“Gripping from start to finish: that was Thursday night’s Dallas Symphony Orchestra concert. One of the most impressive guest conductors in the 2017 – 18 season, the Spaniard Pablo Heras-Casado was back on the podium. Again, he impressed with deeply musical performances, but they were exciting, too. (…) It was good to have Heras-Casado back on the Meyerson podium. I hope he becomes a regular.”

“Several elements combine to make this reading of Pablo Heras-Casado [of Berlioz’s Requiem], one of the highlights of this year Berlioz. The great hall of the Philharmonie, first of all (…). To this is added all the science of the Spanish leader in the field of opera, constantly concerned with balance; he proposes in this interpretation a vision in total adequacy with the wishes of the composer, mixing a theatricality without excess to a science of orchestral colours, magnified by his precise and committed clear direction.”

“The musical results were more successful than the program would indicate, with (…) conductor Pablo Heras-Casado making his most impressive CSO podium appearance to date. Relaxed yet in control, the Spanish conductor drew impassioned playing throughout yet skillfully tempered balances and refused to go over the top with volume or speed.”

“From beginning to end, Heras-Casado had Mussorgsky’s colossal score in a firm grasp, delivering a deeply passionate performance underpinned by the cleanest of rhythms.”

“As guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado raised his long arms to cue the first downbeat of the Brahms Symphony No. 1 on Friday night at Davies Hall, the entire San Francisco Symphony ensemble seemed to take and hold a collective breath. Then, in a kind of ferocious exhalation, the musicians entered the timpani-studded thicket at the outset of the piece. That opening Allegro — indeed the entire symphony — drove on with an oxygen-infused, organic inevitability.”

“Pablo Heras-Casado and Pierre-Laurent Aimard were captivating in an outstanding programme of late 19^th- and early 20^th-century French music […] The playing was ravishing throughout” ****

“Pablo Heras-Casado (…) led the ensemble with a consistently sophisticated vision.”

“Pablo Heras-Casado whips the Orchestre de Paris (…) into a frenzy; his attention to detail, and the thrilling level of excellence, mirror what we see on the stage.” *****

“Heras-Casado, beaming throughout, did not need a score and the orchestra dutifully followed his every gesture. Heras-Casado injected the piece with infectious humour and conducted with verve. (…) His fiery temperament blends with an amiable countenance, sound technique, a broad repertoire and plenty of charisma – could this be the perfect mix to ignite staid Zurichers?”

“One of the most versatile conductors of his generation … Heras-Casado sustained the narrative through slow, quiet sections that otherwise would have had dancers to help carry them. Seamlessly navigating the work’s many transitions, the conductor’s conjuring of orchestral mood and color was so pictorially communicative, one could almost see Prince Ivan encountering the enchanting Firebird for the first time.”

“Heras-Casado is a vigorous, expressive podium artist, and his command of rhythm and dynamics was apparent throughout the evening’s lineup of works by Beethoven, Biber, Haydn and Rameau. Wednesday’s performance in Davies Symphony Hall found the conductor in top form, with especially persuasive results in the second half’s superb reading of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D major.”