“Ozzy Osbourne stood in the place where I’m conducting,” David Stern, the opera’s chief conductor who will lead both “La Boheme” and “The Magic Flute,” told AFP with a laugh. Despite its size the space “actually is very friendly,” the Paris-based conductor said, and the star voices large enough to […]
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David Stern‘s musical life spans three continents, and the pandemic hasn’t slowed him down. As founder and director of Opera Fuoco, a Paris-based international opera company and young artist program, he helms Figaro in the City, a modern-day video retelling of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. It’s available in easily digestible segments of 15 […]
“A young cast, imaginative filming – how the project came about. Watch the first episode for free” When I had the initial idea to salvage a concert version of the Marriage of Figaro, Paris was just coming out of its first confinement period. Springtime was bursting out, we no longer […]
“Stern drew out Puccini’s singing phrases adroitly, providing strong, coherent support for the singers. Without a curtain coming down to produce premature applause, it was great, for once, to hear the final soft harp lines following the Mimi-Rodolfo duet in Act I and the final quiet brass chords at the […]
“(…) The tone was set by conductor David Stern’s nicely shaped overture, taken at a moderate pace, with solo instruments given the freedom to ornament their lines. This musical approach immediately engaged fans of bel canto opera and signaled that this would not be a routine reading of a familiar […]
Grammophone magazine’s review of David Stern’s recording with NDR Radiophilharmonie and Ania Vegry of Gassmann’s rare opera arias and scenes: “Conductor David Stern draws alert playing from the NDR Radiophilharmonie. “
“After the conclusion of the famous Overture to Rossini’s Barber of Seville, Palm Beach Opera chief conductor David Stern invited the orchestra to stand to receive the applause. (…) The Overture, fortunately, was not marred by any madcap antics on stage, full of crisp string playing, such as in the […]
” (…) Chief Conductor David Stern brings out the score’s varied moods, contrasting the chaotic populace with the contemplative reminiscences of the trio of officials, Ping, Pang and Pong, and the pathos of the plight of Timur and Liù.” David M.Rice – Classical Source
“Under chief conductor David Stern, the Palm Beach Opera orchestra did its usual excellent work. The outstanding string section played with transparent delicacy in Puccini’s shimmering harmonies. Soft-edged winds, stark brass and clanging percussion all contributed to bringing out the power and variety of Puccini’s richly colored score.” South Florida […]
“But what keeps this work alive is the music. Led by chief conductor David Stern, the performance was full of energy and personality, with vigorous duets and trios on stage and another fine outing by the orchestra, with creamy string playing and lively winds and brass. To the company’s credit, […]
David Stern’s inspires the singers with all the necessary impulses, through constant attention to breathing and balance. He keeps the tension of the drama, thanks to the vigor and honed palette he unleashes from his chamber-size orchestra…. With vocal revelations of such a high level, one has to say that […]
« The 58-member orchestra sat on a sturdy platform ten feet above the action, behind a scrim, which, in the last act, becomes a vista of St. Peter’s and the Vatican. All one could see, at this level, was the conductor, David Stern, who was seriously splendid. The orchestra sounded […]
« This weekend’s exuberant Palm Beach Opera premiere in Kravis Center uses a version created for the New York Philharmonic in 2004…. It’s a provocative and entertaining experience. David Stern’s buoyant musical direction buttresses … an exhilarating, superbly cast and imaginatively directed spectacle. » Palm Beach Daily News, February 2018
« ….this was a splendid exposition of baroque opera. Praise in the first place for the conductor David Stern at the head of a combination of his own Opera Fuoco and members of the Magdeburg Philharmonic. As well as endowing the performance with an energetic momentum, he brought out all […]
« Happily the Magdeburg Theater’s in-house orchestra, to which were added several members of the French ensemble Opera Fuoco (from which a good part of the singer soloists also came) delivered its goods. David Stern, director of the ensemble, who has been frequent guest with his musicians at the Elbe, […]