“[Conlon] found Still’s groove and exulted in everything flowery about Zemlinsky. He is a conductor who so believes in “The Dwarf” that he defies you not to love it — even if you are, like me, melodramatic-adverse. Anyone who can bring that much conviction and, yes, rapture to the score requires you to think twice, which is exactly why we recover voices.” – Los Angeles Times

“Conlon’s conducting sounded even more deeply committed to exploiting the plush, complex, post-Romantic Zemlinsky sound, making the lavish Spanish-tinged orchestrations surge, sweep, sparkle, and move with greater degrees of depth and color.” – San Francisco Classical Voice

The LA Opera Orchestra positively outdid themselves in the most virtuosic playing I think I’ve yet to hear from them. The strings, the horns, and most especially the glittering percussion set the ear aflame under Maestro Conlon’s watchful eye and intense leadership. – Parterre

From eliciting intricate, tearful performances to pulling all of the visual and aural elements together, Serbian director Darko Tresnjak does admirable, yeoman’s work, as James Conlon’s baton works its magic, expertly guiding LA Opera Orchestra. – Hollywood Progressive

“The LAO Orchestra under Conlon conveyed both the Romanticism of the [Highway 1, USA] score, with its Puccini-esque lyricism, and the gospel rhythms of the chorus’s major section… The beauty and sophistication of this one-act opera [The Dwarf] is unmistakable. Conlon’s conducting of the lush score was deep and moving and, at the conclusion, the Dwarf’s death was as heart-rending as any in grand opera.” – Seen and Heard International