Jari Hämäläinen
Conductor
Press Reviews
Le Nozze di Figaro, Opera Ireland
"The production was a lively one, not least because of the controlled energy that emenates from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra under Jari Hämäläinen. The playing is tight, the tempos very brisk, the balances between stage and pit exemplary. And Hämäläinen manages to bring the singers with him at his often daring speeds."
-Michael Dervan, The Irish Times, March 2008
Rigoletto, Macau International Music Festival
"The Macau Orchestra, having steadily improved in the past few years, responded much better to Jari Hämäläinen than to any of a number of Italian guest conductors over the years. This was opera that rang with idiomatic truth, where no detail was too small."
-Ken Smith, Opera Magazine, November 2007
Sibelius Anniversary Concert with the Mexico City Philharmonic
"El maestro Jari Hämäläinen ofreció una lectura entusiasta e intensa demostrando un profundo conocimiento de las piezas anteriores. El resultado ha sido excelente tanto por el dramatismo como por la ternura que sabe extraer de las páginas del concierto en perfecto equilibrio.
La obra es emotiva, solemne y equilibrada, con profundos y musicales pasajes. Nuevamente, Hämäläinen demostró afinidad por un repertorio que conoce y siente profundamente, y para el cual ha buscado y procurado el equilibrio sinfónico y la coherencia. Se mostró como un gran concertador, serio e inteligente, que quiso deleitar en todo momento, y que supo extraer el virtuosismo de una orquesta que lo siguió en todo momento en musicalidad y dinámica." (Click here to read full review)
-Alberto Rosas, Mundoclasico.com, November 2007
(The Maestro Jari Hämäläinen offered an enthusiastic and intense reading showing a deep knowledge of the previous pieces. The result has been excellent as much for the drama as for the tenderness that he knows to extract from the pages of the concerto in perfect equilibrium.
The work is emotional, solemn and stable, with profound and musical passages. Again, Hämäläinen showed affinity for a repertoire that he knows and feels deeply, and for which he has looked for and procured symphonic equilibrium and coherence. In a great conciliatory manner he presented himself, serious and intelligent, wanting to delight in every moment, and who knew to extract the virtuosity of an orchestra which continued in every moment in musicality and dynamics.)