 9th] and Barber’s “School for Scandal” Overture, which opened the program, Wroe was a passionate, imaginative advocate…. Ideas can change, the talent is there.
BERKSHIRE EAGLE - Andrew Pincus
NJ Festival Orchestra program delights.
... credit to conductor David Wroe with a winning, approachable style that added interest and delight to even the most familiar…with a Richard Strauss tone poem, this is where Wroe’s skills shined. Alternating between baton and microphone, Wroe interspersed “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” with vignettes from the original play… Wroe had the audience laughing at the antics.
New Jersey Star-Ledger - Frederick Kaimann
A Spanish Evening.
Heidelberg Philharmonic.
... after intermission followed De Falla’s Three Cornered Hat ... David Wroe is an expressive and gesticulatory gifted conductor, showing great concentration and intensity. The English conductor succeeded in inspiring the German musicians to play genuine Spanish music ...with light touch and flexibility, and creating a wonderfully tender nocturnal atmosphere.
Rein-Neckar Zeitung - Carl Meyer