Reviews
Bachtrack June 2022- Balanchine’s choreography of ‘A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream’ Paris Opera Ballet (Bastille)
Conduits par la baguette féminine (c’est encore si rare !) d’Andrea Quinn, l’orchestre et les chœurs de l’Opéra de Paris ont offert une version joliment énergique de la partition du Songe de Mendelssohn (partition rallongée d’ailleurs par d’autres morceaux du même compositeur).
Led by the female baton (it's still so rare!) of Andrea Quinn, the orchestra and the choirs of the Paris Opera offered a beautifully energetic version of the score of Mendelssohn's Dream (lengthened score by the way by other pieces by the same composer).
‘Art Scene in Wales. March 2019’- Concert with University of Cardiff Chamber Orchestra and University Symphony Chorus – Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Haydn’s ‘Nelson Mass’
‘ ‘Her (Andrea Quinn’s) energy is hard to resist and her passion lies in every note.’
‘KLASSIK MUSIK Opera and dance’ February 2018- Cranko’s ‘Onegin’ Tchaikovsky/Kurt-Heinz Stolze
‘The orchestra (of the Norwegian Opera House) under the excellent management of Andrea Quinn, gives Tchaikovsky all the honor. In the tuttis, the entire orchestra fills every phrase with force and volume. The orchestra builds and underlines the choreography and encourages the dancers to perform their very best…’
DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET February 2015- ‘Balanchine’s ‘Jewels’
‘The excellent level makes this production of ‘Jewels’ a showcase of the talents of the Company,accompanied by the orchestra of the ballet,under the baton of Andrea Quinn’
SKANES DANCE THEATRE, Malmo and Stockholm-Sweden November 2014, Expressen
An all-round experience. Not dance and music,not dance that attempts to relate to the music,but dance AS music….Skanes Dansteater’s ensemble perform to an on-stage orchestra under the lithe and distinct leadership of Andrea Quinn’
Sweden November 2014, Dagbladet
‘Kvarnstrom emerges as a symphonic choreographer,accompanied by Jonas Nordberg and the Malmo Opera Orchestra under the eminent leadership of Andrea Quinn…DOUBLEtake is one of this year’s greatest dance happenings.’Svenska
DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET- On Stage, February 2013
‘The Dutch National Ballet Orchestra, conducted by Andrea Quinn,gave a masterly performance of the music by Bizet, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, which definitely contributed to the beautiful evening.’
JÖNKÖPING SINFONIETTA- Jonkoping Posten April 2013
‘Quinn conducts with illustrious power and it seems as if every tone is anchored in her body. She immerses herself with the musical score in an exceptionally visual way….’
TOLEDO SYMPHONY- Toledo Blade, May 2012
The real gem of the evening was Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 4, a harmonically diverse and rhymically complex work that showed both maestra (Andrea Quinn) and orchestra at their artistic best.
WUPPERTAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA-Wuppertaler Kultur, Feb.2009
Quinn’s enthusiasm for the music is admirably and fully communicated to both audience and orchestra alike. It is hardly surprising that this gripping conductor – plainly no ordinary woman -put Joan Tower’s passionate Fanfare for an Uncommon Woman on the programme. Barber’s First Symphony was magnificent and provided a brilliant close to this original, perhaps even groundbreaking symphony concert.
NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA- Raleigh News & Observer, Jan 2011
Quinn wields her baton with exuberant confidence, precise in her cues and intense in her body language, vividly responding to each work’s rhythms and emotions. Even when leaping straight up from the podium to emphasize a climax, such gestures seem organic, rather than showy, exuding warmth and sincerity that communicate directly to the audience.
RECORDING OF SAINT-SAENS PIANO CONCERTOS 2 and 5Res.Musica.com, Jan. 2009 Brigitte Engerer/Ensemble Orchestral de Paris/Mirare
Tempo and excellence are also terms to describe the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris’s interpretation under the strict yet sensitive baton of Andrea Quinn, who brings out the subtle balancing between the various sections of her orchestra and the solo instrument. This was a highly artistic treatment of a major Saint-Saens work and a supreme moment of music and emotion. This is a version that can be ranked alongside the greatest recordings, such as Richter, to give but one example.
UMEA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Vasterbotten Courier
Dec. 2006
…a remarkable orchestral concert in which the orchestral playing was so well-balanced and inspirationally performed that it was a delight. Andrea Quinn here enjoyed a genuine triumph with an orchestra that has undergone such a positive development over recent years.
Nov. 2005
Andrea Quinn succeeded…in the excellent detail work and the ability to hold the performance together, but also in her remarkably sympathetic attitude to her role as leader of the orchestra and musical director…In the magnificent finale, Andrea Quinn worked up the music to a tremendous climax. There is no doubt that the audience is going to love our new musical director and chief conductor of the Norrlands Opera Symphony Orchestra.
Nov. 2004
Andrea Quinn is a phenomenon! Her baton technique is fascinating, in itself varied and elegant but also effective and distinctive. She infuses force and concentration into the slightest detail, allowing her both to direct the ensemble playing where she wants to and at the same time to motivate the musicians to do their utmost in terms of quality and lyrical musical idiom. What really defines her interpretation of Brahms is her meticulous sense of expansive dynamics, which makes the symphony a magnificent experience
ORCHESTRE DE BRETAGNE Ouest France, Nov. 2006
Finally the evening ended with Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony conducted from memory by Andrea Quinn, an astonishing woman whose leadership is touched by both a great femininity and also a real energy. In short, the sort of concert which one would like to see more often.
WINTERTHUR COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Neue Zurcher Zeitung, June 2006
Quinn conducted Igor Stravinsky’s neo-classical Concerto for Strings with great feeling for the varying rhythm patters and tonal textures, yet allowing herself the odd humorous touch. This merry playing contrasted strongly with the revolutionary seriousness of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. From the very beginning Quinn emphasised the way forward. She may have allowed the brass the bellow lustily, but still one could perceive the moving interwoven melodies.
NEW YORK CITY BALLET- New York Times November 2005
Andrea Quinn, the evening’s conductor, and the City Ballet orchestra, made the sumptuous Tchaikovsky score sing.
New York Times, June 2004
As different as they are, Apollo, Orpheus and Agon are neo-classical ballets, revealing the essential Balanchine. Andrea Quinn was a splendid conductor throughout the evening, especially bringing out the epigrammatic wit of Balanchine’s tensile choreography in Agon.
NEW MEXICO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA- Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 2005
Andrea Quinn hit the stage running with a thrillingly breakneck tempo to begin Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2. The rest of the work followed suit…none of the fine detail was lost, nor did she ask of the orchestra anything it could not produce. The result was a thoroughly refreshing take on a standard work.
GISELLE AT THE TEATRO SAN CARLO, NAPLES- Napolipui, Oct. 2004
The conducting of the orchestra, entrusted to the baton of Andrea Quinn, was also of high quality and importance, achieving to a large extent the reflection in style and temperament of the colours that characterise the score of Adolphe Adam. There was enthusiastic applause at the fall of the curtain.
THE ROYAL BALLET, CINDRELLA (Prokofiev)- The Spectator, January 1999
‘The third star of the evening though, was Andrea Quinn, whose superb conducting few ballet goers can even dream of’
THE ROYAL BALLET, ONDINE Hans Werner Henze- The Independent on Sunday, July 1999
…And under the baton of Andrea Quinn the Royal Opera House band sounded glorious’