Malmö Symphony Orchestra / Britten, Ravel, Nielsen
“The Malmö Symphony Orchestra played on absolute top form under Mario Venzago's dynamic direction in a powerful programme which had both suffering and triumph.”
Sydsvenskan, April 2008
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra / Ravel, Messiaen, Bruckner
“Venzago spoke of a different Bruckner than the heavy late romantic… this was apparent in the peerless performance of the D minor Symphony “Die Nullte”. A reading which was distinguished by a singular sharpness of attack and the feeling that the energies really flowed through and between the orchestral sections. To be part of this was an extraordinary experience.
Everything was right, not only the playing in the Bruckner, but also in the interpretation of Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole and Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques. Real music making demands a combination of concentration and unconditional freedom, and this state can only be created trough communication and a limitless ability to listen. When this really works the result can be fantastic, and that is exactly what happened here.”
Göteborgs-Posten, November 2007
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra / Beethoven Symphony No. 9
"Beethoven's mightiest symphonic opus also is a mighty challenge - a prime interpretive case study - for conductors … This was the most exciting, rewarding Ninth I've ever experienced in live performance.
Throughout the three instrumental movements, [Venzago] made audible for us all those beautiful wind/horn parts, along with the first movement and the Scherzo's inexorable energy: We were caught up in a whirlwind ..."
nuvo.net, October 2007
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra / Strauss Tod und Verklärung
"Venzago's interpretation of Strauss' symphonic tone poem "Death and Transfiguration" was extraordinary … Venzago coaxed expressiveness and orchestral coloring from every phrase in the Strauss, whether it was the faint rhythmic figure in the violas and timpani representing a fading heartbeat, the agitated low strings and furious brass depicting the anguish of illness, or the final, ethereal calm. The performance was definitely the highlight…"
Indy Star, September 2007
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Opening Night Gala/ Verdi, Weber and Tchaikovsky
"While his march sections were appropriately stately, Venzago's ballet music was breathlessly nimble, yet nicely controlled, every note in its place … the Webern Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65, with Venzago using the Weingartner orchestration came across well-shaped and -inflected … But Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture solennelle, Op. 49 … That Venzago could employ the chorus so skillfully from the opening Russian hymn, sampling it through the following sonata structure to the thunderingly distended conclusion - and at the same time put shape and nuance throughout the orchestral parts, makes this piece deserve its warhorse status in spades. You don't need cannons for this thing. You just need to hear it played well."
nuvo.net, September 2007
"… an orchestra in fine form, thanks to its ebullient music director, Mario Venzago …
Venzago and the orchestra make a highly effective team, a fact impressed upon a listener time and again throughout the evening."
Herald Times , September 2007
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Classical Series Final Program 2006
"At the end, they stood and applauded ... and applauded. The ample Friday Circle Theatre audience gave a ringing endorsement to the conclusion of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra music director Mario Venzago's first four-year contract and his signing of a new one - as announced by ISO President Simon Crookall before the music started. They also applauded the end of a most enjoyable 21-concert season … but mostly, Venzago's exciting account of a final repertoire standard, Brahms' Symphony No.1 in C Minor, Op. 68, enraptured those in attendance."
Tom Aldridge, nuvo.net, June 2006
Malmö Symphony Orchestra / Strauss, Martinsson and Stenhammar with Christian Lindberg
"Mario Venzago's reading of Don Juan was something one didn't want to miss. He lifted the orchestra to incredible heights, the sound was wonderful and the glow and the colouring of the tragic story of Don Juan really unique… Mario Venzago showed another side in the reading of Wilhelm Stenhammar's Serenade in F. The orchestral treatment was of the same high class; but here the colours were more subdued and the intellectual analysis dominated. The result was a reading [that was] thorough in every bar, with all subtle nuances well taken care of; it was a pleasure to enjoy… The orchestra must have been satisfied too, they honoured Mario Venzago with a fanfare." (Lars-Erik Larsson)
Skånska Dabladet, February 2006
"…[In] Richard Strauss' "Don Juan"… Mario Venzago commanded the riches with care, especially in the quiet moments."
"…Venzago's intense work with the chamber-music qualities [in Stenhammar's Serenade] undeniably led to something rare. The Malmö Symphony orchestra surprised in lightness."
(Matti Edén)
Sydsvenkan, February 2006
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with Arnaldo Cohen / Bach, Strauss and Berg
"50 years ago Bach's music used to be delivered to audiences all beefed and prettied up rather than in the lean format preferred these days. Venzago and the orchestra made an awfully good case for the transcription in producing a sumptuous, pleasingly resonating sound that caressed the ears."
"Berg's expressive Pieces, although tradition-shattering when composed in 1915, have become relatively easy listening fare today. They were superbly played."
Herald-Times Reviewer, November 2005
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra with Per Enoksson /Schumann, Stravinsky and Schoeck
"When Mario Venzago approaches the romantic repetoire, as in the magnificent reading of Robert Schumann's third symphony, the very word 'romantic' is imbued with unexpected meanings."
"A sincerity of expression, a love of the melodic element, an ambitious feeling that makes time flexible and multidimensional."
Gothenburg Post, May 2005
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra / Gubaidulina, Schoenberg and Beethoven
"…the conductor Mario Venzago really showed his capabilities, both concerning technique and profundity."
"The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir with soloists under the leadership of Mario Venzago made Beethoven's ninth symphony really take off. There was a wonderful balance, nuance and precision."
Gothenburg Times, May 2005
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra / Scandanavia Tour
"Musical vibrations that only exist in the concentrated moments of tension, a musical experience quite out of the ordinary"
Aftenposten, February 2005
"Venzago's assured command brought forward grand, but always controlled climaxes. Venzago is economical with effects, but when they appeared, the virtuoso sword blows landed with control and precision"
Politikken, February 2005
"[Venzago is ]…a man with an exceptional flair for details. Just take all his endings. Here one doesn't find short notes or long notes, but thousands of lengths in between. That's how a melody should be brought to its end!"
Berlingske, February 2005
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with Joshua Bell
"Venzago could be relied on for intense, yet delicately placed, articulation."
Indianapolis Star, April 2005
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Bizet, Shchedrin, Ravel, Manuel de Falla
"You can bank on something magical happening whenever Mario Venzago is a guest on the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's podium. He proved it again last night in a program tailor-made to such a masterful colorist.
Spain provided the concert's unifying theme, but the main work was Spanish twice removed - music by Frenchman George Bizet, mostly from his opera Carmen, as transmuted (or deconstructed) by Russian Rodion Shchedrin into a ballet score for strings and percussion.
Venzago didn't miss a single shade of the brilliant tonal palette. But he went far beneath the surface to produce a palpable drama, full of searing emotions, undercurrents, institutions. The result was more gripping than a lot of performances I've sat through of the original operatic Carmen.
Concern for dynamic gradations, especially all the pianissimos and the final fadeout, paid off terrifically. So did Venzago's way of building toward a lyrical climax, notably in the Adagio.
The BSO strings poured on the warmth, while timpanist Dennis Kain and percussionists Christopher Williams, John Locke, Brian Prechtl and Karen Haringa handled their duties with considerable sensitivity.
Manuel de Falla's Night in the Gardens of Spain, a sort-of piano concerto overflowing with atmosphere and sensuality, benefited from Eduardus Halim's lithe keyboard work, Venzago's attentiveness and the ensemble's smart response. The performance shimmered.
Venzago relished the prism of orchestral sounds in Alborada del gradioso by Maurice Ravel who like Bizet, had an uncanny knack for writing music authentically Spanish in temperament. The work's beguiling and downright explosive characteristics emerged fully."
Sun Music, 2 October 2004