Israel Gursky
Conductor
Press Reviews
Hänsel und Gretel
"PORTopera's new production of "Hansel and Gretel," which opened Thursday at Merrill Auditorium, has everything -- wonderful sets and costumes, excellent singing in all the roles, and some of the best orchestral music I've heard from the pit in years. Under conductor Israel Gursky, it even has echoes of Wagner." (Click here to read full review.)
-Christopher Hyde, The Portland Press Herald, 7/31/2010
"Humperdinck's score was in the capable hands of Israel Gursky who got things off to a glorious beginning with a gleaming reading of the overture that had Wagnerian breadth and allowed the music to soar and, well, do it's job. Throughout the evening Gursky struck an ideal balance never allowing the orchestra to cover the singers at any point, yet permitting the house to swell with sound at every climax. The band has rarely sounded better than they have here."
-Paul Padillo, Sharkonarts.com, 8/2/2010
Roméo et Juliette
"This year marked the company debut of Israel Gursky, a gifted young conductor whose quiet command drew lush, beautiful sounds from the pit. Tempos were brisk, and lines were shaped exquisitely: the climatic crowd scene, in which Mercutio and Tybalt are slain, was beautifully crafted by Gursky and Vaughn, with rousing well-executed swordplay choreographed by Mark Bedell."
-Judith Malafronte, Opera News, October 2008
"Vaughn's artistic direction, however, coupled with the superb conducting of Israel Gursky, reveals a thoroughly modern masterpiece... Gursky's orchestra, composed mainly of Portland Symphony musicians, was indistinguishable from that of the Metropolitan Opera and often better, for example in the moving cello and violin duos."
-Christopher Hyde, Portland Press Herald, July 26, 2008
Don Giovanni
"What a superb house debut for conductor Israel Gursky. As the company's assistant conductor, he knows this orchestra, which put a full palette of color and texture at his disposal."
-Daniel Ginsberg, The Washington Post, November 10, 2007
"One sits for three hours as if facing a headwind that blows with passionate velocity from stage and orchestra pit, where WNO assistant conductor Israel Gursky made his main-stage debut as a man closely attuned to Pascoe's concept of the work."
-Wes Blomster, Opera Today, November 19, 2007