01-02-2022 Diapason
"In Zurich as in Aix-en-Provence, a dream Pamina. Tender without sentimentality, limpid without harshness, musician of every second"
13-10-2021 American Record Guide
"This disc of Handel and Mozart arias and overtures is an enjoyable way to spend 71 minutes, but leaves one wanting more than we get here."
02-07-2021 Cooltura
"Mari Eriksmoen uses her voice with acrobatic flexibility, but at the same time her interpretations are well-thought-out and rich in detail. Eriksmoen impresses with the expression of her voice. Thanks to the colorful and dynamic voice, the arias of Mozart and Heandel performed by Eriksmoen sound dramatic and moving.
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01-05-2021 Gramophone
"... she is a star here. Pamina's 'ach, ich fühl's' doesn't quite touch the heart until the very end, but the other items are exemplary. [...] Jan Willem de Vriend and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra do a good job overall. Forget the less than perfect presentation and enjoy the top-drawer singing."
30-04-2021 Presto
"The Norwegian soprano (who appears as Zerlina, Fiordiligi and Susanna in Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s recently-released cycle of the Mozart/Da Ponte operas) sings arias from Idomeneo, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Mitridate and Mozart’s arrangements of Messiah and Acis and Galatea, plus excerpts from Handel’s Silla, Joshua, Teseo, and Giulio Cesare; her singing here was described as ‘top-drawer’ in this month’s edition of Gramophone."
22-03-2021 Klassik.com
"Already the first striking notes of the horn solo give the listener the distinct feeling that the conductor is concerned with filling this work with new life. The slenderness of the sound is remarkable, which, despite the grandeur of the music, never runs the risk of being pathetic. On the contrary: it gives the impression that Jan Willem de Vriend wants to transform precisely those qualities that are often attributed to Schubert's music - melancholy, nostalgia, tragedy- into a sound ideal that is characterized by lightness and elegance."
15-02-2021 Pizzicato
"But the focus, after all, is Mari Eriksmoen’s voice, and it is superb. The natural grace of the light, agile and confident soprano voice, the cultivated declamation and the fresh liveliness, but also the often moving empathy of her singing show a singer who, far from all effects, fully convinces with a stylistically confident musicality.
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05-01-2021 BBC Music Magazine
"...while modern instruments are evidently used, articulation is deft and neat, the strings' vibrato is restrained but not harshly so and the feeling is of musical values leading at every point."
01-12-2020 Classic Voice
"Jan Willem de Vriend shares with other today conductors a preference for swift tempos […] The Scherzo is thoroughly compelling.
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01-11-2020 Musicweb International
"This is Challenge Records' contribution to the 250th anniversary celebrations of Beethoven's birth, and a very fine one it is as well. All of these recordings have been released over the years in single and/or box sets of SACD multi-layer discs, and this all-inclusive box is a more budget-friendly release on standard CDs.[...] All things considered this is a collection that is well worth having.[...] These are all excellent recordings, with a very high standard of performance and a consistent sound that blends period-informed transparency with satisfyingly modern sonorities.
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26-09-2020 Stretto
"This is a charming, but where it should be, also solemn, sound and impressive performance. An added value for the discography of this masterpiece. Definitely listen!"
07-10-2019 Music Web
"Well recorded and performed with a good deal of panache and certainly no fussiness this is fine pair of Schubert symphonies."
19-07-2019 Luister
"With Jan Willem de Vriend, conductor of the Residentie Orchestra until this summer, the two early symphonies are now fresh and playful, with all the echoes of Mozart and Haydn and all, and where possible with the necessary sound refinement."
31-01-2019 Amadeus Magazine
"A firm reading in the whole, and refined in the search for nuances. This is especially true for The Tragic: in the alternance between major and minor pitch, in the choice to use a wider orchestra"
11-01-2019 Fono Forum
"The gnashing character of the harmonies is uncompromisingly emphasized by the Dutch orchestra…"
01-12-2018 Crescendo
"De Vriend's incredibly fresh and pulsating interpretation resolutely corrects the old resentments…
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21-09-2018 Pizzicato
"With fluid, agile and vivid performances, Willem de Vriend and The Hague’s Residentie Orkest take a promising start into a new compete cycle of the Schubert symphonies.
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30-08-2018 HR Audio
"I think that we have here a most promising start, doing not only justice to a composer that merits all our attention, but also satisfying all Schubert followers by putting together the various strands of vision in comprehensive settings. I’ll be looking forward to de Vriend’s account of the ‘Unfinished’ - “the sad music that makes one happy” - and ‘The Great’. But in the meantime it is a pleasure to congratulate all those participating in this first release for already lifting two of the 5 youth symphonies a cut above the rest.
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30-07-2018 NRC Handelsblad
"Hannes Minnaar and conductor Jan Willem de Vriend understand each other flawlessly in Mozart's 'Jeunehomme'. The settled game of Lover sometimes seemed like a nightly prayer."
27-02-2018 Crescendo
"Hannes Minnaar was so lucky to study with Alfred Brendel and he owes him a lot. Surely he owes him the beethovenian feeling of balance and, even more, the beethovenian outstanding clarity."
09-01-2018 Music Web International
"All three are highly recommendable modern cycles in top-notch sound, and Minnaar’s very satisfying cycle might yet prove to be the more central recommendation among them."
06-10-2017 Luister
"A grand performance of a conductor with vision, a pianist radiating peace and control and a label with guts. And last but not least, an orchestra to treasure."
09-09-2017 Pizzicato
"Choosing his own musically very rich way, Hannes Minnaar is very well supported by Jan Willem de Vriend, and both sign an unconventionally personal account of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos, the first reference recording of this cycle in the 21st Century.
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01-09-2017 Fanfare Magazine
"The chorus sings very well, the orchestra (also known as the Residentie Orkest) is very good, and the soloists are excellent."
28-08-2017 WDR3
"These are the ultimate Beethoven concerts for the second decade of the 21st century!"
04-08-2017 Klassieke Zaken
"The pianist is a true performer, a musician who is not in the forefront, but uses the golden interpretations of the music."
05-07-2017 De Groene Amsterdammer
"Between the two creates a tension of plus and minus ends that the most exquisite interplay gaining force against time. Minnar makes the light heavy, De Vriend the heavy light."
12-06-2017 Radio 4
"CD of the week at Radio 4 - Hannes Minnaar | Beethoven Piano Concertos
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04-06-2017 Classic FM
"The album of the week, a 3 cd box, containing Beethoven's five Piano Concertos performed by Hannes Minnaar and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend."
01-06-2017 Opus Klassiek
"The members of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra are playing on the edge of their Chair. And Hannes Minnaar follows that same steep path perfectly! Nothing is flattened or updated. Then there was Bert van der Wolf who has immortalized this extremely colorful and engaging piece in a beautiful recording."
14-01-2017 Pizzicato
"This Dutch production of Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem deserves praise for its rhythmic pulsation and its clarity. It is a felicitous interpretation.
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16-11-2016 HR Audio
"A realis!c sound stage and surround depth, with no disturbing noises from the audience or unwanted echoes from the walls. But with Bert van der Wolf (NorthStar Recording Services BV) in charge, that does not surprise.
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01-11-2016 Opera Nederland
""Conductor Jan Willem de Vriend seldom led a contrast rich performance with the 'Residentie Orkest', where he is conductor since 1st August 1st 2015.""
30-09-2016 Katholiek Nieuwsblad
""De Vriend and Minnaar are a good duo. They give each other space, but - if necessary - they are firmly on each others skin.""
08-07-2016 Luister
"" [...] Both the performance and the recording quality are great, which makes that the countermelodies and the rhythmic variations can be heard beautifully [...] ""
25-05-2016 Opus Klassiek
"" [...] An album that makes you curious to the next one, but also stimulated to follow De Vriend at Den Haag with the best of interest. [...] ""