EvanRogister

Press

• At WNO’s electric ‘Elektra,’ the night is short and full of terrors

  Washington National Opera

  Sep 2022 - Oct 2022

  • It’s for this reason that the other big star of the show was the Washington National Opera Orchestra under conductor Evan Rogister, who led a performance that managed to sound appropriately untethered and deceptively exacting. I tend to groan about the volume in this hall, but even at this reduced orchestration of “Elektra” (85 musicians as opposed to the 113 called for by Strauss), the sound was vibrant and rich. Rogister’s steering of the music’s violent weather had me loosening my tie, and his finely attuned management of its mess of motivic gestures and granular details was superb.

    • The Washington Post
    • 30 October 2022

• "Ragnarök" by Richard Wagner

  Gothenburg Opera

  Nov 2021 - Dec 2021

  • The Gothenburg Opera had put together a cast without flaws, with an impressive number of singers drawn from their own ensemble. The orchestra also played at a consistently high level and rightly received enthusiastic applause between acts. Evan Rogister's sense of structure and tempo is excellent, driving the music without over-rushing it and skilfully varying dynamics. Orchestral solo pieces such as Siegfried's funeral march were able to carry people away, but the singers were also supported sensitively. The orchestra brought out the colours and subtleties of the score very effectively, avoiding the trap of too dense texture that poses a risk in Wagnerian performances.

    • Auffuhrungen
    • 05 December 2021

• The final instalment of Stephen Langridge’s Ring Cycle new production

  Gothenburg Opera

  Dec 2021 - Dec 2021

  • Pacing a company of entirely Swedish singers, save for Brenna, most of whom would not consider themselves Wagnerians, Evan Rogister demonstrated tautness, intimacy, ear for pre-Wagnerian orchestral color and focus on text that has given his first Ring cycle genuine musical distinction. Rogister’s Götterdämmerung adds a new ferocity, an occasional hard edge and a blossoming freedom to the more mercurial style he brought to the earlier operas. Rogister, Langridge and the Gothenburgers have given us a Ring with musical and dramatic impact that is absolutely of its time, and entirely of its place. That is no small accomplishment.

    • Opera News
    • 12 May 2021

• "Siegfried" livestreamed

  Gothenburg Opera

  Mar 2021 - Mar 2021

  • ★★★★★ Musically, it is gold of the highest carat. Under conductor Evan Rogister the orchestra excels in richness of sound from fear to ecstasy through the orchestra's weave of leitmotifs that reveal connections, reactions and thoughts. The music's flowing natural romance with the forest's rustling and birds chirping is contrasted scenically by a landfill with consumed gadgets. The ensemble is brilliant. It shines with vocally good sound and crackles of expressive phrases. The performance can withstand both close-ups and pandemic distances.

    • Svenska Dagbladet
    • 28 March 2021

  • ★★★★★ Once more, conductor Evan Rogister inspires the orchestra to play at its very best, his ability to understand the musico-narrative arc of each act creating a compelling experience. The whole production is a triumph in a time of adversity: Superb!

    • Opera Now
    • 30 March 2021

  • ★★★★★ As in "Die Walküre", Rogister’s conducting of the orchestra was in balance with the singers and brought out some lovely colours, in particular in the beginnings of Acts I and II where the orchestra encapsulated the atmosphere of darkness and evil.

    • Seen and Heard International
    • 27 March 2021

  • ★★★★ Conductor Evan Rogister guided a slightly reduced and carefully-spaced orchestra to colorful effect, together with a solid vocal cast whose fresh and vital performances surely satisfied hungry audiences far and wide.

    • Bachtrak
    • 31 March 2021

• "Die Walküre" - it's a triumph!

  Gothenburg Opera

  Oct 2019 - Dec 2019

  • Evan Rogister and the Gothenburg Opera Orchestra triumph! The playing wonderfully encompasses intimate detail work, verve and splendorous sound, while still finely balancing the voices.

    • Aftonbladet
    • 01 December 2019

  • Deserved cheers for Evan Rogister whose conducting of Gothenburg Opera's Ring gets even better with "Die Walküre". Bold enough to play with the music's inbuilt drama and even bolder in constantly reacting to its words. Chamber music with shades of Schubert, Debussy etc.

    • Opera News
    • 02 December 2019

  • The real magician is therefore not Wotan but rather Evan Rogister and the Gothenburg Opera Orchestra. In their responsive reading, the downfall comes creeping like a monster in the fog - centimeter by centimeter, degree by degree. At the same time; it’s their dedicated seriousness which makes rainbows of blinding hope flourish in Wagner’s incomparable music.

    • Svenska Dagbladet
    • 02 December 2019

  • Evan Rogister accentuates finely-tuned shades as he leads Gothenburg Opera's orchestra through Die Walküre's complex and extensive score. He does it phenomenally well and makes the orchestra play with an unusual luster.

    • Goteborgs-Posten
    • 03 December 2019