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Reviews

Gilbert Varga, conductor

Milwaukee Symphony (Mozart, Mendelssohn, Nielsen)
He has perhaps the best stick technique of any conductor I’ve seen since Erich Leinsdorf. He is economical and utterly clear in his intentions, but Varga is no mere technician. His gestures overflow with warmth and understanding, to which the players responded sensitively. Even the most mundane details of the score…glowed with beauty.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Orchestre de Paris (Chopin, Bartok)
He accomplished his mission with constant care, remaining perfectly faithful to his prestigious soloist…He conducted this difficult work from memory, making the Orchestre de Paris sound jubilant while displaying total ease in a work so closely related to his lineage.
Le Figaro

Indianapolis Symphony (Bartok Wooden Prince Suite)
Greater challenges of colour and rhythm were well met in The Wooden Prince, and the fantastic, but psychologically realistic, story seemed to spring into three-dimensional life. Varga managed some difficult transitions and tempo fluctuations with a kind of precise flamboyance. You don’t see that in many who wave a stick for a living.
The Indianapolis Star

Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (Haydn, Beethoven, Poulenc)
Gilbert Varga, along with the excellent players of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, counterbalanced the soloist superbly.
Le Figaro

Milwaukee Symphony (Mozart, Beethoven, Kodaly)
Gilbert Varga’s conducting was a case study in grace and economy of means at Friday’s Milwaukee Symphony matinee. Varga’s elegance got results. Good balance, ensemble and rhythm, finely shaded dynamics and thoughtful interpretations were the rule throughout.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester (Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chausson)
Gilbert Varga wields his baton like a gentleman. His gestures are clear and unmistakeable and without fuss. He communicates the music in a very attractive way, with taste and elegance.
Berliner Morgenpost

Rotterdam Philharmonic (Bartok Miraculous Mandarin Suite)
Gilbert Varga leapt into these colourful scores with passion, energy and enthusiasm and urged the orchestra to a wild, turbulent "painting" of this bizarre story.
Trouw

Gürzenich-Orchester (Debussy, Mozart, Bartok)
He seemed to work small miracles. His relaxed movements, his precise beat, his ability to realise his mode of expression without any showy effects, and his refusal to rely on a score, in order to fix the orchestra with his gaze – all this worked like a charm on the playing and the concentration of the musicians.
Kölner Stadt Anzeiger

The musicians let themselves be inspired by this whirling dervish of a conductor, and made music with as much passion as they were capable. Thus the Bartok provided a marvellous ending to concert worth hearing.
Kölnische Rundschau