Reviews

The orchestra from the first swish of Arthur Fagen’s baton was exquisite. The strings hummed with the sweet sadness layered in Verdi’s score. Listening to the Act 1 prelude carried the audience to Violetta’s party in scene 1. The orchestra played as one instrument while accompanying the vocalists on stage. Kitty Drexel, netheatregeek.com, October 16, 2014The first Act Prelude was gorgeous, replete with ethereal strings and delicately calibrated...

The Chautauqua Opera Orchestra never sounded better, in my experience, than they did under the baton of conductor Arthur Fagen. The intensity of the orchestra was wedded to the swell and fall of the singing on the stage, and it helped very much to create that crucial feeling of being engulfed by the emotions of the opera. Robert W. Plyler, Post-Journal, July 2014

La orquesta fue magnifica desde que Arthur Fagen levanto su batuta hasta que el ultimo trazo de sonido se esfumo en el aire.www.proopera.org.mx, Jorge Luis Flores Hernandez, June 2014 Il maestro Arthur Fagen ha diretto con esperienza comunicando emozione e intensità all’Orchestra del Teatro del Bicentenario, che ha risposto ottenendo ottimi risultati. www.apemusicale.com, Ramon Jacques, May 24, 2014 La Orquesta del Teatro del Bicentenario fue...

Atlanta Opera’s spring production of Faust at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre began in a promising way (seen March 11). It is difficult to overstate the remarkable improvement in the opera orchestra’s playing since Maestro Arthur Fagan joined ranks with the Atlanta Opera as music director. Even a season ago, this would have been a difficult opera for this company and this orchestra: the orchestral writing is highly exposed with solo...

Conductors skills and background the right mix [....] on Wednesday evening a beautifully prepared concert in Auer Hall by the Chamber Orchestra: Rossini's Overture to La scala di seta, Ottorino Respighi's Gli Uccelli and Mozart's Symphony n. 40.Meticulous and warm held true in Wednesdays readings. One discerned wit and effervescence, too, as the orchestra skippedand pranced through the melodies and forged the crescendos in the curtain raiser...

"Maestro Arthur Fagen's interpretation of the score was eloquent and skillful. Few understand the complexities of unifying under a baton the multiple elements that come to life in a work of this kind. Fewer are able to harness them together to deliver a coherent performance that doesn't under or overwhelm and doesn't drown singers with its intensity....Maestro Fagen delivered a wonderful mixture of colors that adequately complimented vocal...

…. the current production of this Mozart masterpiece also scores. From what one hears and sees, conductor Arthur Fagen and stage director Christopher Alexander have truly done their job. Fagen has coached and coaxed both the pit musicians and the two alternating casts of singers; all are true to Mozarts style. The orchestra played withspirit and elan, courtesy of Maestro Fagen, a gentleman who understands the responsibilities of a pit ensemble...

Last weekend's production of American minimalist composer Philip Glass's Akhnaten was a huge undertaking, and proved a huge achievement for everyone involved.The IU Concert Orchestra played with skill and concentration; conductor Arthur Fagen did an excellent job of leading them through tough orchestral waters. Chantal Incandela, www.nuvo.net, March 2013Conductor Arthur Fagan looked like a Glass specialist, the score of Akhnated never...

[....] the Atlanta Opera opened its 2012-2013 season with Bizet’s Carmen to an enthusiastic reception on Saturday, November 10. The evening was led by Carl and Sally Gable Music Director Arthur Fagen, whose polished baton emphasized the vitality and sparkling qualities of this familiar score. A clever leader, he understood the proclivities of his singers, and allowed them to luxuriate their lines when inspired without ever becoming a...

La orquesta, al mando de Arthur Fagen se desempeñó en forma acertada, pudiédose apreciar la belleza de la música de Mozart en su totalidad. Pro Opera, Ximena Sepulveda, July 2012