Mozart Don Giovanni / Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
“The relentless clockwork of the production could have become an exercise in stylistics if it weren’t for the ministrations of a worthy conductor. Jérémie Rhorer and the musicians of the Cercle de l’Harmonie devoted all their artistry to serving Mozart, respecting and exalting his score whilst fitting it to the intentions of the production. Rhorer maintained a clear and unwavering tempo, driving the music along with a natural energy, and infused the drama with an insidious build-up of tension. The performance was full of personality thanks to Rhorer’s keen intuition, and to the moments of calm which served as breaths of fresh air. This was a shining example of team-work.”
Concert Classic, April 2013
“Here was a journey to hell, emphasised from the very beginning by Jérémie Rhorer’s brooding conducting of the Cercle de l’Harmonie. (...) Jérémie Rhorer’s conducting, which was equally dramatic - sombre from the very beginning, but equally more benign and subtle when required by the score – matched the staging perfectly. The music raced impetuously towards the abyss, carrying the audience along on its tragic journey.”
Le Nouvel Observateur, April 2013
“Overall, the Cercle de l’Harmonie provided a trusty and faithful accompaniment to the singers. The tempi were quite swift, but the musical descriptions and evocations were played with consummate skill (particularly by the woodwinds). Jérémie Rhorer worked the orchestra most impressively, especially in the catalogue aria, where he honoured the libretto and the score with mastery and astonishing precision, and in Zerlina’s first aria, where the orchestra overflowed with sensuality.”
Classique News, April 2013
“Although it seemed a shame that all reference to social issues was avoided in this production, both the efficient directing of the singers and the expressive consistency of the staging and the orchestra were admirable. This was in no little way thanks to Jérémie Rhorer, who once again made an impression with the sensitivity of his conducting, his keen sense of dramatic progression, and the care with which he accompanied the singers.”
Res Musica, April 2013
“Let us not forget the magnificent performance of the Cercle de l’Harmonie under the baton of Jérémie Rhorer, who seemed particularly inspired by this masterpiece.”
La Tribune, April 2013
“The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées’s new production of Don Giovanni, belongs primarily to Jérémie Rhorer. The French conductor confirms he definitely has it all when leading a Mozart opera: wherever interest is likely to decline, where the staging is less convincing, when the singer fails, it is the musical direction that creates the dramatic rhythm, it advances the action, giving it life. He has a innate sense of tempo that just does not cease to impress. He dares to speed or slow, and Rhorer’s decisions are always based on the text and situations with attention to clarity and momentum.”
Christian Merlin, Le Figaro, April 2013
“… the conductor Jérémie Rhorer co-founded the ensemble Le Cercle de l'Harmonie, he is a new kind of musician, who is familiar with historically informed performance practice as well as conducting contemporary works. Rhorer has just finished at the Opera Lyon conducting their production of Claude by Thierry Escaich, next season he takes on the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Vestal Virgin by Gaspare Spontini.”
“… fiery and spirited Rhorer gets to work, he remembers with surprising clarity the fabulous production of Mozart's opera in 1998 in Aix-en-Provence, when Rhorer was Claudio Abbado's assistant at the time… there are wonderfully lyrical moments that are sensitively balanced with phrasing and articulation are delivered with the utmost care.”
Peter Hagmann, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, April 2013
“Freed from any baroque or romantic orthodoxy, flexible and sensual with his conducting, Jérémie Rhorer twice caused the audience to hold its breath, due to the languid erotic nature of the music.”
Gilles Macassar, Télérama, April 2013
“The music brings colour to the pulse of the characters. Jérémie Rhorer seeks to highlight the nuances of the score, from the naivety of Zerlina to the darkness of Don Giovanni. The musicians of the Cercle de l'harmonie play with virtuosity and use a dazzling colour palette.”
Philippe Venturini, Les Echos, April 2013
“After his remarkable Idomeneo, The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutte, I looked forward to the Don Giovanni conducted by Jérémie Rhorer, the most prominent Mozart leader today, alongside René Jacobs. The new production unveiled on Thursday night at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées gave him the opportunity to remind us that Mozart’s story is contained entirely within the notes of the score.”
Eric Dahan, Libération, April 2013
Recording: Cherubini Lodoïska / Deutschlandradio CD
“The conductor Jérémie Rhorer leads an excellent French ensemble that makes me want to hear more of Cherubini operas.”
Henrik Halvarson, hd.se, May 2013
“Under the direction of Jérémie Rhorer the great Circle of Harmony give a performance with elegant energy.”
Alban Deags, Classique News, May 2013
“Jérémie Rhorer conducts his period band, Le Cercle de l'Harmonie, with bravura passion and energy.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, May 2013
“The use of ancient instruments creates glowing colours in Cherubini’s work… Jérémie Rhorer is a dynamic conductor who contributes hugely to the resurrection of this piece… where everything takes on a new life...”
Laurent Bury, Forum Opera, April 2013
World premiere of Thierry Escaich Claude / Opéra de Lyon
“The main character was in many regards the orchestra, led with an iron hand (which was definitely required!) by Jérémie Rhorer. The music was driven by passacaglia and ostinato motifs, and pulsating rhythms, which were metaphors both for the machines worked by the prisoners as much as for the terrors of prison. Storm clouds and a deep emptiness weighed on this jail, despite the pacifying breaths of fresh air in the interludes, yet in the crepuscular finale, the ultimate pianissimo bars finally brought a glimmer of redemption.”
Emmanuel Dupuy, Diapason Magazine, March 2013
“The production benefitted from the sensitive and inspired musical direction of Jérémie Rhorer, the high standards of the musicians and choirs of the Opéra de Lyon, and the deep commitmentof the singers to their parts.”
Fabrice Malkani, Forum Opera, March 2013
“In the pit, Jérémie Rhorer exalted the tragic grandeur of the score, with its harsh blows and explosions, taking the volcanic orchestral scores to its extremes. The music was permeated by the quasi-instrumental timbre of the chorus, visible at the back of the stage, dressed in plain clothes in the style of the vox populi, or of the chorus in classical drama.”
Yannick Millon, Altamusica, April 2013
“Conductor Jérémie Rhorer managed to construct, assemble and champion the various components of this dense and expressive score, and the orchestra brought out all the beautiful details, of which there were many.”
Anaclase, March 2013
“Jeremie Rhorer conducted, an early music specialist, but who also trusted himself to take charge of this score, and spurred the Lyon opera orchestra on to play in glorious technicolour.”
Peter Hagmann, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, April 2013
“Led by Jérémie Rhorer, the singing and music making was excellent.”
Joachim Lange, Online Musik Magazine, April 2013
“Under Jérémie Rhorer the orchestra sounds fired up.”
Andrew Clark,
Financial Times, April 2013
“It is rare to see the public in unanimous applause, particularly for a contemporary piece, with a generous glowing wave of sound under the baton of Jérémie Rhorer who celebrated the vitality of this music. Exhilarating, sometimes dazzling and deep, an impression which contrasts to the echoes of the text inspired by the Victor Hugo novel, this score will no doubt be picked up by other opera houses.”
Antonio Mafra, Le Progrès, March 2013
“Jérémie Rhorer’s conducting stamped every moment of the performance with an immediacy and intensity.”
Le Figaro, March 2013
“At the head of the magnificent Orchestre de L’Opéra de Lyon, Jérémie Rhorer’s titanic work resulted in a most admirable performance. He had surmounted the sometimes cataclysmic elements of a score bristling with changes of tempo and other instrumental traps.”
Le Monde, March 2013
“Both playing and singing were excellent under Rhorer’s direction.”
Joachim Lange, Der Standard, April 2013
Stravinsky, Ligeti, Debussy & Tchaikovsky / Soloist Jean-Guihen Queyras / Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra
Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite is music of celebratory brilliance juxtaposed with patches of melancholy; in its light and shade Jeremie Rhorer and the Staatsorchester found plenty of goose-bump moments. The turbulent 8th movement with its splashes of light also left little to be desired. Fantastic.”
Johannes Koch, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, March 2013
“Rhorer’s elegant gestures and dancing podium presence lent wit and subtle comic effects to the Pulcinella Suite.”
Deitholf Zerweck, Stuttgarter Echo, March 2013
Bach Lucio Silla / Orchestre le Cercle de l’Harmonie / Salzburg
“He favours gentle, even leisurely tempi; but thanks to his highly polished articulation, the listener is never bored”.
Dreh Punkt Kultur, January 2013
Brahms Symphony No. 1 / Netherlands Radio Philharmonic
“Brahms’ First Symphony was the biggest surprise of the evening. This proved how Rhorer’s early music background informs his whole approach to the score, which is one of curiosity, keeping his eyes and ears wide open, without the burden of crusty old traditions. In the opening bars the timpani sounded softly, a heartbeat paving the way for the strings’ cantabile. Rather than droning on, this was a lithe Brahms, glowing with health….Rhorer thinks and feels through meaningful gestures, where less is more. There was no false sentiment, this was a Brahms from within. A salutary debut.”
De Telegraaf, December 2012
Le Paris des Romantiques (Berlioz, Liszt & Reber)
Orchestre le Cercle de l’Harmonie / Julian Chauvet, Bertrand Chamayou (Naive)
“The score certainly merits the polished and vivacious advocacy that Le Cercle de l’Harmonie under Jérémie Rhorer bring to it on what is plausibly billed as its world premiere recording. The orchestra’s period instruments add punch and pungent colour, as they do to a beguiling perfomrnace of Berlioz’s Réverie et Caprice with the violinist Julien Chauvin.”
Gramophone, November 2012
“The performances themselves are a joy to experience… Rhorer and the orchestra are with him every step of the way and their ensemble collaboration is simply electric. This is more than a refreshed or rejuvenated E flat Concerto: it is a rediscovered one. Never in my experience has this well-worn warhorse shone forth in greater splendour and nobility. To Rhorer’s great credit, amidst all the myriad details that characterize these rich and varied performances, the bigger picture is ever before us, and movements seems over before they’ve begun. This is committed and engaged orchestral playing which, sad to say, one doesn’t hear so often these days”
International Record Review, “Outstanding”, November 2012
Mozart Le nozze di Figaro / Wiener Staatsoper
“Above all, the cast were entrusted to a conductor who not only knew what he was doingbut who also kept everything under control in the most spontaneous of conditions, without losing his sense of wit. Jérémie Rhorer allowed the orchestra to articulate phrases with flexibility and eloquence, and to select meticulous and appropriate dynamics. He had an infallible sense of tempo and timing, which gave a fluent and sometimes stormy counter-point to even the most lethargic stage business. He has both an unerring sense of tempo and timing, which counterpointed even the laziest dramatic flow flowing to stormy.”
Der Standard, October 2012
Mozart Le nozze di Figaro / Festival d’Aix-en-Provence / Orchestre le Cercle de l’Harmonie
“Rhorer infuses the cast with an infectious energy and enthusiasm.”
Le Progrès, July 2012
“His grasp of the score was so subtle, so elegant, so incisive, so tender, so humane, in other words, so Mozartian, that the audience was sent into raptures of joy. And the obvious harmony between the conductor and director only added to the delight of seeing and hearing such an appealing production.”
Le Nouvel Observateur, July 2012
“In this opera all about accusations, justice was first and foremost done to the music. A conductor of great authority, Jérémie Rhorer proved that he was the best contemporary advocate of Mozart’s cause.”
Téléram, July 2012
“He conducted the overture in a lively and cursory manner, and bathed the last moments of the opera in a twilight glow. The attention given to dynamic nuances, phrasing and tempi showed a deep understanding of the score.”
Les Echo, July 2012
“An immensely talented Mozart conductor, cultivates a meticulous approach; by bringing out the myriad colours and accents achievable on period instruments, he restores vitality to this music…nervy and supple, sincere and dramatic, the sounds coming from the pit vibrate and sparkle with Mozart’s heart-beat”
Classique News, July 2012
“At the helm of the ship was Jérémie Rhorer... The young conductor’s strongest skill interpreting this repertoire is his ability to hear the Baroque in Mozart.”
Stephen Raskauskas, Bach Track, July 2012
“Jérémie Rhorer, this young and congenial conductor, gave a very noteworthy performance at the head of Le Cercle de l’Harmonie... a talent to watch.”
Gisela Hertwig, Kultura-Extra, July 2012
“The hugely talented Jérémie Rhorer led his orchestra with lively tempi and much energy.”
Alfred Zimmerlin, Neue Obwaldner Zeitung, July 2012
“Jérémie Rhorer and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie competently contributed authentic Mozartian sounds to this production.”
Roberto Becker, Online Musik Magazin, July 2012
“The "alma mater" of the production was definitely Jérémie Rhorer, who embodied a youthful dynamic adaptation executed with absolute precision. With his orchestra… conducted with impeccable precision, indefatigable spirit and arched phrasing.”
Diario La Pensa, July 2012
Mozart Così fan tutte / Théâtre des Champs-Elysées / Orchestre le Cercle de l’Harmonie
“Jérémie Rhorer and his Le Cercle de l’Harmonie speak Mozart’s language fluently, as they proved in their revelatory performances of Idomeneo at Beaune Festival in 2006… The ensemble managed to create the perfect sound world for Wolfgang Amadeus… Just like the masked characters taken straight from the Venetian Carnival, some of the musical themes in Così run throughout Mozart’s operatic repertoire, taking on all the colours of our psyches, as if walking through a hall of mirrors. Jérémie Rhorer knows this, and conveys it better than any other.”
Concert Classic, May 2012
“At the helm, Rhorer varies the tempi with talent, without ever rushing, but slowing down and stretching out the lines when the action requested. As such, the accompaniment of "Per pieta" of Fiordiligi was exemplary, literally carved in its sound to convey the anguish that consumes the young woman… Rhorer exalts with verve the beauty of the score and the richness of Mozart’s writing. [Le Cercle de l’Harmonie] respond to every desired inflection of their leader imposed in his vivacity as a driver for action.”
Classique News, May 2012
J.C. Bach Amadis de Gaule / Orchestre le Cercle de l’Harmonie
“This successful resurrection after more than 230 years of silence of JC Bach’s Amadis, an opera poised at the juncture between the Baroque era and the Classical era, is entirely down to Jérémie Rohrer’s ensemble, the Cercle de l’Harmonie.”
Le Monde, January 2012
Haydn Symphony No. 22 / Mozart Symphony No. 29
Avery Fisher Hall / Mozart Festival Orchestra
“His account of Mozart’s Symphony No.29 was generally pleasing as well. It took a moment to get used to his brisk opening tempo... but you had to admire the trim textures and focus he brought to the fast movements, and the Andante had an irresistible lilt.”
Allan Kozinn, New York Times, August 2011
Beethoven Symphony No. 1, Creatures of Prometheus, Romances
Orchestre le Cercle de l’Harmonie / Julian Chauvet, Alexandra Coku (Naive)
“The Cercle de l'Harmonie yields to the thrilling rhythms without jeopardising the silky elegance of the phrasing...lightning reactions from the winds, precise bowings and lightness of touch from the strings; there is currently no French period ensemble championing early Beethoven with such vibrant colours and controlled jubilation. The nine principal players underpin the clarity and natural luminosity of the ensemble by emphasising a particular phrase or highlighting a certain colour.”
Telerama, June 2011
“Jeremie Rhorer caresses, balances, murmurs, whips up the music by turns with a nervous panache harking back to Mozart in his woodwind inflexions (especially the clarinets) – he has just the right touch, sincere and full of humanity.... He captures very well the sense that a new master of composition is emerging, that a genius has been revealed; the muscular yet finely-calibrated edginess of the Allegro molto e vivace, and the virtuosic elegance, so clear and luminous, with a kind of relaxed frenzy, in the final Allegro molto.”
Classique News, June 2011
Mozart Idomeneo / Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Orchestre le Cercle de l’Harmonie / dir. Stéphane Braunschweig
“Rhorer’s ‘Idomeneo’ calls out to you, unseats you, fascinates you and convinces you... Rhorer has become one of the greatest hopes of the conducting world. He is a Mozartian through and through, and imbues his own ensemble and every orchestra he conducts with remarkable intensity, drive, sensitivity and sensuality. He is one of the most promising conductors of his generation.”
Nicole Duault, Le Journal du Dimanche, June 2011
“His deep understanding of and love for singing are obvious when he conducts. His eloquent and precise, often dance-like, conducting technique embraces the voices and allows them to flourish.”
Emmanuelle Giuliani, La Croix, June 2011
“For three hours, the Orchestre du Cercle de l’Harmonie created a rounded, warm sound, resonant with a thousand nuances… This splendid orchestral sound was the result of in-depth work on the dynamic gradations, quite the opposite of the hysterical interpretation of baroque music so in vogue these recent years.”
Eric Dahan, Libération, June 2011
“Jérémie Rhorer conducted with contagious vigour and a definite sense of Mozartian spirit.”
Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde, June 2011
“With his confident and flexible conducting, Rhorer paid attention to the singers at all times, and underlined the tensions and emotions of this stunning opera written by Mozart at the age of 25, giving it a rare dramatic efficacy. This was the work of a master conductor.”
Philippe Venturini, Les Echos, June 2011
“The standing ovation for the musical performance was unanimous, and well-deserved… Just like the Mozart of his ‘period instrument’ colleagues John Eliot Gardiner and René Jacobs, this young French conductor’s Mozart was passionate and quicksilver... Jérémie Rhorer’s Apollonian conducting never infringed on the need for reserve and tact.”
Gilles Macassar, Télérama, June 2011
"Under the baton of Jérémie Rhorer, the young conductor rightly already famous, precision and subtlety reign in the orchestra and mingle with the voice to perfect the expressiveness.”
Claude Helleu, Alta Musica, June 2011
"The rest is all in the sound: the orchestra takes no risks, and Jérémie Rhorer clearly knows his Mozart, he loves and reveres him, with elegance but without fantasy.”
Caroline Alexander, Web Thea, June 2011
Mozart C minor Mass and Vespers / Barbican / Orchestre le Cercle de l'Harmonie
“This all-Mozart concert was their UK debut, and mightily impressive it was, too... the subtle, alert hand of conductor Jeremie Rhorer, who is clearly a musician of fine sensibility as well as a fine technique.... what really marked this performance out as something special was the way it caught the music’s grandeur and minatory force. The hallmark was clarity combined with spacious tempi, so we could feel Mozart’s grinding harmonic clashes impacting on our nerves as well as our ears. All in all a marvel.”
Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph, June 2011
Brahms Requiem / Laeiszhalle, Hamburg / Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie
“Following the powerful imagination of the young French conductor Jérémie Rohrer, and as one body, the ensemble built up the tremendous dynamic phrases which Brahms had stretched out between the promise of consolation and the vision of deliverance. Defined and decisive, yet always slender and forwards-driven amongst the polyphonic jostling, the choir and orchestra articulated the powerful choral fugues, especially those reminiscent of the masterly old organ fugues, promising security in God’s hands to the souls of the righteous.”
Lutz Lesle, Die Welt, April 2011
Mozart, Sacchini & Gluck / Munich Chamber Orchestra
“Das Münchener Kammerorchester erwies sich durch sein höchst lebendig phrasiertes Spiel hörbar animiert vom jungen Alte-Musik-Spezialisten Rhorer am Pult.”
“One could hear the Munich Chamber Orchestra’s animated response to Rhorer’s vivacious phrasing.”
Sueddeutsche, March 2011
Beethoven / Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels / Orchestre le Cercle de l'Harmonie
“An exceptionally brilliant, transparent and full sound, emerging from the vision shared by all the musicians – strings, wind and percussion – organically connected to their conductor. Rohrer directed his little orchestra in the same way that a virtuoso violinist handles his bow: everything came together; the music radiated out from him and took on meaning – both lace and fire at the same time. After a speedy overture, perfectly imbued with life and dynamism, the orchestra demonstrated its familiarity with lyrical music … a delight both to watch and to hear, bursting out as if brand new because of the sheer daring of the performance.”
La Libre, February 2011
"Un récital raccourci, donc, mais l'on préférera la qualité à la quantité. Les 36 musiciens, sous la direction de Jérémie Rhorer, ont magnifiquement interprété trois oeuvres de jeunesse de Beethoven : l'ouverture et l'introduction du ballet Les créatures de Prométhée, la Romance pour violon et orchestre opus 50 et la Symphonie No.1."
"The 36 musicians magnificently interpreted three works of Beethoven's youth under the direction of Jérémie Rhorer."
Charlotte Murat, Ouestfrance, February 2011
Mozart Così fan tutte / Wiener Staatsoper Debut
“Rohrer, an early music specialist from Paris, broke with tradition and led the Viennese orchestra quite deliberately into a sound world of dynamic variety and harsh tempi, to amazing effect. The musicians of the Philharmonie followed him astonishingly willingly.”
Von Wilhelm Sinkovicz, Die Presse, January 2011
“The young French conductor’s lyrical sensuality suited the magnificent set design well, and he reached a high level of dynamic refinement.”
Von Christoph Irrgeher, Wiener Zeitung, January 2011
“The Staatsopernorchester followed the tight direction of the ambitious and flexible conductor Jérémie Rohrer closely.”
Thomas Trenkler, Standard, January 2011
Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev & Dukas / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
“He revealed all the charm of Tchaikovsky’s 1st symphony...and breathed life into even the most academic passages...nothing can resist an accomplished Mozartian!”
François Clairant, Sud Ouest, November 2010
Salzburg 1773: Symphonies Nos. 25, 26 & 29
Orchestre le Cercle de l'Harmonie / Rhorer (Virgin Classics 50999 234868)
“these performances will blow your head off…. Young French conductor Jérémie Rhorer… takes risks but not liberties. Speeds are break-neck, colours brilliant.”
Observer, March 2009
“Jérémie Rhorer…confirmed the impression he has been making, of a rising star in the French operatic firmament.”
Mike Reynolds, Musical Criticism
“We are going to hear more of Rhorer for sure, as his experience develops and his expertise blossoms.”
Burgandy Today, July 2009
“Young conductor Jérémie Rohrer proves his talent and gives a sparkling interpretation of the piece.”
Wiener Zeitung, July 2009
“The young French maestro, is a brilliant representative of the music of the Enlightenment, [and] is one of the most promising young conductors.”
Classique News, April 2009
“Once again, the vogue this year is to bow before Jérémie Rhorer…not only the quality of performance combines elegance, technical accuracy and musicality, but the interpretation is, above all, truly classical. (…) Jérémie Rhorer gave us a real lesson of classicism. A lesson reinforced by the choice of instruments, which emphasizes intimacy and precision to create a light but ever precise scene.”
Res Musica, March 2009
Mozart Symphonies Nos. 25, 26 & 29 (Salzburg 1773) / (Virgin Classics 2009)
“He [Rhorer] works with drastically dynamic extremes and contrasts light and shade very sharply, making the music seem tremendously vivid.”
“Rhorer combines the most important qualities of both his mentors, who taught him while he was their assistant: William Christie’s gift of clearly interpenetrating and structuring the music and Marc Minkowski’s charisma and rampant energy….an all round talent.”
NDR Kultur, February 2009
“The conductor glows with articulate fragility, nuanced tenderness, polished dramatic art.… and with consistent accuracy and veracity… More of this!”
Classique News, February 2009
“…so sophisticated.”
Bremer Tageszeitung, September 2008
“Rhorer…obviously feels that sparkle, grace, and élan are serious virtues. The marches were so light and graceful they sounded like minuets. The minuets themselves bounced with gaiety.”
Broad Street Review, March 2008