Following her great success conducting Markus Bothe’s new Fidelio last season, Julia Jones returned to the Volksoper Vienna this spring not only for the production’s revival, but also to take on the musical directorship of Bruno Klimek’s new production Così fan tutte.
Just like last year, when reviewers named the production musically “an outright success” (Daniel Ender, Der Standard) and commended the “spirited and gripping conductor” (Johan Jahnas, Der Neue Merker) for her “crystal clear interpretation” (Harald Steiner, Kleine Zeitung), the musical quality of this year’s performances did not go unnoticed by the critics:
“Just as successful as the staging is the musical side of things. Julia Jones, a renowned Mozart specialist, presents Mozart of the highest quality. Perfect tempi, colourful arches of sound. It is easy to tell she has many years of experience with this composer.”
Sebastian Kranner, Der Neue Merker
“A lively characterisation of everything, however, was undertaken by the conductor. Julia Jones always accompanied her singers thoughtfully and brought out feature points – courageous, but always spot-on.”
Bachtrack
“Musically, the orchestra of the Volksoper can easily compete with the other orchestras in town. Conductor Julia Jones had it articulate vividly and transparently; she cleverly worked around the acoustic problems of the house by throwing prominent moments into sharp relief whilst flexibly and thoughtfully supporting the singers. ... everything coming from the pit sounded both solid and also inspired.”
Daniel Eder, Der Standard
”...brisk and fiery playing coming from the orchestra directed by Julia Jones.”
Michael Wruss, Nachrichten.at
“Brisk charm. Musically, things at the Volksoper are approached briskly and with dynamic verve, thanks to Julia Jones.”
Wilhelm Sincovicz, Die Presse
“Even during the arias, the strong understandability of the text of Kurt Honolka’s relatively modern translation was a focus point. This approach was carried by conductor Julia Jones, who put herself and the Volksoper orchestra fully at the service of the drama.”
Mhh, Wiener Zeitung
As Julia’s performances of Fidelio and Così fan tutte in Vienna have drawn to a close, the much in demand conductor has already joined Semperoper Dresden, where she is currently conducting Die Zauberflöte. Later this summer she will travel on to Theater Freiburg for Orlando, then to Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen for Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and to Den Norske Opera for Der fliegende Holländer.
