“This first staging, at the Teatro dell’Opera, directed by Deborah Warner and conducted by James Conlon was sold out for all six performances and was received with great enthusiasm by an enthralled audience… Conlon’s conducting showed the orchestra on top form, maintaining an atmosphere of constant tension.” — Opera (UK)
“The Orchestra Dell’Opera di Roma, under the direction of James Conlon, produced a first-class performance, creating a sound world full of dark contrast; evoking, for example, the claustrophobia of the confined conditions onboard “The Indomitable” and the empty space of the “infinite sea.” It was a detailed performance that captured the subtleties of the score, yet never lost sight of the work’s overall structure. Moreover, Conlon never let the dramatic tension sag, wonderfully capturing just the right tempi and dynamic shadings.” — Opera Wire
“James Conlon is an excellent and sensitive director…” – ANSA
“James Conlon and his singers uncover Britten’s most carnal spirituality.” — Il Manifesto
“[It was a ] magistral reading by the conductor James Conlon, fresh from his appointment as Commendatore of the Italian Republic. He is a profound connoisseur of Britten’s expressive world; and the US conductor has carefully calibrated his interpretation. The result was a careful characterization of the singular balances of the refined score, which is articulated by a continuous exchange between consonance and dissonance, between oppressive shades and poetic glimpses. Conlon led the Opera orchestra in an impeccable performance of these complex junctions. On the one hand the conductor has highlighted, alternately in the strings or the trombones, the weight of the background sounds that appear harsh, gloomy, uniformly desolate, or recited with heavy chords, to make looming fog or the roar of the waves with livid sound. On the other hand, he gave light to the lively interventions of the instruments, which frequently intervene to compose a palette of changing color effects. ” — Wanderer
“Billy Budd is a musically and theatrically complex opera. Here it is masterfully conducted by James Conlon and staged with rare intelligence by Deborah Warner.” – Internazionale
