PRESS
Bachtrack
“Like a magician, Mengoli constructed the stage scenes of Igor Stravinsky's 1945 ballet suite The Firebird, shaping them with gestures, hand movements, and even a dance-like body language. (...) The beginning from nothingness, the subdued, muffled passages, the fading of the Berceuse: the spectacular orchestration was beautifully brought to life, making Stravinsky's bird sparkle, flicker, and soar with power. Between lullaby and infernal dance, there was pure, finely nuanced chamber music to be experienced, as the magnificent orchestra intensified into precise, dazzling orgiastic energy, without losing sharpness, even in moments of sumptuous sound. The finale, with its storming percussiveness and apotheotic vehemence, was hardly surpassable. Yet, there was no overt display of ego from Giuseppe Mengoli, who managed to shape even the barbarically forceful final scene with hypnotic pulsation.”
Volksblatt
“The Bruckner Orchestra followed the clear and very lively conducting of Giuseppe Mengoli, transforming the initially calm, almost lamenting music into dynamically comforting elements (…)
Then, as a crowning conclusion, with a large orchestral ensemble and convincingly led by the conductor, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony was performed, bringing the Bruckner Orchestra to a high point.
A masterful performance.”
ResMusica
“Such a last-minute replacement is understandably cause for concern, and it is rare for the substitute to do more than simply hold things together. And yet, Mengoli, at the helm of the orchestra, delivers a truly remarkable concert. While it does not erase the shadow of the absent maestro, it brings forth a genuinely personal voice that captivates the audience. (...) But even more than these stimulating and truly original interpretative directions, it is the mastery with which, despite likely shortened rehearsals, the young conductor manages to embody them in the sound of the orchestra, without the slightest hesitation, and with a sound palette that seems to be the result of extensive work rather than an emergency situation.”
World Federation of International Music Competitions
“The Gustav Mahler Intl. Conducting Competition in Bamberg recently announced its 2023 winner: Giuseppe Mengoli will receive First Prize.
Prizes were awarded at the competition final which took place in Bamberg yesterday and marked the culmination of a week of competition rounds.”
Vol.at
“There are numerous examples in the concert world where conductors who jump in for famous musicians, achieve themselves fame. Mengoli could become one of them, as he approached Haydn's late "Oxford Symphony" No. 92 with a touch of initial impetuosity, yet with great sensitivity, capturing its weightlessness and transparency. His interpretation was so nuanced in the pianissimo that, during the enchanting Adagio—one of Haydn's most beautiful slow movements—you could even hear the heavy rain pounding on the roof of the festival hall. This performance had all the hallmarks of classical excellence.”
Quinte Parallele
“(…) We have all adapted to creating art in a short amount of time and are capable of doing so. However, cultivating deep artistic collaborations in a fast-paced and easily distracting world would allow us to create a countercurrent wave, standing against the increasingly prevalent musical consumerism.”
Classicamente
“Mengoli restored Mahler's Sixth Symphony's relentless architecture and inner fever with analytical clarity, firmness of gesture, and a rare control of orchestral layers, building climaxes, shaping the crescendos with the outmost intelligence, compressed and released through a rigorous dramatic economy, while keeping formal clarity, inner rhythmic control, mastery of dynamic balance, meticulous attention to detail, and ability to sustain the vast breath of Mahler's architecture outline. Mengoli truly is one of the finest young Italian conductors of recent years.”
GBOPERA
“Truly masterful was the interpretation of Giuseppe Mengoli with his extroverted conducting gesture he led the Orchestra through this sea of music.”
Forum Opéra
“We assume that the spectators will mainly remember from this memorable evening a high-flying line-up, dominated by an exceptional Amina, with an orchestra totally devoted to the voices. Let us therefore begin with the latter. Giuseppe Mengoli, whom we are discovering, developed his career in the Germanic countries. He is recognized for the excellence of his Strauss and Mahler. This shows how much we were apprehensive about his conducting in a repertoire that is completely opposed to these references. Our prejudices quickly vanish. Under his beat, the orchestra is carried by a continuous breath, animated by a powerful sense of drama, dynamic and contrasting. The constant attention of the conductor to the singing, always valued, the flexibility of the narration, the models that he obtains from rounded strings and fruity winds reflect not only his professionalism but also his Bellinian affinities.”
L’Ape Musicale
“The Giuseppe Mengoli displays remarkable skills as a conductor in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, composed between 1899 and 1900. The reading offered by the young maestro, highly expressive on the podium and conducting without a baton, is characterized by an almost analytical deconstruction of the work’s sonic layers, resulting in a personal and convincing interpretation. Particularly in the first two movements, one can clearly perceive thorough analysis and meticulous study of each passage, bringing to light hidden subtleties within Mahler’s universe: at times the transfer of a melodic line from the solo woodwinds to the strings, achieving a true klangfarbenmelodie effect; at others the alternation between doubling and independence in the cello and double-bass parts; and again the pulsating harp strokes over the misty texture of muted violins and violas. Some overall lightness is consequently sacrificed, but the gain in structural clarity - with prophetic glimpses of music yet to come - is undeniable.
