“The unsung star of this performance was conductor Tomáš Netopil who was making his Lyric Opera debut. […] the Czech conductor led the clearly engaged Lyric Opera Orchestra members in an extraordinary performance of Strauss’s roiling score that moved with crackling momentum and incisive dramatic impact.”

“Tomáš Netopil led the Lyric Opera Orchestra with firm control of volume, in an orchestration that could easily overwhelm the singers in this 3,000-plus-seat house. He swelled the sound dramatically even in brief interstices between sung lines to keep the orchestra sounding like it could erupt at any moment.”

“Within the first few bars, the conductor transports us to a world shrouded in warm colours. Not once does he lose the attention of the audience. Be it with a look, a wave of the baton, or a movement of his body, Tomáš Netopil puts the orchestra at the service of the music. With Netopil, all is shade and colour. His ability to maintain balance between the sections ensures that the atmosphere never becomes over-saturated. And yet, every note is played with intensity and strength.”

“Tomáš Netopil conducts with precision, power and passion, striking the right tone with an intense and dramatic approach that breathes life and vigor into this evocative work.”

“Tomáš Netopil illuminates the tragic in life, in jubilation and tenderness. Nobody can accuse the conductor of too little, too much or even wrong expression…”

“…this initial overture has magnificent musical values. The Wiener Staatsoper orchestra, under the musical guidance of Maestro Tomáš Netopil, provided exquisite insights into the richness and profound meanings of this overture, leading to a sublime performance. No strain was observed from the pit in any form; quite the contrary, the wind instruments were in the excellent shape, as well as the brass and the strings.”

“What brought real distinction and authenticity to the evening, as so often in this house, was the outstanding playing of the Staatskapelle conducted by Tomáš Netopil. From the start of the overture with its rapidly scurrying string fugato and pointed phrasing from the woodwinds, one felt the true sense of Smetana’s Czech-inflected rhythms and harmonies.”

“He knows how to steer an ensemble through the greatest of Mahler symphonies. The biggest challenges are the most impressively met: those cataclysmic welters in the colossal first movement, always clear but at the same time powerfully on the move, the last emotional climax of the farewell finale and its final, whispered laying to rest… How well he’s trained his player… the woodwind are exquisite in the dying of the light, the strings hugely powerful of outline when they need to be, and subtle, too, as they reduce to a sliver of sound.”

“…the conductor [Netopil impresses every moment as already recently in Vienna in Katya Kabanova, with a remarkably beautiful and subtle intelligence…”

“The Czech conductor Tomáš Netopil obviously understands the intricacy of his native language and music, fully reflected in all manners in which he very confidently guides the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra through the score.”

“At the première, Czech conductor Tomáš Netopil led the Netherlands Philarmonic Orchestra in an admirably detailed reading of the score, more light-footed than most and with beautiful transparencies of textures, but with staggering swells in crucial dramatic moments. All came together for a dramatically engrossing, moving performance.”

“…in the two works by Dvořák, his Symphonic Variations and the ​‘New World’ Ninth Symphony, he (Netopil) showed his mettle in dextrous control of rhythmic discipline and the give-and-take of rubato.”