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Ein durchweg jugendfrischer Mendelssohn: Lang-Lessing entging jedoch klug der Versuchung, eine Pastorale mit Patina zu dirigieren. Lichtdurchflutet klang selbst die wehmütige langsame Einleitung, mit stürmischem Eroica-Ton drängten die schnellen Sätze voran, herrlich durchhörbar aufgefächert und dank der schlanken Streicher traten auch mal Mittelstimmen nach vorn. Ein durchweg jugendfrischer dynamisch gut austarierter Mendelssohn war das…
DIE WELT 10 / 2007: Hamburger Symphoniker - Laeiszhalle Hamburg
GILLIAN WILLS talks to conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing in the context of the recent Mendelssohn Festival in Hobart, Tasmania
Sebastian Lang-Lessing has made an indelible stamp on the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra since he became Chief Conductor in 2004. The TSO has only 47 players. While many would lobby for more, Lang-Lessing is happy with these modest forces. 'It is an opportunity to play core repertoire by Mendelssohn or Schumann or Beethoven who wrote for smallish orchestras. The size is often ideal for contemporary repertoire too, and, because the musicians are more exposed they play better' he says...
music & vision homepage, August 9, 2007
http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2007/08/lang-lessing1.htm
Much of the performance's sophistication and sensuality comes from the pit. Lang-Lessing gets a rich, creamy sound from the orchestra, which plays beautifully all night. He conducts Lehár's waltzes and flirtatious melodies as knowingly multi-layered as Mahler.
LA TIMES, By Mark Swed 04 / 2007: The Merry Widow - Los Angeles Opera; Susan Graham, Merry Widow
...This is due in large part to the superlative conducting of Germany's youthful Sebastian Lang-Lessing, now top maestro in both Nancy and Tasmania. He lays bare in this music a gravity and an undertow of sadness usually inaudible behind the glitter of the score and the many "hits" that explain its popularity. Lang-Lessing, a frequent Houston guest, evokes superb playing from the ensemble. He makes a meaningful whole of Gounod's somewhat disparate scenes, bringing both cohesion and dramatic intensity to the work....
OPERA TODAY, Houston 02 / 2007: Faust - Houston Grand Opera; Sam Ramey Mephisto. Tamar Iveri Margeruite
http://www.operatoday.com/
content/2007/02/houston_stages.php
Conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing plunged the audience into the overture with unrelenting vehemence. The forceful interpretation created the momentum that undergirded most of the drama. In one of the brief interludes, the third act entr'acte, the orchestra created an ethereal, shimmering quality, before shifting back to the dynamic, driving thrust of the central story. This approach is both unusual and interesting. Lang-Lessing conducted with great vitality and authority and the orchestra played impressevely for him.
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE 11 / 2006: Carmen - San Francisco Opera
In the pit, Sebastian Lang-Lessing attempted to enliven the proceedings. The conductor set speedy tempos and emphasized dynamic contrasts; the orchestra's performance often provided the excitement that was missing onstage
CONTRA COSTA TIMES SF 11 / 2006: Carmen - San Francisco Opera
Für einen interpretatorischen Glücksfall sorgt dabei die zwischen sonorem Schmelz und klarer Struktur vermittelnde Stabführung von Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Das Orchester klingt angenehm kompakt und naturbelassen.
Fono Forum 05 / 2006: Ropartz CD, Sinfonien Nr.1 und 4; Orchestre Smyphonique et Lyrique de Nancy
The production is sultry and minimal, and the orchestra sparkles and glows under the heated conducting of Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Viva Carmen!
HOUSTON PRESS 04 / 2006: Carmen - Houston Grand Opera; Béatrice Uria Monzon, Carmen
Tuesday evening at the War Memorial Opera House - thanks in large part to debuting guest conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing - the company made a glowing case for Bizet's youthful score. It was Lang-Lessing, in his company debut, who steered Tuesday's opening to its greatest moments of success. The German conductor, a veteran of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg Opera and Paris Opera Bastille - current director of the Symphony Orchestra of Nancy - , managed to create a genuine sense of romantic fervency and voluptuousness.
SAN FRANCISCO VALLEY TIMES 06 / 2005: The Pearl Fishers - San Francisco Opera
Artists in opera are only as effective as their conductor allows them to be, however, and maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing was an important force in the evening's success. The young German making his local debut sculpted Bizet's often sinuous orchestration with its exotics solos for oboe, flutes, and chor anglais, yet always remaining sensitive to the needs of his singers. He created a wild storm of strings, timpani, cymbals, and gongs with digital thunder rocking the auditorium as it was lit by lightning for the finale Act Two, thrilling and theatrical.
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE 06 / 2005: The Pearl Fishers - San Francisco Opera
Under the baton of its new artistic director, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, its performance of Schumann's orchestral music was potent in its expressive range, generous in the warmth of its sound, and disciplined in matters of balance and ensemble. Lang-Lessing coaxed the best from his players in animated gestures designed to summon exactely what he wanted. What he got was a responsive performance, architecturally satisfying and musically convincing, full of vitality and stylish detail.
SYDNEY MORNING HAROLD 05 / 2005: Sydney Recital Hall - Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Quant aux passages purement instrumentaux, la direction de Sebastian Lang-Lessing, toute de fascinante clarté dans les rencontres sonores et d'étonnante originalité dans les modes d'attaque, en traduit la plus pure essence, l'expression unitaire des multiples tourments d'une âme sensible.
RESMUSICA FRANCE 04 / 2005: Rosenkavalier - Opéra national de Lorraine
Sebastian Lang-Lessing has his finger firmly on the Wagnerian pulse. He has rattled the house orchestra into shape - the strings are lush and the brass come through with rounded tone.
FINANCIAL TIMES 04 / 2004: Tristan und Isolde - Opéra national de Nancy
… a rich and sensitive performance of this glorious late-Romantic masterpiece emergeg. Lang-Lessing picked up the pace, and the orchestra developed a relish for the sheer sumptuousness of the score.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH 10 /2003 Rusalka – Leeds
… Dvorak's glorious score is wonderfully conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing…
THE TIMES 10 /2003 Rusalka – Leeds
… In the pit, Lang-Lessing provided the most consistently satisfying music making. With his highly animated cues, he drew striking playing from the HGO Orchestra. Its final opera-ending outburst, a huge cry that slowly descends, provided the biggest chills of emotions all evening.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE 02 / 2002: La Bohème - Houston Grand Opera
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