“The musical side, with the historically informed Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the unrivalled female voices of the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin under the musical direction of Pablo Heras-Casado, is a dream that will delight children and adults alike. Fluid tempos, unbridled enthusiasm, and chamber-like transparency are just three of the characteristics that make this audiophile recording a truly magical experience. Never before have so many details of the magnificent instrumentation been heard […], all garnished with the utmost charm, tone painting, and articulatory verve. […] An album that brings unbridled joy and puts you in a great mood. But warn your neighbours: during the wedding march or the lively finale, the temptation to jump around the apartment is great.“

“If a single adjective had to describe Heras-Casado’s ​“Rheingold”, it would be: flowing. Which is not to say that the work ripples along. On the contrary: springy rhythms, concise articulation and differentiated dynamics in the mostly quiet range create a tension in these 145 minutes that never lets up — …”

“György Ligeti’s ​“Le Grand Macabre”, for the first time at the Vienna State Opera: unanimous applause for a musically brilliant performance under Pablo Heras-Casado.”

“Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor of ​“Parsifal”, enjoyed great approval in the opening premiere, who […] succeeded immediately in presenting the many orchestral highlights with the fabulously disposed orchestra as if on a show run”

“Elegance and transparency aren’t adjectives you’d necessarily associate with this score, but Heras-Casado supplies both in spades, and the pay-offs are fascinating, revealing a wealth of inner detail that often gets eclipsed elsewhere.”

“The beautiful interpretation of Berlioz’s Requiem that made the Philharmonie of Paris vibrate last week is rich in lessons. The first merit of Casado [was that he] remembered that the thunderous bursts that made Berlioz’s Requiem famous represent only about ten minutes out of the ninety of a work whose general tone is rather of a collected fervor. The conductor does not take advantage of the more than 200 executants he has on hand to delve into the colossal or the grandiloquent. His reading remains transparent and developed, with a clarity to which contribute the strings playing with little vibrato.”

“The most impressive work emerged in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 (…) Guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado conceived an interpretation that made about as strong a case for this disarming composition as one might imagine (…) Thanks to the driving force and urgency of Heras-Casado’s reading, the motifs of the first movement made coherent sense. (…) Shaping a gorgeous Tchaikovsky melody can be more challenging than is apparent, and Heras-Casado showed how it’s done in the second movement. The grace and tenderness he brought to lyric themes made a nocturne of the piece.”

“A key role was Pablo Heras-Casado, which is becoming more and more a formidable conductor who seems to be able to perform every style period. The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra played under his expressive gestures with great feeling, found the Russian soul and hit the score.”

“Heras-Casado brings Boulezian analytical textures to the Saint Sébastien fragments and La Mer, but his emotional engagement in this music is far less restrained. The playing is magical.”

“At its best, the Philharmonia, guided by the esteemed Pablo Heras-Casado, certainly delivered superb performances. […] Heras-Casado just went with the flow, conjuring up one of the most refreshing, convincing and wettest interpretations [of Debussy’s La Mer] I’ve heard for some time. He was equally on the ball in Ravel’s lovely Mother Goose suite, shaping the miniature sonorities with such exquisite poise that I curled up in bliss.” ****

“Freiburg’s all-Mendelssohn programme had the translucency and energy of a Turner watercolour. Heras-Casado’s spacious reading of The Hebrides was sensitive to the stillness in Mendelssohn’s writing (…)” *****

“With the gentlest of rhythmic swells in the violins, (…) a subtly revisionist account formed in the quietly authoritative hands of Pablo Heras-Casado. (…) Conductor and orchestra have recorded the symphonies together – the CD of this programme is newly available on Harmonia Mundi – and their account of the ​“Reformation” was no less illuminated than the Concerto by mutual trust and understanding.”

“Pablo Heras-Casado chose a delicate gesture to imprint a new breath on this music, displaying a strong knowledge of the style and spirit of Monteverdi’s music.”

“The rest of the program was just the latest reminder of what a vivid and resourceful conductor Heras-Casado is. (…) the first major American orchestra to snap him up as music director will have hit the jackpot. … This was exactly the kind of performance that makes a conductor sound like a wizard.”

“In his Caramoor debut, maestro Pablo Heras-Casado led a vigorous, forward-moving performance that coaxed taut, nuanced playing from the ever-splendid Orchestra of St. Luke’s and committed singing from the principals and chorus.”