Over the past weeks, Dinis Sousa conducted the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in five concerts at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and four concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. The programme featured the complete Beethoven symphonies, as well as Beethoven’s Mass in C major and the Overture from The Creatures of Prometheus. The Monteverdi Choir joined for the Mass in C major and Symphony No. 9.
Reviews for the cycle of concerts have been unanimous in their praise:
“Sousa and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique…delivered performances of radiant intensity and commitment…an electric crackle of excitement…Sousa knows how to balance force with grace…[he] masterminded the deft, sharp conversazione between voices…the swooping lushness of the string textures Sousa drew from the ORR in the cantabile adagio…Sousa let us hear Beethoven moving between past and future: revolutionary, romantic but contemporary too” – Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk 5*
“We did not imagine…all the ground that Dinis Sousa would cover in a few months…the sudden acceleration of his career…a left hand which points, fixes the decisive moments, the accents, the changes in tempo, the speaking points…an exceptional mastery of the orchestra as well as an absolute respect for the score…Everything seems to flow from an organic, cheerful and human vision…” – Jean-Pierre Rousseau, Bachtrack 5*
“Full coherence and depth…precise direction, leading a dynamic and nuanced performance…The start of this series of concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris, conducted by Dinis Sousa, is greeted by long, repeated applause, testifying to the public’s enthusiasm for this dynamic and expressive interpretation of Beethoven’s works” – Juan Barrios, Olyrix
“From the first chords of Beethoven’s Second Symphony, we feel that something magical is going to happen…this limpidity…which the young conductor carves with an astonishing watchmaker’s precision and which leaves us full of admiration…a miracle of balance…total mastery of the score. More than five encores!… the adagio molto cantabile is a moment of absolute beauty…something rare and extraordinary…[made] the Philharmonie audience stand up, shouting their joy for almost fifteen minutes. Undeniably, Dinis Sousa is one of the great conductors with whom we will have to reckon in the years to come” – Première Loge
“The large Pierre Boulez hall of the Philharmonie was packed…an orchestra in great shape, a conductor always concerned with the letter and spirit of the score…[taking] obvious pleasure in exalting the audacity of Beethoven’s writing” – Jean-Pierre Rousseau, Bachtrack 5*
Principal Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Sousa’s 2023/24 season highlights have included his debut at Carnegie Hall conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in two programmes of Bach and Handel, following performances of Berlioz’s Les Troyens in 2023 at the Salzburg Festival, Berlin Festival and BBC Proms. Other appearances this season have included his debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Brahms’ German Requiem) and Swedish Radio Symphony. 2024/5 will see him make debuts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Dinis Sousa is managed in association with Enticott Music Management.
Photo Credit: Sim Canetty-Clarke