Jacques Cohen - Reviews

"Very well played and recorded, an excellent showcase for the Isis Ensemble and its music director." Edward Greenfield, Gramophone "Jacques Cohen was in his element here showing absolute control of his forces and paying especial attention to the expressive power of the music’s dynamic range... In the pre-concert talk Cohen made a case for the symphony [Tchaikovsky's 6th] being one of the most original in the romantic repertoire. In his beautifully nuanced yet blazingly dramatic reading of the score he proved his case...can someone ask Mr. Cohen back as a guest conductor as soon as possible!" John Florance, Leicester Concert Review "It was in Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony No 6 that Cohen came into his own.He drew great intensity from this superb orchestra, gaining a depth of melancholy, lusciousness and emotion...This performance from the Bardi was one of the most passionate and thrilling experiences I have had at an orchestral concert. What an achievement." Mercury Review "Cohen's approach to both works (Schubert's 8th and Bruckner's 9th Symphonies) was flowing but flexible, with urgency and passion...The enthusiasm and energy of Jacques Cohen and his players was evident throughout. The tension and anguish of the 1st movement development was well controlled...As the ascent was made towards the ultimate climax (of the 3rd movement)...some wonderful playing was heard...An absolutely glorious performance and a unique occasion." International Bruckner Society Journal "...the Isis Ensemble created a sumptuous sound, with conductor Jacques Cohen highly sensitive to the music's ebb and flow ...The ensuing Mozart Piano Concerto no.14 in E flat was given both a dramatic and humorous characterisation by David Owen Norris....But the undoubted highlight was a brilliantly performed premiere of Cohen's own impressive Yigdal ...Cohen has developed an individual voice, and the piece received and enthusiastic reception ."  The Strad 9.06                    “The tradition of great composers from Wagner to Boulez as great conductors is an epithet I would attach to Jacques' potential….As a composer myself I would also say that he is a conductor in whose hands I would be delighted to leave the performance of my works.” Edwin Roxburgh “…one of the most brilliant young conductors I have ever met.” Diego Masson “…Jacques Cohen is a gifted and enterprising young conductor…he has directed fine performances of works from the repertoire but he also has a particular talent for contemporary music…he also gave a beautifully controlled performance of my A Mind of Winter with his own Isis Ensemble….he has considerable talent.” George Benjamin “The players were equal to every nuance and accent proposed by their music director Jacques Cohen. Conducting the symphony [Shostakovich 10] by heart, he drew emotional power, dramatic conviction and remarkable rhythmic finesse.” Nottingham Evening Post ".... [The Verdi Requiem] certainly has all the hallmarks of a great opera... requiring the most demanding control from the conductor. Jacques Cohen undoubtedly possesses this ability, plus the sensitivity to ensure a performance to delight the most demanding of critics." Cantabile "Terrific! The opening and closing minutes of Yigdal are magical...these passages really stood out as something quite special. Pantheon was also very gripping - now there's gestures! I also liked the use of the forces, in this and in Yigdal, in fact." Anthony Gilbert, Composer and Former Head of Composition RNCM "...Absolutely bowled over by Yigdal...quite wonderful" Jewish Music Institute "I must say that I find it (Yigdal) a very strong piece - beautifully written for the strings, and combining the familiar theme in a rich harmonic texture that metamorphoses effortlessly between modal and chromatic idioms! The overall structure is finely paced - no easy matter to handle!" Malcolm Singer, Composer and Director of Music, Yehudi Menuhin School " Yigdal is the best piece for strings written in the last fifty years!" Rohan Kriwaczek, Composer "To hear and see a conductor who really LIVES the music with a fluent technique and a sense of architecture in the reading was a rare treat....The poignant progress of the ostinato (In Yigdal) set against the striving intensity of the developing counterpoint was powerful stuff. Every note counted and the structure was so engaged with the material..... held the audience spellbound. I was deeply affected." Edwin Roxburgh, Composer and Ralph Vaughan Williams Professor of Composition RCM “On the podium, conductor Jacques Cohen obtained tip-top co-ordination from an excellent ensemble.” Evening Post "Cohen's Elegy on a Floating Chord, a contemporary work, yet written for a traditional chamber orchestra takes us through a forest of fascinating colours and moods. Most composers are hopeless at conducting their own works, but not Cohen. He brought out the many subtle textures in the orchestra, with some superb playing from the horns...The choir, soloists and orchestra became one voice under Cohen's superb conducting. The continuity and unity of purpose were remarkable." Reading Chronicle “Jacques Cohen conducted two great unfinished symphonies in performances which sounded finished in every respect…In Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, mighty arches were powerfully wrought by a well-balanced orchestra….Simply stupendous!” Evening Post “With a new conductor, Jacques Cohen, there was an air of anticipation…but even taking in account the innovations, the audience was what can only be described as gob-smacked by the transformation that had taken place.” Bucks Herald “It showed the scrupulous preparation one associates with conductor Jacques Cohen…and the large orchestra roved from Chabrier to Debussy with great precision and flair.” Evening Post "...If there were any prizes for the most improved choir surely this one would win the top award. Under conductor Jacques Cohen, they gave a stunning performance." Cantabile “Jacques Cohen directed Elgar’s Sea Pictures with such sensitivity that the problem of how to balance a single soloist with a large orchestra was achieved with apparent ease.” Nottingham Evening Post “It is a tribute to Aylesbury Symphony Orchestra and to its conductor that soloists of this calibre are coming here to perform” Bucks Herald "...Jacques Cohen, the orchestra's young associate conductor, directed most of the music by heart. His readings are based on careful planning whilst giving an impression of spontaneity, with constantly pleasing results." Evening Post “Under Jacques Cohen the players made this an outstanding concert” Evening Post Reviews of discovery concerts “… one of Vaughan Williams most colourful scores (Job, a masque for dancing)…was made to seem even more so by the projection on to a large screen not only of the Blake watercolours that so inspired the composer but of other related images too. Here was a marriage of the arts surely made in Heaven.” Nottingham Evening Post “…The performance of Livre by Lutoslawski was well received and audience members were grateful of the added insight into the 1960’s piece. Mr Cohen pointed out influences such as cartoon films and steam engines and the wide emotional range of the work.” Evening Post “… Conductor Jacques Cohen’s customary introduction proved invaluable in following its (Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony’s) progression...as the elements from which the symphony was composed were passed from one to another…” Bucks Herald “…Jacques Cohen treated us to an entertaining talk on the final piece, Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, in which he asked the orchestra to illustrate just why a work that is so familiar to us, was thought of as mad, weird music by its first audiences.” Bucks Herald “…we were once again treated to an enlightening talk by conductor Jacques Cohen, who explained that Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 4 was full of musical phrases that would make us feel uneasy or manic…the impressive playing from the orchestra both in the gloomy earlier movements and the stirring finale brought the evening to a splendid conclusion.” Bucks Herald “…the music was imposing and sometimes sombre and was excellently played throughout. The only disappointment was that conductor Jacques Cohen didn’t give one of his explanatory talks - I do hope they will be revived in the next season….” Bucks Herald