AndreasOttensamer

Press

• Mozart Requiem and "Jupiter" Symphony

  Stadttheater Wiener Nuestadt

  Dec 2025

  • With Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, known as the "Jupiter" Symphony, he provides a refreshing opening. The first chords are bold. He emphasizes transparent elegance and brings out the musicality. Ottensamer concentrates on the essentials: a gentle forward momentum, lyrical passages; he lets the music breathe. Here we have a conductor who shapes the score from within, illuminating it with radiant light. Rarely is it heard how he leads the "Requiem" into such unsettling darkness. As an encore, Ottensamer transforms an a cappella version of the "Requiem" with the choir into a revelation. Ovation.

    • Kurier
    • 06 December 2025

• Andreas Ottensamer & The Schumann Quartet

  Klosters Festival

  Jul 2025

  • Ottensamer, playing quite beautifully, exerted some solo freedom in decorating his part, an arabesque here, a trill or grace note there, but always subtle and musical.

    • Bachtrack
    • 29 July 2025

• Humperdinck: Hansel & Gretel

  Festival Academy Budapest

  Jul 2025

  • Ottensamer is not primarily a clarinettist or conductor, but above all a significant musician who examined Humperdinck’s score as a storehouse of considerable musical values – and achieved great results. Ottensamer proved to be a technically accomplished opera conductor. The entire first act is full of allusions to [Wagner's] The Mastersingers ... and Ottensamer’s conducting showed [this] characteristically, while refraining from making Humperdinck’s music seem larger in scale than necessary following the overwhelmingly grand model.

    • Jelenkor

• Mozartwoche Salzburg

  Mozarteum Salzburg

  Feb 2025

  • [Mozart‘s] cheerful Symphony in A Major (KV 201) was interpreted with a refreshingly delicate lightness. Ottensamer conducted without a baton, communicating dynamics, tempo, and expression with precise body language and constant eye contact...The musicians of the Mozarteum Orchestra clearly enjoyed his direction. Smiling and with visible delight in their playing, they transformed his eloquent gestures into graceful music. The audience in the fully-occupied Great Hall of the Mozarteum was enraptured by this relaxed and concentrated interaction. After just a few bars - and throughout the entire concert - you could feel the synergy between an orchestra in top form and a well-prepared conductor. The music-making seemed like a lively conversation between confidants. The audience, listening in fascination, followed this spellbound and applauded frenetically after each piece. Under the direction of Andreas Ottensamer, the gracefully precise and beautifully resonant Mozarteum Orchestra demonstrated world-class excellence. The thunderous applause culminated in a more than well-deserved standing ovation.

    • Passauer Neue Presse
    • 04 February 2025

• Shostakovich: Symphony No.5

  Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra

  Dec 2024

  • Andreas Ottensamer conducted the symphony with finesse...and a great sense for balance between the different instruments of the orchestra. This concert was not only a joy to listen to - it turned out to be an unforgettable experience. The conductor, soloist and orchestra members were in perfect harmony.

    • Cumhuriyet
    • 15 December 2024

• Mozart: Requiem

  Stadttheater Wiener Neustadt

  Dec 2024

  • a Requiem that was as transparent as it was luminous - and a conductor who was as energetic as he was stormy. With energetic gestures ... plenty of verve in his hands and at times almost a bit of jazz in his legs, [Ottensamer] conducted a brisk Kyrie, an even brisker, no: a frenzied “Dies Irae”, in which anger almost flew around your ears, a wonderful “Tuba mirum”, a tender “Recordare”, a gripping “Confutatis”, an almost eerie “Lacrimosa” - and a luminous “Lux aeterna”.

    • Niederösterreichische Nachrichten
    • 06 December 2024

• Orchestre Metropolitain: Brahms, Holmès & Schumann

  La Maison Symphonique

  Oct 2023

  • Ottensamer’s conducting captured the essence of springtime with gusto mixed with grace, leading the orchestra through a symphonic journey that was nothing short of breathtaking.

    • Mountain Lake
    • 16 October 2023

  • The degree of give and take between Genisson, Ottensamer and the OM strings (particularly leader Yukari Cousineau) was consistently meritorious. Throughout, Ottensamer impressively sculpted an array of interpretive arcs.

    • Bachtrack

• Blue Hour

  Deutsce Grammonphon

  Mar 2019

  • Andreas Ottensamer ... brings such a velvety tone on all registers, his first entrance after the short orchestra introduction sounds almost seductive. Ottensamer makes perfect sense of the compact, classically built first movement (adding small cadenzas to allow the orchestra entrances sound more effective). The slow movement is the highlight of this performance, with the orchestra accompaniment lovingly supportive and allowing the soloist to play with the utmost sensitivity.

    • The Classic Review