The opera also has two prior acts of lush and luscious music that Humperdinck composed, music to which only a very capable orchestra can do full justice. In the IU Philharmonic, the production had that. And it had, in conductor Arthur Fagen, an authoritative leader with the intuitive feel for the scores romantic and dramatic essences, along with the capability to bring the best out of his musicians in the pit and those on stage. He managed to control, and hold to a minimum, the balance problems that can crop up when youthful voices encounter the operas orchestral line of sometimes Wagnerian dimensions.
Peter Jacobi, Heraldtimesonline.com, November 18, 2013