Vivaldi Nisi Dominus / Philippe Jaroussky / Naïve
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi directs Ensemble Matheus with brio and style."
Financial Times, April 2008
Jean-Christophe Spinosi / Vivica Genaux / Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi est un spectacle à lui seul. Sa gestique de chef d’orchestre, qui tient du mime et de la chorégraphie, ne ressemble à aucune autre. A la tête de l’Orchestre du Capitole, le 6 mars dernier à la Halle-aux-Grains, il virevolte comme un beau diable, caracole sur son podium dont il décolle épisodiquement, titille chaque pupitre, entraînant tout l’orchestre dans un tourbillon d’un étonnant dynamisme.
Un grand bravo aux musiciens toulousains dont la précision d’exécution, la réactivité épousent fidèlement les sollicitations du chef. Cette effervescence de la baguette anime chaque exécution d’une indéniable et irrépressible vitalité.
Dans la symphonie n° 82, dite « L’Ours », de Haydn, la partition est comme examinée à la loupe. La lecture en souligne chaque détail, chaque phrasé, dans une sorte d’hypertrophie des nuances. Les contrastes de dynamique sont accusés jusqu’à l’excès, les rythmes, martelés par une timbale conquérante, explosent à tout instant.
Avec Rossini, la mécanique des crescendos s’insinue partout avec une folie communicative. Les ouvertures de « La pietra del paragone », de « La Gazza ladra », de « L’Occasione fa il ladro » rappellent pourtant quel formidable orchestrateur fut Rossini."
Serge Chauzy, Classic Toulouse, 10 mars 2008
"Les musiciens de l'Orchestre national du Capitole ont régalé jeudi soir le public de la Halle aux Grains avec des œuvres de Haydn (la 82e symphonie « L'Ours ») et Rossini. À leur tête, Jean-Christophe Spinosi leur communique son plaisir de diriger ces répertoires. Également précis, le chef d'orchestre français sait obtenir le style, les phrasés, les détails instrumentaux tels qu'il a envie de les entendre dans ces partitions. Le fondateur de l'Ensemble Matheus (une formation sur instruments anciens) sait visiblement transmettre à un orchestre symphonique sa manière d'envisager la musique."
Anne-Marie Chouchan, La Depeche du midi, 9 mars 2008
Jean-Christophe Spinosi / Jennifer Larmore / Ensemble Matheus
"George Frideric Handel doesn't usually come across as particularly sexy. Stately, sure. Dignified, without a doubt. But in a fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat concert...mezzo Jennifer Larmore and the Ensemble Matheus brushed the dust off Handel and showed that there's more furious, passionate life in baroque music than you might suspect."
The Washington Post, February 2008
"...the Ensemble Matheus was no mere backup orchestra. Its members may be renowned for their intensive scholarship, but there was nothing prissy or academic about their playing, which was aggressive, vibrant and focused to an absolutely electrifying pitch."
The New York Sun, February 2008
Vivaldi Orlando Furioso
Edinburgh International Festival
"With Corsican conductor-a-go-go Jean-Christophe Spinosi whirling through the score and a cast and orchestra determined to dazzle, Vivaldi's Orlando furioso was a connoisseur's dream night…Best of all was the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's response to Spinosi's ebullient direction. Vivaldi's arias rarely match Handel's for emotional depth or melodic invention, but when delivered with this sort of orchestral verve and expressive shading they surge irresistibly."
Richard Morrison, The Times, August 2007
"This performance - conducted with missionary energy and temperament, and bags of style, by Jean-Christophe Spinosi -Spinosi brought the very best out of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus - no mean feat for a baroque specialist accustomed to working with his own band."
Andrew Clark, Financial Times, August 2007
"A Vivaldi opera in concert, Orlando Furioso, supplied thrills and spills, thanks to the Cor-sican Jean-Christophe Spinosi's take-no-prisoners conducting of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra."
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, August 2007
Vivaldi 'Heroes' (Virgin Classics)
"... exquisite playing from the Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi."
The Guardian, January 2007
Vivaldi Griselda (Naïve)
"This performance is sublime. Jean-Christophe Spinosi leads a dramatically taut reading, with his period-instrument Ensemble Matheus underpinning the vocal theatrics with snap and a huge range of dynamics all its own. ... a feast for the ears."
ClassicsToday.com, November 2006
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi's intuitive and vital direction and his choice of cast achieve rewarding results."
Disc of the Month, BBC Music Magazine, October 2006
"As we have been accustomed to by Jean-Christophe Spinosi, the conducting is formidably theatrical and lively, and the voices are to die for."
Le Figaro, October 2006
"Young French violinist and conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi sets his Ensemble Matheus on this exuberant music, stimulating a sumptuous delivery."
La Croix, September 2006
"The Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi develop palpable tension in this swirling baroque opera."
The Times, September 2006
"Griselda: one of the most beautiful music of maturity, the opera of a conquistador, served by a Jean-Christophe Spinosi at the height of his vivaldien maturity."
Diapason, September 2006
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi directs a wonderful performance. The Ensemble Matheus plays with supercharged energy, but also with precision, vibrant colours and elegant articulation."
The Times, September 2006
Mozart La Flûte Enchantée concert version
Brest, Toulouse, Paris
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi gives Mozart's music an irresistible momentum. Under his lively baton, music sheets come to life, the beautiful melodies of the slow movements sing without heaviness, the discourse stays clear and always dynamic."
La Dépêche du Midi, 14 March 2006
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi's Mozart grabs one enthusiastically."
Ouest France, 5 December 2005
Vivaldi La Fida Ninfa
Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris
"It's a very special encounter: Vivaldi and his devastating nervousness, his hunger to play and compose; and, three centuries later, his spiritual son, this happy and vibrating conductor called Jean-Christophe Spinosi, highly charged but tender in his way of letting these works sing and of integrating his musician friends. The Fida Ninfa, conducted by Spinosi, was a triumph."
Le Figaroscope, September 2005
Vivaldi L'Orlando Furioso (Naïve)
"Spinosi and his excellent team of musicians have revised history's judgement of Orlando Furioso by their compelling presentation."
Opera Award Winner, BBC Music Awards 2006
"Spinosi maintains high energy levels and the playing is crisp throughout."
The Times, January 2006
"A magnificient recording."
The Gramophone, April 2005
"Possibly the best recording of Baroque Opera ever produced."
Dallas Morning News, March 2005
"An exceptional production in all points of view."
BBC Music Magazine, March 2005
"Spinosi directs a high-voltage performance replete with pounding accents, sudden, explosive surges and twanging guitar continuo"
Classical CD of the Week, The Telegraph, February 2005
"Orlando Furioso is a jewel, one of the kinds that only appear once in a while and demonstrate that Vivaldi is one of the greatest composers of all time. An absolute must-have recording."
CD-Compact (Spain), February 2005
"Spinosi sets a cracking pace and his fine Ensemble Matheus play with fierce commitment. Stylish and scintillating, this is high Baroque as thrilling as it comes."
Classical CD of the Week, The Observer, January 2005
"This integral of Orlando Furioso makes history. Jean-Christophe Spinosi heads his Ensemble Matheus into the battle. Contrasts, nuances, vitality, theatricality - what music!"
Les Echos, December 2004
"An astonishing masterpiece."
L'Echo (Belgique), April 2004
Orfeo ed Euridice
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
"There is little to write when a concert is successful. This one without a doubt falls into this category. The audience in the Theatre des Champs-Elysees once again proved their taste, giving a triumphant welcome to the bubbly Jean-Christophe Spinosi."
Operabase, April 2004
Vivaldi La Verita in cimento (Naïve)
"The Ensemble Matheus's playing is exceptional."
BBC Music Magazine, September 2003
"The role Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his Ensemble Matheus has to be highlighted. Few conductors have understood how the orchestra in its ensemble and the instrumentists that make it up are the major players of the drama. Hence the exceptional depth of what can no longer be called mere accompaniment."
Opéra International, July 2003
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi and the Ensemble Matheus deliver the goods in stunning style, thrusting the music forward with an assertive elegance that sometimes takes the breath away."
The Times, July 2003
"The music is superbly interpreted with ardour and passion. This Verita in cimento sure deserved to be freed from its silence."
Le Monde de la Musique, June 2003
"A sharp sense of theatricality serving the luscious politico-familial plot, constant engaging of the continuo and of the soloists, a splendid vocal casting - this first worldwide recording of the Verita in cimento has everything to seduce those who, when it comes to Baroque Opera, only swear by Handel."
Libération, May 2003
"The fantastic phrasing and the extremely refined technique of the Ensemble Matheus under Christophe Spinosi make for a splendid production."
Musica, May 2003