Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Messiaen Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum at the Lucerne Easter Festival
“This great monument to the fallen of both world wars brought suffering powerfully into the present. There are no strings in the score; but the percussion of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande – mighty cymbal clashes, huge gongs and tam-tams – caused the wind and brass players to put their fingers in their ears, and all but blew the audience out of their seats in the excitingly resonant acoustic of the Konzertsaal. But Marek Janowski, conducting, also drew perfectly paced breaths from the underworld of woodwind and brass – and deeply eloquent silences too. ... "
The Times, March 2008
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Pentatone / Bruckner Symphony No.9
“Following their recent Bruckner 5 at the Barbican comes this impressive recording of the Ninth, and with it an inevitable challenge to the Austro-German heartlands that have served the composer so well on CD.
The fact that it stands up well is attributable to the quality of the playing as much as to Janowski's interpretation, which is responsive to the symphony's long drawn-out paragraphs as well as the need for weight in the climaxes.
It is a performance that breathes in terms of movement and in the airiness of its sound. PentaTone's recording aims for clarity, and brings out much detail that more often gets lost in Brucknerian mud.”
The Telegraph, March 2008
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Brahms Symphony No.4 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
"We hadn't heard such Brahms in ages, and maybe never. What [Marek] Janowski and the Americans demonstrated bordered on the unbelievable... That something like that still exists in these modern times is something to be ecstatic about."
De Telegraaf, February 2008
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande UK tour / Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 (soloist Nikolai Lugansky), Bruckner Symphony No. 5
"Marek Janowski proved himself a master at moulding Bruckner's immense paragraphs... At certain moments when the music reached a wall-shaking grandeur, Janowski's tiny gestures told us that no, this wasn't the goal, the real high point was still around the corner."
The Telegraph, January 2008
"Marek Janowski, conducting from memory, is thrillingly responsive to the morbid drama. His reading darkens as it develops towards the climactic witches' Sabbath scene, where the harmonic elements boil together in a diabolic stew."
The Guardian, January 2008
"The choice of Bruckner's fifth was an inspired one, and the pacing and sense of organic growth through its 85 minutes were masterly. Janowski took care to articulate every detail of the vast canvas with care, and the rise and fall of emotion throughout the symphony was wonderfully calculated.
In the finale, he gradually increased the weight of sound without losing momentum and built the intensity of the final paragraph from a cheerful jog to an imperious and weighty conclusion, with a deep Amen in its last cadences."
Manchester Evening News, January 2008
"Using reduced personnel, founded on just two double basses, Janowski brought clear, well-balanced textures to the concerto, and with deft, lively playing from Nikolaï Lugansky, the performance was notable for its freshness and lucidity…"
Classicalsource.com, January 2008
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo/ Bruckner Symphony No. 8
"Janowski's magnificient structuring of the piece, balancing the central rhythm of the march on the one hand and infusing the dynamics on the other with fluidly progressive fortissimi. … So it is that in only 7 years under Marek Janoswki's direction, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo has undergone a true metamorphosis."
Res Musica, June 2007
Rundfunk-Symphonieorchester Berlin / Ondine / Strauss Four Last Songs
with Soile Isokoski
"Marek Janowski savours the sensuality of Strauss's textures and always allows the music its natural flow."
The Telegraph , April 2007
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and Rundfunkchor Berlin/ Parsifal
"Marek Janowski, above all others, has raised the quality of this orchestra to a standard worthy of recognition. Janowski exacted an extremely transparent orchestral sound, with very brisk tempi, quite in keeping with a modern treatment of the score …with supple and sonorous string tone, resolute and assured brass entries, this was an exemplary rendition."
Das Opernglas, February 2007
Rundfunk-Symphonieorchester Berlin/ Beethoven Symphony No. 9
"Janowski conducts a fantastic ninth: powerful, hard-edged, merciless; this is Beethoven at the highest level, with wild mane and furious features, a marble Titan, cold and majestic. In the four years under Janowski's direction, the former East Berlin orchestra's sound has become razor-sharp. Janowski leads the RSB as a surgeon uses a scalpel: as an instrument of precision."
Der Tagesspiegel , January 2007
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Pentatone / Franck & Chausson
"Marek Janowski draws on his operatic experience to make the melodic lines live and sing. Everything has shape and colour (I have never before heard so vividly the debt the opening of the slow central movement of the Chausson owes to the last act of Tristan), but these frequent dark undertows are never allowed to wallow in sentimentally. Best of all for me is the way Janowski responds to the variety of harmonic tension in both works: the more chromatic a chord, the more space he tends to give it without obstructing the flow ... I have no doubt that the power and refinement of this splendid recording should bring it a wide audience."
BBC Music Magazine , January 2007
"Janowski has made a recording which testifies to his passionate commitment to this repertoire. His detailed treatment of the symphonies' musical discourse has strength, unity and sense."
Scherzo, May 2007
Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Mozart and Beethoven
"Janowski is a precisionist without being precious about it. Friday night, he led a chamber-orchestra concert including Mozart's 'Serenata Notturna', Beethoven's Second Symphony, and Haydn's D-major Cello Concerto with Lynn Harrell. The Mozart and Beethoven Second were trim and tidy, but also full of vitalilty and details, and a chamber-orchestra configuration of the BSO played delightfully for Janowski.
Janowski's Beethoven Ninth was fast, clocking in at about 65 minutes. The tempos, which suggested Janowski had studied Beethoven's controversial metronome marks, recalled the recorded performances by the legendry Italian maestro Arturo Toscanini; so did the exactitude and fire. But Janowski's speed was never mechanical or metronomic. He phrased the slow movement, for example, with the long-breathed virtuosity and plasticity of tempo of the great bel canto signers of more than a century ago. The famous finale was thrilling in its rhythmic drive and dynamic range."
The Boston Globe , August 2005