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Reviews
Cividale del Friuli: Concert for a new world at Mittelfest
(…) This was understood since the start of the Requiem, conducted in a quick, fluid, functional time to the non-rhetorical refinement that characterized the entire approach. Bressan pursues with determination his idea of a cleanliness rich in temperament, transmitting it clearly despite the obstacles of the reverberation ... a dry direction, but precisely for this reason capable of bringing out precious details, from the conduct of the phrases in the poignant choral interweaving of Rex tremendae to the fluid, masterful management of tension in Lacrymosa. Excellent performance by the Choir of Friuli Venezia Giulia, prepared by Cristiano Dell’Oste, with soaring and expressively participating female voices and a male section blended with great softness. (…) The FVG orchestra offers a very convincing (and equally passionate) performance, confirmed with even greater prominence in Dvořák's symphony. Concentration, tension and musicality don't undergo concession under a conducting that combines authority and eloquence. Bressan is not afraid to push the pedal of dynamics, thanks to his masterful control on the “legato” without jerks, which exalts cantabile singing and involvement, requiring dazzling colors, to always bring them back to balance and painting moments of lucid intimism with the gesture, as in the inspired Largo.
(OperaClick - Rossana Paliaga - 05.09.2020)
Bach, a sublime grandiosity "Preaching" on the way to Easter
Bressan did not give them discounts: demanding, he asked for and obtained the right dynamic nuances. In general, the conductor has opted for a turned phrasing, for a careful articulation, for an expressive clarity that reward the complex beauty of Bach's music.
(Il giornale di Vicenza - Filippo Lovato - 27.03.2019)
The Sagra Musicale Umbra closes the Festival with Bach and Pärt.
Superb the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir in Assisi.
(...) The ideal then to entrust them to a "maestro" of profound sensitivity like Filippo Maria Bressan, demiurge of unparalleled choral adventures, in Italy and elsewhere. When he has the voices at hand, Bressan's gesture is soft, supple and communicative, and so it was, both for the Magnificat and for the previous Berliner Messe (...) To arouse the throb of emotion was the conclusive Bach Magnificat. Bressan was elastic and flexible, as in its best moments; functional the soloists: Valentina Coladonato, Ewa Gubaňska, Matteo Mezzato and Mauro Borgioni. Splendid choir, standing out, with exceptional dynamic and rhythmic evolutions, and a precious female section in "Suscepit Israel". When the "Sicut locutus" arrives, we have the full notion of what "choral harmony" is: a teeming fabric innervated, very light, full of light. Ovation ending with a "Gloria Patri" which made us forget the humiliation of having been in queue for more than half an hour to enter the Basilica.
(Corriere dell’Umbria - C.B. - 19.9.2017)
Sold out for the Perugia Chamber Orchestra: the Morlacchi Theater is overflowing.
A overflowing theater in every order of places for the eighth concert of the current season of the Amici della Musica. On the stage of Morlacchi, the Perugia Chamber Orchestra, conducted with authority by Maestro Filippo Maria Bressan. A brilliant program that opens with the Symphony of the "Barbiere di Siviglia" by Rossini, in which the orchestra moves with fluency, mastery and satisfaction.
Sensational the concert in C major op. 56 by Beethoven, performed by the famous "Trio Modigliani", recently become "Trio Metamorphosi" (...) The trio's nonchalance could rely on the carpet, discreet and functional, woven by the Perugia Chamber Orchestra who understood, and demonstrated, what it means to "put oneself at the service" and work in synergy, in order to obtain an artistic outcome that literally bewitched the public. Closing with Mendelssohn's Symphony "Italiana" that has enchanted since the first, recognizable, beats. Then the rhythm and the perfect performance overwhelmed the spectators, united by an unconditional consensus.
(PerugiaToday - Sandro Francesco Allegrini - 07.02.2017)
Bressan controls the musicians with paternal care and promotes a limpid and taut reading, of well-defined lines (Haydn, Symphony No. 8 "Le Soir").
Grappling with the bassetto clarinet, Carbonare has distinguished itself for a very agile phrasing, commendable lightness, extreme ductility in going along with all the expressive effects foreseen in the score. The orchestra was particularly cohesive and found moments of great inspiration, especially in the famous Adagio, where it has been able to keep a really exciting velvety pianissimo (Mozart, Clarinet Concert KV622).
(...) Grand finale with the most famous symphony of Mozart, the No. 40 in G minor KV550, proposed in the first version. It results an unusual mixture of timbre. Bressan privileges the classical balance and pursues a defined phrase and rather energetic "tempo", surprising in the final ...
Musician with an expressive gesture, ample and elegant, sometimes he choose to conduct only with the hands, or rather, with his fingers, as appropriate. And the orchestra's prompt reaction is deduced in an enthusiastic sharing of intent. Sold out Theater and festive of applause.
(Il Giornale di Vicenza - Filippo Lovato - 8.1.2016)
A beautiful concert of Bressan and Dindo at Petruzzelli Theater.
New symphonic concert of Theatre Petruzzelli's Orchestra, conducted by the "bravo" Maestro Filippo Maria Bressan and as a guest cellist Enrico Dindo (...) Interesting the two compositions of Lecce composer Ivan Fedele (Syntax 0.1 Syntax 0.2 (...) Excellent the conducting of Bressan, attentive like few others to the orchestration and to the attention chromatic and "symbolic" of the two pages of music. (...) To follow, was opened a space dedicated to classical and romantic music with "Variations on a Rococo Theme" op.33 by Tchaikovsky and with the famous symphonic suite "A Midsummer night Dream" op. 61 by Mendelssohn. Pages of great appeal, especially for the remarkable interpretation offered by Enrico Dindo (...) The concert was lefted up even more, thanks to the excellent and elegant interpretation of Maestro Bressan, who was able to give a convincing performance of Mendelssohn's dream, thanks of course to the orchestra's good quality, which grows more and more, as amalgam and compactness. Excellent and precise the sound of the strings, so mellow and silvery, with an enviable intonation. Applause for Dindo, Bressan and the Orchestra ...
(L'orecchio di Dioniso - october 2015 - Alessandro Romanelli)
Orfeo ed Euridice wins Trieste.
Virtuously in line with the stage direction it turned out to be also the music conducting of Filippo Maria Bressan (...) with the "Orchestra of Verdi's Theater" which was confirmed once again excellent for the quality of the musicians and for compactness. The conductor has imposed on the team narrative continuity and brisk theatrical pace in an Opera that has a particular need of this, imbued as it is with constant alternations of choral works, accompanied recitatives and actions of soloists.
(Operaclick - March 2015 - Paolo Bullo)
Orfeo ed Euridice : Musical conducting, stage direction and the great Orfeo by Laura Polverelli guide the public to the discovery of Gluck's masterpiece. (...) The return of Filippo Maria Bressan, great specialist of Baroque music, it was a happy return, focusing on philology (...), looking for a pure sound. Great success for everyone, especially for Maestro Bressan and Polverelli.
(L'Opera - March 2015 - Rino Alessi)
Orfeo ed Euridice : The value of the exhibition on stage, in recent days in Trieste, was sought instead in his musical direction, the most interesting currently in circulation, outside of some "exaggerations" of some great theaters ... Filippo Maria Bressan at the head of the Verdi's Theater Orchestra made his interpretation a real cameo.
Lightness, transparency, rigor, such as to show a completely different orchestra of Verdi's Theater used to have a much more consistent sonority generally used in nineteenth-century opera.
Stylistic appropriateness and an authentically baroque aplomb.
(Opera e Balletto - March 2015 - Umberto Fornasier)
Orfeo ed Euridice : Filippo Maria Bressan asks to the orchestra of Verdi's Theater ancient sonority, philological impeccable choice (...) comes out a limpid and rational musical conducting that fits like a glove to the setting of the stage director...
(Il discorso - March 2015 - Paolo Locatelli)
Bressan give a remarkable, detailed, manifestly participating interpretation of the "Symphony 104" by Franz Joseph Haydn. Already in the beginning "Adagio", the Teatro Lirico’s Orchestra lights up in arches of pungent fared. Able then, in the next "Allegro", to play with skill “legati” and “staccati” among pawing incised, rhythmic jolts of "upbeat" sixteenth notes, or the numerous forks of expressive dynamics. It’s rendered in full, so, the tireless and joyful vorticity of the I°movement.
No less than the II° - that wonderful “Andante” in an eccentric form of "theme and variations" - returned in all its brilliant beauty, in any metamorphosis of the melody whose strut wants to be now lighthearted now thoughtful. Or in the "Menuetto," III° movement, where Bressan lingers in silences, relishes the long pauses and plays exquisitely with the “rallentando”. Or in the multi-colored and crystal clear grace noted of ”Finale", which makes us feel as Haydn has much anticipated, much of the "tersicoreo" impetus that Beethoven will show in the Sixth and Seventh Symphony ...
(05.05.2014 - La Nuova Sardegna - G.Balloi)
The performance of Verdi's Don Carlo, who inaugurated the program of 2014 in Lecce, has been exemplary and rightly for Verdi's masterpiece prospects are for a bright future that will see it around the world. The Italian version of Teatro alla Scala 1884, conducted by Filippo Maria Bressan (...) convinced fully the public, who has been seduced by the passions, jealousy, betrayals and revenges in the Spain of Filippo II (...). Secure movements and great attention to the breath of the score and its "natural" execution, Bressan has imprinted to the excellent Symphony Orchestra "Tito Schipa" energy and continuous tension, paying attention to the inner search of the characters, dramatic force and musical shine. And he has been also completely pandered by a cast of singers really well assembled, on which you have distinguished the two bass of the opera, Carlo Colombara, in the role of Filippo II and Michail Ryssov (Inquisitore) (...).
(l'OPERA - 2014 april - Nicola Sbisà)
Sassari, a great "Requiem" to remember. Sold out in the new Teatro Comunale, many applauses for the monumental staging of Verdi's masterpiece.
The Verdi’s correspondence, in some of its words, is extremely enlightening: “you must not sing this Mass as you sing an Opera," said Verdi. It’s clear that there is a strong “theatricality” in this Requiem, given from a strong taste for contrasts, but there is not a single "aria" properly so called, and the limpid counterpoints of “fugato” refer most to Palestrina than to operatic choruses.
Based on this awareness, Filippo Maria Bressan offered to the public of the “Comunale” an interpretation in which prevails the fine care to detail and attention to color and style of singing, to the overall softness of the voice… All of this, the scrupulous concertation of Bressan and the consequent results achieved, has returned to the audience a deeply human Requiem, restless, perhaps less “muscular” compared to certain usual interpretations of the work, but certainly very engaging and plastic, more respectful of the text and of the original idea that Verdi had of this work.
(19.12.2013 - La Nuova Sardegna - Antonio Ligios)
Expert hands and great preparation for the Voxonux Orchestra but also depth of interpretation and great technical security of Maestro Filippo Maria Bressan, who presented symphonies of Mozart and Haydn, serenades and concertos for violin concertante, entrusted to the charged emotion and the accuracy of Maurizio Cadossi.
(9.8.2013 - L’eco di Savona)
Piccinni's The Cecchina at the Piccolo Festival enchants the audience.
Already from the opening sinfonia, as for the whole work, the FVG Mitteleuropa Orchestra, behind the Filippo Maria Bressan’s sure and crystal clear conducting, has been able to immerse the large audience present, into their own moods of the story...
(OPERA 2013 - Instart Fred)
Bressan guide in the tonal universe
Success for the "Trittico"of Respighi and Malipiero's Madrigals, Friday at the Teatro Lirico
A melange of styles, an intellectual game that Filippo Maria Bressan conducts with vitality and emotional participation and, with the Orchestra of the Teatro Lirico Cagliari, he interprets empathizing into a language that incorporates renaissance cadences, madrigal harmonies, placed side by side with eclectic musical recollections ... Agreeable music, perfectly to enjoy, that Bressan interprets relying on the skill of the orchestra to highlight the colors and nuances ... he personalizes in an interpretation which emphasizes those descriptive aspects that will then be developed by the music of the soundtracks of the nascent art of film ... highlighting the spirit of unity of the aesthetics of what was called the "generation of The Eighties" ... conducting with articulated gestural expressivity, clear and wide, to animate the phrasings and to recall the entrances of the soloists.
(13 novembre 2012 - L'UNIONE SARDA - Greca Piras)
Cagliari - At the Teatro Lirico a small pearl in times of crisis
Success of the "Petite Messe Solemnelle" by Rossini conducted by Bressan
...the musical season still manages to surprise us with excellent performances, such as the "Petite Messe Solemnelle" which, Friday and Saturday saw the return to the podium of an "old" acquaintance of the Teatro Lirico, Filippo Maria Bressan. His experience in the field of choral conducting was well combined with that one of Marco Faelli, new choirmaster ... The result, in fact, it seems commendable. Bressan has always his outstanding ability to chisel phrases, to emphasize each finely musical dynamics, to dig in the counterpoint , droping, each time, our listening in a specific channel sound. Quality of some importance, especially in a page like thiswhere an elderly Rossini seems destined to a emblematic "potpourri" style. (Orchestra and Choir of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari)
(Gabriele Balloi - La nuova Sardegna - 25.01.2012)
Udine - Cathedral, 30.3.2012 - Bach : Johannespassion
A fluid and precise performance at one time, magnified by the gesture of the conductor Filippo Maria Bressan. Lucidity, precision, monitored force, charisma of rare workmanship : these are the traits of this kind of "Magus Musicae", which all have responded with attention and convinced participation. Long, hearty and touched applause. (Mitteleuropa Orchestra - Coro FVG)
(Marco Maria Tosolini - IL GAZZETTINO)
In the sign of Brahms the close of the concert season at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari.
Excites the Requiem according to Bressan. Long notes in hushed tones. The opening of the German Requiem announces development of dramatic tension, palpable and impressive in the interweaving of voices and sounds of the Orchestra and Chorus of Cagliari. Confident and determined, Filippo Maria Bressan guides the complicated path coming to define, in the concert on Friday evening at the Opera House, a fresco of magnificent beauty of sound. It is not easy to deal with what is considered the monument for antonomasia of German disposal religious music. (...) In the notes you hear the classical imprint, the romantic sensibility and especially the intention to revisit critically the polyphony, the counterpoint of Bach and his predecessors. (...) The whole has an emotional power that Bressan wants to emphasize in every aspect. And in the passage from Isaiah “Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras” he touches expressive summits thick of suggestive tangles and "fugati" full of great dramatic tension . From "Selig sind, die da Leid tragen" until "Selig sind die Toten" is a succession of episodes of high impact, where the art of Brahms is confronted with all aspects of Central European music tradition, that Bressan translates with efficient and precise gestures, and a vigor that makes him even get out the baton of hand. As mentioned last week, once again the times require fast Bressan risultanoano functional to interpretative speech, set on the exaltation of emphasis and drama, translated in the impressive volume of sound. His Requiem is such a mix of focus and sorrowful awareness. Is the Choir the protagonist of a nice concert, that has the ability to engage and excite. The voices are inserted with coherence into a construct that the orchestra portrays with great sensitivity. It stands in the actions with soloists the turned and rich of harmonic voice of Elisabetta Scano, who sings the verses of the Apostle John. It takes shape an interpretation with great communicative strength, full of episodes treated in details and performed with that attention that comes from profound participation. The accents darken with bariton Gabriele Ribis, who sings deep notes, well-articulated, inserted with melancholic tension in the majesty of the whole. Until the final, with the sad and dark counterpoint on the verses of the Apocalypse, which together have a sense of pity and resignation. (...) (Orchestra and Choir of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari)
(Balloi Gabriele - La Nuova Sardegna)
With Bressan the fate knocks at the Teatro Lirico - Cagliari, May 26, 2011.
A four-note theme in unison marks the beginning of the Symphony No. 44 in E minor Hob. I/44. An Allegro con brio that Filippo Maria Bressan scans with fluid gestures and force, leading the orchestra of the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari in an interpretation that make prevail the expressivity on any other
element. The Haydn’s symphony lives of nuances and balance. And a touch of emotional tension which has its peak on Adagio. (...) The concert Friday at the Teatreo Lirico was back to open it in the sign of Haydn and to continue with Beethoven. Is inserted in the middle Schicksalslied, Song of Destiny, inspired to Brahms by a poem by Hölderlin, with the voices of the choir of Cagliari engaged in an impressive fresco that the conductor leads in an interpretation of strong emotional impact. To give dramatic form to this reflection on the meaning of life by Brahms, Filippo Maria Bressan puts into play a strong choral and symphonic force that reaches heights of grandeur. In the dough sound, orchestra and choir bring out moments sustained with sensitivity and accents sometimes of dark grandeur, sometimes rapt and melancholic. After all is always the fate that makes itself hear in Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55. (...) The fact is that the timpani rolls, the apocalyptic accents of the trumpets, the Funeral March, emphasize the epic intent. Orchestra and conductor follow these swirling music thoughts that revolutionized the canons of the classical symphony, the exaggerated contrasts between the elements, giving body to the tension sought by Beethoven. And of that wonderful page, that is rightly considered one of the most beautiful of musical literature, Bressan gives a coherent interpretation to the times and ideas of its author. The conductor proceeds along the tradition and highlights the emphasis. with the orchestra ready to keep up below him with incisive strength forcefully and power of sound that reaches statuary solemnity, emphasizing the primacy of rhythm and melodic dynamism. (Orchestra and Choir of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari)
(Greca Piras - L'Unione Sarda)
Wonderful Mozart with I Virtuosi italiani and Bressan
Acclaimed concert of I Virtuosi Italiani Virtuosi and Marc'Antonio Ingegneri Chorus in the Basilica of San Zeno, conducted by maestro Filippo Maria Bressan, in front of an impressive audience participation and with a definitely highly stimulating and interesting program (...) the Vesperae solemnes de confessore K 339 and Coronation Mass in C major, K. 317 (...) In the demanding performance and through a participatory and sensible reading, the condutor Filippo Maria Bressan has highlighted the peculiarities of the two works with particular emphasis on sensitive and elegiac arias and preferring in general fairly quickly tempo, even for the choral sections. His conducting has made it enjoyable listening also placing the four soloists in the conditions of give their best, to creating the right atmosphere for each emotional song.
(Gianni Villani- ARENA di Verona)
CAGLIARI - "Eroica" at the Lyric, stands the originality of Filippo Maria Bressan.
There is no comparison. At a distance of one week, Filippo maria Bressan offers an entirely different reading of Haydn and Beethoven compared to (...). From Symphony No 44 - yes, paradoxically the "Funeral"-, Filippo Maria Bressan obtein colors and phrases significantly more intense, more seductive, going more egregiously beyond in the interpretative level. After "The Creation" and other pages of Haydn and Brahms, performed in April, he has risen again in recent days on the podium of the Municipal (...) On this same thematic track - we say between the existential and the funeral / memorial - was the concert that opened with Haydn’s "Symphony in E minor Hob.I 44." Filippo Maria Bressan does not opt for the spurious "German disposal" (...), but he places the orchestra (as in "Creation") bringing back the basses on the right and the cellos near the center; thus emphasizes the low register of the strings, resulting in a thicker mixture timbre, enveloping sound in the all round. Therefore, the wellhoned collaboration with the orchestra of the Teatro Lirico of Cagliari seems to emerge from a certain harmony, and it shows no less in the performance, with excellent yield of dynamic nuances, in those "pianissimo" surprisingly delicate, in "crescendo" dosed properly, in the search for melodic lyricism even when no one would expect. Let's face it, Bressan has personality! Just hear those peremptory accords by which the Third Symphony of Beethoven begins: here announced all that follows, he has already put a signature on the execution that will have a captivating vigor, played on the emphasis (well in relief brass and woodwind) who were bungled to (...). To the Haydn's "Funeral" symphony and "Funeral March" by the hero Beethoven, then it combines the "Schicksalslied" (Song of Destiny) by Brahms, with excellent test of the Choir of the Teatro Lirico trained as usual by Fulvio Fogliazza and placed this time a little further ahead than usual, so that we appreciate better acoustically all the power of the vocal mass. (Orchestra and Choir of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari)
(Balloi Gabriele - La Nuova Sardegna)
At the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, spectacular "The Creation " by Franz Joseph Haydn.
Those who missed it, missed a Filippo Maria Bressan in a state of grace that has made a superb reading of this monumental page (...) The oratorio of "The Creation"is one of the greatest masterpieces of Haydn, with its shimmering orchestration, finely diversified and colorful language, with all its load of naturalistic descriptive, it allows to Bressan to display many of the subtleties and interpretative insights . As true as each director has his own particular chironomica gestures, Bressan has a precise and eloquent one, that finds perfect match in all that emerges from the orchestra phalanges. The attacks, the dynamic ranges, small cross-fades between instrumental sections, gradients agogic: the
entire score is in fact governed by an irreducible awareness. What Bressan arouses, masterfully, is a total swarming with sounds ranging from the macrocosm of the whole orchestral / choral / solo, to the microcosm of a single instrument, of a mordant, a trill, a brief flourish: nothing is left to case. (Orchestra and Choir of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari)
(Gabriele Balloi - LA NUOVA SARDEGNA)
ROMA - Parco della Musica - Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia
The variety of the recitatives, all accompanied, of the arias and of the choirs is amazing. The tone and polyphonic combinations are astonishing. Filippo Maria Bressan has reeducated the orchestra and its choir to harmonize this music with stylistic property. So he made a modern orchestra and choir wonderfully interpret a great baroque page. It seems, instead, that the musicians enjoyed themselves while doing it. And it was evident. The cleanness of the sound and the intonation were splendid, whereas the phrasing was fluent and extremely free. Moreover there were three superb soloists... (Händel : Alexander's Feast - Soloists: C.Sampson, P.Breslik, D.Jeffrey - Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia - Roma - Conductor : Filippo Maria Bressan)
(Dino Villatico - CLASSIC VOICE)
Filippo Maria Bressan, aside from being a perfect musician, is a wonderful conductor too: he caresses the air with his hands, as if he feared to disturb the enchantments coming out from his musicians. Transparence, as a moral criterion, lifts up Bressan's reading. (Stravinsky – Symphony of Psalms)
(Stefano Ragni - LA NAZIONE)
SANTIAGO DE CHILE
One of the remarkable aspects of the instrumental ensemble is playing as if it was singing; also the gesture of the conductor seems to ask for this, which produces such a whole sense that grants to his interpretations an unmistakable mark […] It will be remembered as one of the greatest moments of the musical year in Chile.
- Una de los aspectos notables del conjunto instrumental, es tocar como si cantaran, incluso el gesto del director parece pedir eso, lo que produce un sentido interpretativo de tal unidad, otorgandole a sus interpretaciones un sello inconfundibile [...] sera recordado como uno de los grandes momentos del ano musical en Chile. -
(Gilberto Ponce – EMOL, Santiago de Chile)
Bressan's wise hand (who has also emerged for his spectacular gesture, original and incredibly effective and persuasive at the same time) led an execution both philologically respectful and enriched by a measured temper and warmth of Italian taste, succeeding in rendering these great pages at their best. (Bach - Kantaten , Motetten).
(Cesare Mancini - ACCADEMIA MUSICALE CHIGIANA - Settimana Musicale Senese)
With his impeccable style, Bressan has conducted the artistic mass as a dominator, since he doesn't lack either intellectual disposition, or heart, or the awareness which allowed him to make sing even the percussions. Thrilling execution that reminds the figure of Furtwängler. (Orff - Carmina Burana)
(Attilio Botarelli – IL CORRIERE DI SIENA)
Dazzling and bright execution of Haydn's Mess of Santa Cecilia by Haydn, memorable under every point of view. Filippo Maria Bressan has given intense moments of poetry and mysticism, together with shining and enthralling flashes of musical greatness. The huge public, reserved warm and enthusiastic applauses and many calls, to witness the complete pleasure of the performance.
(LA VOCE) - Sagra Musicale Umbra 2009 - Filippo Maria Bressan conduct Camerata strumentale Citta' di Prato - Voxonus Choir
Perugia - Sagra Musicale Umbra - In the sign of Händel/Mozart and Haydn
… two pages of rare listening such as Händel's Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day, edited by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Haydn's Missa Sanctae Ceciliae. On the podium of the Orchestra Camerata Strumentale "Città di Prato" and of the Coro Voxonus, a specialist of this repertoire as Filippo Maria Bressan who has has benefited wonderfully from the two beautiful instruments available and the Prato Orchestra has proved extremely versatile and flexible, especially in the ranks of strings, called to a true tour de force in Haydn's Mass. Faithful to his own style, Bressan sets a reading of great transparency, attentive to detail and animated by a great sense of style, precise in capturing the experiments of Mozart's elaboration (...) Excellent the Voxonus Choir prepared by Alessandro Toffolo. The cast was completed by a quartet of close-knit soloists, among which emerged the beautiful and musical voice of the young countertenor Filippo Mineccia. An evening of great music in the splendid Church of San Pietro.
(Operaclic - Edoardo Saccenti 2009)
The philological deepness, the use of ancient instruments and some copies from them, the study on the executive praxis of the past, both instrumental and vocal, don't reduce Filippo Maria Bressan's conduction to an abstract definition of sound nor to a blocked and dusty execution (as one can frequently listen to). On the contrary, the musical phrasing results brilliant, extremely rich in nuances, perfectly modeled from a stylistic point of view, so to make very recognizable the difference between Charpentier's sophisticated manner and Vivaldi's leading exuberance. The choice of the rhythm has offered fascinating examples of effectiveness and lightness, although the rapidity has never boundless into approximation or superficiality; indeed, details appeared sculpted, lively, vibrant. The tones of the orchestra seemed soft and bodied in the stringed instruments, elegant and sweet in the wind ones; admirable expressive effectiveness from the vocal part as well … a little miracle of measure and splendor, a refined and involving musical stone, illuminated by these two masterpieces, so far, however so incredibly capable to speak to our sensitivity, even today.
(Cesare Galla - L’ARENA, Verona)
B.Galuppi – Il filosofo di campagna : Mittle European Orchestra's performance, under Bressan's careful conduction, is of a best level and perfectly supports the singing company, with a definite contribution to a fascinating show that persuades and amuses the public. Very warm applauses.
(Sergio Zolli – MESSAGGERO VENETO)
C.W.Gluck - Paride ed Elena : ...The music is splendid and the subject, the birth of a love story, looks closer to our current sensitiveness than Orfeo and Euridice's or Alceste's mythological plots. ….Filippo Maria Bressan impregnates the orchestra, as well as the very young singers, with an authentic Gluck's style.
- ... la mùsica es espléndida y el tema argumental, el nacimiento del amor en una joven pareja, parece màs cercano a la sensibilidad actual que las tramas mitològicas o tràgicas de Orfeo ed Euridice o Alceste. ... Filippo Maria Bressan imbuyò a la orquestra del autentico estilo gluckiano, asì como a los jovencìsimos cantantes. -
(Mauro Mariani - OPERA ACTUAL)
C.W.Gluck - Paride ed Elena : Pisa: unanimous approval at Verdi Theatre, sold out, for a “difficult” title like Paride and Elena by Gluck. Brilliant reading by Filippo Maria Bressan, properly followed by Tuscan Lyrical Orchestra.
(Roberto Del Nista - L'OPERA)
C.W.Gluck - Paride ed Elena : This amazing and rare Gluck's work (not easy to stage)...has been appreciated by the public, impressed by the exciting score, but at once amused by tuscan Andrea Cigni's direction. ...Great cast, supported by Filippo Maria Bressan's passion and competence...
(Lisa Domenici - IL TIRRENO)
C.W.Gluck - Paride ed Elena : A rare and fascinating Gluck on the stage in Livorno... an elegant and refined show, all made of mirrors, game and taste for beauty; beauty as a wonderful device, as Canova's erotism... Little details which give gentle dynamism to a dramaturgy otherwise rigid like a statue. The same (dynamic vs static) for the inspired conduction by Filippo Maria Bressan.
(Enrico Girardi - CORRIERE DELLA SERA)
C.W.Gluck - Paride ed Elena : A very elegant staging, marked by a precise expressive style, musically driven by Filippo Maria Bressan, always very careful to the softness of the sound and to the interpretative measure of the voices.
(Alessandro Mastropietro - IL GIORNALE DELLA MUSICA)
C.W.Gluck - Paride ed Elena : Very successful the most specifically musical part: Filippo Maria Bressan conducts with an olympic sense of proportions, by a reading that exalts the geometric perfection of this extraordinary score.
(Edoardo Saccenti - OPERACLICK)
Paride ed Elena would not be Gluck's most popular score, but it has a magnificent musicality. (…) Excellent and polished Filippo Maria Bressan's conduction together with the Orchestra, definitely in style.
- Paride ed Elenano será la partitura más conocida de Gluck, pero musicalmente es magnífica. (...) Excelente y ajustada fue la actuación de Filippo Maria Bressan al frente de la orquesta del Teatro, muy en estilo. -
(Jorge Binaghi - L'OPERA)
W.A.Mozart – Don Giovanni : The strict conduction of Filippo Maria Bressan showed how the tragical climax can be reached without speaking too loudly, just by working on the variety of the rhythm and by making the orchestra and the chorus an inseparable whole, not only a simple sum of components. A sold out theatre underlined the most significant moments with intense applauses and several calls at the end.
(L'ARENA - Giornale di Verona)
G.Rossini - Semiramide : In the Semiramide on stage last saturday, there was much more: a conduction (Filippo Maria Bressan) and a direction (Stefano Vizioli) moving in harmony and offering ideas that focus the central themes of the opera, much better than other recent readings. ...Bressan, sophisticated conductor, has a technical confidence and a true depth that manage to marshall the orchestra; in his conduction there is the right relationship with the stage, the capability of seconding the voices, and the balance of the timing, in order to draw the great musical architectures, the dramatic tension of both the colors and the phrasing, the proper definition of any atmosphere; Rossini's anxieties, to sum up, always stay inside of a classical idea, without losing their thickness.
(Arrigo Quattrocchi - IL MANIFESTO)
G.Rossini - Semiramide : ...Most of all the conductor Bressan, the two protagonists, the setting and the lights. In this production nothing is lost of the superb prominence of the opera, especially for the alight and pressing conduction by Filippo Maria Bressan, particularly attentive in showing Verdi's glittering premonitions.
(Gregorio Moppi - LA REPUBBLICA)
G.Rossini - Semiramide : Since the popular symphony, Filippo Maria Bressan's polished and tight conduction […] increased the value of the diagrams of bel canto with admirable balance between rush and abstraction and imprinted every deep ignitions with the cut and with the dramatic rhythm that represent the innovation of this opera.
(Elisabetta Torselli - L'UNITA')
G.Rossini - Semiramide : Success for this Rossini's opera; Semiramide seduces the Teatro Sociale; a hymn to bel canto. ...There is so much music, articulated in forty figures, opportunely purposed almost in their whole by the concertmaster Filippo Maria Bressan, by a wise and penetrating choice, adherent to the mood of the plastic neoclassic lines, but at the same time capable to insinuate the doubt towards a future less careful to the measure.
(Sergio Garbato - IL RESTO DEL CARLINO)
G.Rossini - Semiramide : Doubtless, Maestro Bressan gives a remarkable sign to this realization... He makes us listen to a new sound since the symphony... and the orchestra properly follows the typically Rossini's times chosen by the conductor... Bressan treated the colors and the volumes in order to exalt the score without overhanging the singing.
(Piero Torrigiani - IL TIRRENO)
G.Rossini - Semiramide : ...A beautiful performance, stylistically balanced, thus full of harmony among the various components: Filippo Maria Bressan's conduction, philologically clean and fluent, in mild osmosis with the stage...
(Franzina Ancona - RINASCITA)
Galuppi: Concerto in D major - Messa per San Marco : The setting is colourful, with an orchestra of strings, full wind, horns and trumpets, and a mischievously inventive organ continuo. Soloists, drawn from the Athestis Chorus, are testimony to its wealth of vocal talent. They are chamber-scaled voices, singing with unselfconcious ease - and Ive never heard better-focused intonation from singers and period instruments than this.
(BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE)
Galuppi: Concerto in D major - Messa per San Marco : I enjoyed this disc very much. The two concerti a quattro by Galuppi are excellent pieces, and very well performed. The mass (Kyrie by Bertoni - First Organist at San Marco in Galuppis day - with Gloria and Credo by Il Buranello) is no less impressive with delightful arias and duets alternating with finely constructed choruses.
(EARLY MUSIC REVIEW)
Galuppi: Concerto in D major - Messa per San Marco : This is the fourth and finest recording that the Athestis Chorus and Academia de li Musici have made in their ongoing series for Chandos, exploring previously unrecorded gems of the late Italian Baroque. Here Filippo Maria Bressan directs them in choral and instrumental works by Baldassarre Galuppi (1706-85), a flamboyant and multi-talented Venetian composer whose music richly deserves revival…
(INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW)
Galuppi: Concerto in D major - Messa per San Marco : The Mass for SanMarco 1766, with its colourful harmonies and beguiling melodies, receives its premiere recording on this persuasive disc.
(CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE)
B. Marcello, Arianna : Of this serenade Bressan sharply reads the elegant classic proportion and the learned, allegorical sophistication... by valorizing the refined turning of the musical phrases, their flexuous flowing into a superior world.
(Massimo Rolando Zegna - AMADEUS)
B. Marcello, Arianna : The quality of this performance is high, with a fine Italian period-instrument orchestra, the Academia de li Musici, under the attentive direction of Filippo Maria Bressan… Excellent sound, and comprehensive information on the work and its context in the booklet.
(OPERA NOW)
B. Marcello, Arianna : The performance under Bressan is impressive…
(THE SUNDAY TIMES)
B. Marcello, Arianna : Filippo Maria Bressan directs his fine period forces with flair.
(BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE)
B. Marcello, Arianna : Facing the score of Arianna, Bressan succeeds in authentic prodigies, by putting under the right light every nuance, by properly emphasizing every single affection so that he manages to get the best effect from every detail.
(Martin Anderson – ORFEO)
B. Marcello, Arianna : Far from wearily retracing the different stages of the known myth, Bressan's conduction reveals as brilliant and lively.
(IL GIORNALE DELLA MUSICA)
The orchestra is precise and produces a full and intense sound even when fast rhythms and virtuous passages are required.
(Marco Marcarini - MUSICA)
The vocal cast and the orchestra do not disappoint expectations; all the protagonists are deserving.
(Carlo Fiore – THE VOICE)
B. Marcello, Requiem : The performance is admirably, Bressan extracting from his forces strong, assured and thoroughly idiomatic playing and singing.
(Brian Robbins - GOLDBERG)
B. Marcello, Requiem : The performance, using period instruments, is serious, dedicated and somehow very touching, entirely worthy of the work.
(HC Robbins Landon - BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE)
B. Marcello, Requiem : Filippo Maria Bressans all-Italian forces give a vivid performance… Recommended to any baroque enthusiast who fancies venturing off the beaten track.
(THE DAILY TELEGRAPH)
B. Marcello, Requiem : A pleasant plastic of the choir, expressive majesty of a contrapuntal reading of huge breath.
- Une plastique agréable du choeur, de la majesté dans l’expression de la lecture contrapuntique et un souffle indéniable.
(Roger-Claude Travers - DIAPASON)
B. Marcello, Requiem : Such music can glitter; here the sound is velvety, which is much more appropriate.
(Martin Anderson - FANFARE)
Maestro Bressan, who conducted the score, perfectly cleared the components, imprinting that aristocratic elegance, that loving care which characterizes his intense and extremely civilized art.
(Lorenzo Arruga – IL GIORNO)
The choir Athestis with the instrumental ensemble Academia de li Musici, conducted by an Italian maestro to remember, Filippo Maria Bressan. These musicians are nowadays perfectly comparable to their British, Dutch or French colleagues. Their millimetric respect for the text stands for an intimate comprehension of the expressive figures in this music (Bach).
- Le choeur Athestis, associé à l’ensemble instrumental Academia de li Musici, dirigé par un musicien italian dont il faudre se souvenir, Filippo Maria Bressan. Les musiciens ultramontains sont aujourd’hui parfaitement comparables aux rapresentants britanniques, néerlandais ou français. Son respect du texte au millimètre montre une comprénsion intime des figures expressives de cette musique (Bach). -
(Renaud Machart - LE MONDE)
BUENOS AIRES
Athestis Choir and Academia de li Musici have got a sort of common soul, they changed through their conductor Filippo Maria Bressan into a delicate mechanism in which the choir engages its voices as if it was an instrument of ethereal ductility […] So the masterly work of conduction by Bressan, whose gestures are enviably precise in voices and instruments entrance, in the dynamic extremely attentive to avoid excesses -so common in this kind of opera; in the subtle elaboration of the color; in the creation of levels and sound contrasts that offer a discursive flexibility far from any schematic rigidity, Succeeding in slipping under the skin of the past centuries to find out the emotional richness of Italian Baroque.
- El coral Athestis y la Academia de li Musici poseen una suerte de alma común, se transforman por obra de su director Filippo Maria Bressan en un delicado mecanismo en el cual el coro engarza sus voces como si fuera un instrumento más de etérea ductilidad. [...] . Así, el magistral trabajo de dirección ejercido por Bressan, cuyos gestos son de envidiable precisión en la entrada de las voces o los instrumentos, en la dinámica sumamente cuidada que observa para evitar los excesos –tan comunes en este tipo de obras–; en la sutil elaboración del color; en la creación de planos y contrastes sonoros que dan una flexibilidad discursiva alejada de toda rigidez esquemática, pudiendo así introducirse bajo la piel de los siglos pretéritos para descubrir la riqueza emocional del barroco italiano. -
(Hector Coda – LA NACION, Buenos Aires)
The Mass has been the prove that it is possible to move even with detached phrasing, without the vibration of the stringed, with a lower diapason (thus less hedonistic): especially thanks to the breath offered by Bressan, who caught the differences of the single moments, though linking everything in unity.
(Giorgio Satragni - LA STAMPA)
And above all, the noble breath of the conductor Bressan, very careful to emphasize the sense of the devoted homage that this Mass communicate between contemplation and jubilant openings. A solemn step that the large audience has long applauded. (Bach – Messe in h moll)
(Andrea Zaniboni - GAZZETTA DI MANTOVA)
Bressan made “Johannes Passion” palpitate with a sincere lyrical whisper and with a vivid dramatic poise […] Athestis' performance persuaded and sometimes moved for its perfect intonation and for its participation to the dramatic frescoes of the sublime representation, in terms of intelligence and sensitiveness.
(Enrico Cavallotti - IL TEMPO)
Great Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor of beautiful gesture and exquisite musicality, devoted to an italian reading of Bach, that is rich in colors and in sweet lightness.
(Roberto Verti - IL RESTO DEL CARLINO)
Filippo Maria Bressan returned with effectiveness and severity the quality of the musical classicism of the German author, by trusting a choir always able to express the archaism of the score with limpid intonation.
(David Toschi – LA NAZIONE)
Bressan built up versions that are soft and lively at the same time, without violent sculptures, providing an Italian breath to the German well known formal strictness, with a studied rhetoric of expression: he managed to give proper meanings to the symbols of the score, to the theological and spiritual contents of the biblical texts and of the choirs […] A unique proposal, not easy for a “normal” listener, but philologically high, read with commendable concentration by Athestis, who granted two long bis.
(Dorino Perdetti, L’ARENA)