AKRON BEACON JOURNAL July 14, 2008
The conductor Giancarlo Guerrero has a way of hurrying onstage as if he can't wait to get started. Saturday night, for his first time leading the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center, his conducting was not only infectiously exuberant but insightful, too. Born in Nicaragua, raised in Costa Rica and educated at U.S. music schools, Guerrero has joined the orchestra on numerous occasions recently, both at Severance Hall and on tour in Miami and beyond. While there were a few slapdash moments on Saturday, more often the orchestra sounded absolutely terrific under him.Quite possibly, Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 sounded especially fresh and pointed because it followed (after intermission) the thick, dark score of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. And the orchestra was in accord with Guerrero for a riveting performance. Together, conductor and players created an especially sweet, focused string/wind blend and a chamber music-like quality of players listening to each other. Guerrero led with a clear point of view, that Beethoven was breaking ground in this early work. The performance was both crisply classical and thrilling, with Beethoven's surprises underlined (though not overdone) so we didn't take them for granted.
DAILY CAMERA July 13, 2007Guest conductor Guerrero makes his mark at Colorado Music Festival... Giancarlo Guerrero will certainly leave one of this season's great impressions. The current Music Director of Oregon's Eugene Symphony, left Thursday's audience at Chautauqua Auditorium wanting more of his fresh, exuberant conducting. The evening began with an immensely enjoyable contemporary work, "Fandangos" by Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra... Guerrero showed a great affinity for the style of the work, and set an expectant tone for the rest of the evening... Guerrero then took on a classic piece of orchestral virtuosity, Elgar's "Enigma Variations". The central grandiose "Nimrod" variation is usually the focus of this work, but Guerrero's reading made a strong argument for the last variations after that moment... In his conducting of the Elgar, Guerrero managed to give the audience new revelations from an extremely popular work, and in so doing, left his mark at Chautauqua.
THE HERALD June 25, 2007Costa Rican conductor Giancarlo Guerrero has a winning way with an audience, as he demonstrated on Saturday night in his second concert with the RSNO. He runs onstage, with an open-hearted, mile-wide smile, clearly relishing the task ahead. And, with bullet-proof repertoire, including Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italian and Respighi’s shimmering and ultimately roof-raising Pines of Rome, you'd have to be among the undead not to recognize that Guerrero connects vibrantly with his crowd.
NASHVILLE SCENE June 6, 2007The Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s many guest conductors for the 2006-07 season have now come and gone, and most made little impression. But I’ll probably never forget Giancarlo Guerrero. A 38-year-old Costa Rican dynamo, Guerrero was in town last week to lead his fourth subscription concert in just over two years. His performance made it clear why he’s now in such great demandÉ No doubt, this terrific conductor has the goodsÑthe ear, intellect and musicianship. But he also possesses those hard-to-define but essential ingredients of all great music directors: charm and charisma. He first worked his magic with the NSO in April 2005, and he’s been bonded with these musicians ever sinceÉ Guerrero’s bond with the players showed in every aspect of his performance last Thursday at the Schermerhorn. He led the musicians with big, sweeping, clear and ebullient gestures, and they responded in kind, delivering performances that were as warmly passionate as they were expertly calibratedÉ Guerrero returns to the NSO next year to conduct Verdi’s Requiem. Let’s hope that’s the beginning of an even more permanent relationship.
NEW ZEALAND HERALD April 2, 2007The National Colours concert presented the Auckland Philharmonia at its very best on Thursday night in a programme that placed Douglas Lilburn in the company of two composers whose music also defines the life-spirit of their countries. Lilburn has been played by visiting conductors before but few have given him the bold Hollywood treatment that Giancarlo Guerrero accorded the Drysdale Overture. The strings flexed their considerable muscles in the opening bars and Guerrero relished the witty closing procrastinations. In between, the wistful melancholy of the second theme was achingly poignant… After interval, we were taken into the fields of Bohemia with Dvorak's G major Symphony. Guerrero's adoration of this sunny music showed. He seemed to delight in vindicating the spontaneous thematic combustion of its first movement, a feature that had led the cautious Brahms to question Dvorak's craftsmanship. The glorious songs of the Adagio were unswerving, with immaculate orchestral grooming, while Guerrero was carried away by the dancing lilt of the third movement. A triumphant Finale, from trumpet fanfare to a full orchestral celebration of G major, left one regretting nothing ... apart from the fact that the next APO concert is not until April 19
LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL March 2, 2007Guerrero makes an impression in his return to Whitney Hall... Conductor leads with brilliance... When Giancarlo Guerrero conducted the Louisville Orchestra last season, he made a substantial enough impression to establish himself as the prime candidate for music director... and one would hope that Guerrero remains at the top of the wish list. The qualities that marked his debut were still in evidence, topped by an intuitive, never-forced approach to his scores that guided musicians without interfering in their own expressive opportunities. In Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka", Guerrero had a particularly meaty assignment in front of him (a relative notion, perhaps, because he conducted this bold piece without a printed score)... Guerrero never retreated from the music's most ostentatious elements... He shaped his phrases so the brilliance of Stravinsky's scheme was always in the foreground... In Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"... Guerrero appreciated the difference between mush and lush, leading an account full of nuance and genuine distinctiveness.
BALTIMORE SUN JULY 17, 2006When the Nicaraguan-born conductor, music director of the Eugene (Ore.) Symphony, turned to Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, the orchestra sounded its old, reliable, involved self, with some sizzling string playing, fearless brass and especially lilting phrases from oboist Katherine Needleman. Giancarlo Guerrero danced up a storm on the podium (and very nearly off of it) as he unleashed the urgency in the work, without slighting the soulful poetry behind it. The performance gave off a surprisingly intense heat.
NEW ZEALAND HERALD JUNE 16, 2006Giancarlo Guerrero is an inveterate showman. Conducting the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra on Thursday night, he entered and exited at a canter, leaping onto the podium. For two hours, he fascinated us with the range and ingenuity of his body language, inspiring the musicians to one of their finest performances… Gershwin's An American in Paris was the infectious Jazz Age symphonic poem it should be, from rowdy car horns to bluesy swagger. It's a melting pot of the catchy rhythms and breezy idioms of the time, wrapped up with a dazzlingly orchestrated bow - a bow that Guerrero and his musicians knew just how to untie… The dying Rachmaninov called his Symphonic Dances his "latest and best work" and Guerrero proved the composer's judgment well justified. This was no empty display of orchestral virtuosity, although the APO was in brilliant form, but an interpretation that made the required symphonic connections.
EL VOCERO MARCH 8, 2006…Monumental and inspired Verdi Requiem… The Puerto Rico Symphony played with clarity and force. Guerrero maintained the flow of the work and achieved some truly touching moments. He conducted with sensibility and attention to detail, but without losing the full picture.
THE REGISTER GUARD JANUARY 22, 2006A performance of “The Rite of Spring” would be impossible without leadership of a high order. Guerrero supplied this in every way. He had the complicated beat patterns down pat and conveyed them clearly to the orchestra. His own energy was matched by that of the orchestra, in one of their most exciting performances to date, which was greeted by a well-deserved standing ovation.
LOS ANGELES TIMES JULY 30, 2005Perhaps a victim of its ambition or changing fashions, the Symphony No. 3 never caught on in a big way -- not like Copland's popular ballet suites. Even the presence of the famous "Fanfare for the Common Man" as the departure point of the finale couldn't punch it into the basic repertoire. Yet it can still make a big impression in a well-prepared performance, and guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero was able to do just that at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday night.
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC OCTOBER 1, 2004Guerrero was at his pinnacle in too-seldom heard Mozart Linz Symphony, culling from the orchestra an attractive lightness and ease.
COLUMUS DISPATCH (OHIO) SEPTEMBER 19, 2004Guerrero’s program seemed tailor-made to suit a first visit, as it showed off several aspects of a conductor’s skill: Khachaturian’s Suite from Masquerade – classical “lite”; Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture – symphonic drama; and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto – accompanying a soloist. For a still-young maestro, Guerrero demonstrated considerably mastery in each category.
LOS ANGELES TIMES SEPTEMBER 9, 2004Giancarlo Guerrero makes a hasty debut at Hollywood Bowl on five days’ notice… This was a successful debut by the native Nicaraguan, who was raised in Costa Rica. He appears to be a personable conductor, cool and efficient and comfortable on the podium, and his manner communicates his wishes clearly. Guerrero showed himself a commanding decisive leader.
LA NACION (COSTA RICA) AUGUST 13, 2004From a musical point of view, this new production of Rigoletto by the [Costa Rican] Lyric Opera was their best achievement to date. Giancarlo Guerrero’s musical direction paid special attention to the balances between stage and pit, and the tempi seem very appropriate. The National Symphony closely followed the conductor’s requests and he was particularly diligent in obeying every detail in the score, especially performing the complete opera without cuts.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS OCTOBER 31, 2003With a commendably precise stick technique, Giancarlo Guerrero made a splendid showing. Start to finish these were performances of rare attention to detail… Dynamics were carefully graded, too, and it was good to be reminded how much tension can be packed into a pianissimo at the very threshold of audibility… Throughout, Mr. Guerrero managed – and massaged – musical tensions with skill and sensitivity. Phrase let inexorably on to phrase, and whole movement pressed irresistibly on to goals. But there was room to stretch and breathe when needed, and repeated phrases were subtly varied.
THE WASHINGTON POST MARCH 7, 2003The Tchaikovsky [Symphony # 5] is of course familiar terrain, but the NSO responded to Guerrero’s expressive stickwork with and acutely organized performance that was anything but routine. Rhythms were dynamic and clearly pointed, climaxes arrived at full amplitude and packed a decidedly Slavic wallop, dance episodes undulated gracefully, melodies yielded a comely freshness and bloom, and Tchaikovsky’s orchestration emerged clearly in pristine colors.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE JANUARY 30, 2002Command of orchestra and music distinguishes Giancarlo Guerrero. He is the real thing, an enormously talented conductor who draws music from an orchestra with such natural command that you are convinced he and the podium were fated for one another. No doubt we will be hearing a lot from him in the years ahead. A greatly promising career awaits him.