"Oliver Gooch leads the Orpheus Sinfonia in a zinging account of the glorious score, and a terrific cast of 14 multitasks with infectious enthusiasm You may end up feeling sated, but it’s a banquet of delights”

Telegraph ****, Rupert Christiansen

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"The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra sounded terrific under conductor Oliver Gooch"

The Australian, Matthew Westwood, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

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"an auspicious debut, handsomely played and expertly steered by conductor Oliver Gooch"

Wall Street Journal

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"Gooch, un bel Don Giovanni"

"Piace molto la direzione di Oliver Gooch, inglese cresciuto alla scuola di Antonio Pappano. Colpisce la profondita del pensiero, che si traduce in un suono meditato, appoggiato, e colpisce la coerenza con cui lo traduce in colori e dinamiche."

(I really like the direction of Oliver Gooch, raised in the school of Antonio Pappano. He strikes the depths of feeling, resulting in a meditative sound, a seamless legato, and nuancing the musical current both in colour and dynamics.)

Enrico Girardi, La Corriere della Sera, Don Giovanni

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"Oliver Gooch led a joyous and unflagging performance that really did sound composed in one breath"

Opera Now, Falstaff

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"The RPO provides the musical underpinning, with conductor Oliver Gooch approaching the score with a blend of command and flexibility, and never short-changing the grand emotional climaxes"

The Guardian ****, George Hall

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"Under British conductor Oliver Gooch, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra produced a warmer string sound than the Orchestra of the Antipodes on the previous night but Gooch’s care in shaping phrases and building the dramatic arc in the opening Vivaldi concerto ensured that they yielded nothing to their period rivals in tonal excitement.

The second half featured a Haydn symphony (No 49, known as La Passione). Gooch is something of a Haydn specialist and the TSO are probably our finest ‘Classical to early Romantic’ band at the moment with a string of notable recordings to their name, so it was nice to hear them in this repertoire in the flesh. This F Minor work of sturm und drang is a little gem and Gooch ensured the whole thing had a excellent sense of theatrical ebb and flow. The TSO responded with warm, dark string tone and some lovely pianissimos. The second movement had great energy; the minuet with its protracted first beat was shaped to perfection; the finale was bursting with drama."

Limelight, Clive Paget, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

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"Oliver Gooch conducted with a firm hand throughout. It was the supernatural element of Verdi’s music that Gooch achieved most effectively, the breath-holding pauses artfully (dare on say, bewitchingly) controlled. "

Opera Magazine, Rian Evans

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"The musical accompaniment from the Orpheus Sinfonia was splendid and I enjoyed them better than the Philharmonia. They played with rhythmic lilt and irrepressible zeal for their excellent conductor, Oliver Gooch."

Bachtrack ****, Macbeth

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"Conducted by Oliver Gooch, Verdi’s score came across in coruscating detail, with swelling moments of passion and bitter spikes of pain. The tone and texture of the playing constantly did justice to this excellent production – and above all, to Verdi’s genius."

Seen and Heard International, Jim Pritchard

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"Musically, Oliver Gooch's observant conducting of a full-sized Royal Philharmonic Orchestra stands out."

The Guardian, ****, George Hall, La boheme

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"The complicated score was impressively conducted by Oliver Gooch, who was in full command of the musico-dramatic structure of the work, and alert to the emotional weight of significant moments. Gooch was superbly served by the instrumentalists of CHROMA, whose accuracy, energy and mastery of various idioms, and sensitivity to the singers and the text, was exemplary."

Opera Today

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"It's enchanting...and it's exciting too. Much of that excitement is generated by Oliver Gooch's baton: searching out every nook and cranny of this pungent orchestral reduction"

The Times ****, Hilary Finch, Hansel and Gretel

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"Gooch brought dignity and grandeur to Britten’s score musically a very satisfying evening"

The Guardian ****, Rian Evans, Rape of Lucretia

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"The orchestra played with consistent verve under the confident and stylish direction of Oliver Gooch"

Opera Magazine, Benjamin Walton, Inkle and Yarico

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"It is not only the Nielsen symphony which deserves the hyperbolic description ‘inextinguishable’ The orchestra responded as one to Gooch’s authoritative but deeply expressive direction.this was not just a  brilliantly executed concert but very much of the ‘something else’."

Nielsen Symphony No 4 ‘The Inextinguishable

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"Oliver Gooch mined the vein of melancholy that lies at the centre of Stravinksy’s music and lent the evening a reflectiveness that you rarely hear"

Opera Now, Robert Thicknesse, The Rake’s Progress

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"Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea emerges as a jewel. Oliver Gooch underlines the tragic beauty of Vaughan Williams’ eloquent score – surely his finest opera and thoroughly deserving of its renewed exposure"

Sunday Times Magazine, Hugh Canning, Riders to the Sea, Buxton Festival

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"The choice of conductor was also inspired Oliver Gooch conjured a magical atmosphere, scaling the opera to chamber promportions with such a sure tone as to make one feel disinclined to watch a full-scale production again"

The Guardian **** Rian Evans, Rusal

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"Conductor Oliver Gooch and a the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra did a highly professional job. This show still packs a punch."

Daily Telegraph, Hugo Shirley, Madama Butterfly

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"Oliver Gooch and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra gave an accomplished account of the score"

Music Web International, Madama Butterfly

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"Just fourteen instrumentalists keep the singers afloat on this quirkily beautiful craft, expertly steered by conductor Oliver Gooch."

Observer, Stephen Pritchard

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"The orchestral writing... - here represented by CHROMA, expertly conducted by Oliver Gooch - shows a definite gift for atmosphere"

Guardian - George Hall

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"Oliver Gooch conducted a thoroughly intelligent reading of the score utterly attuned to the action on stage"

Music and Vision, Peter Dickinson, A Dinner Engagement

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"Oliver Gooch’s inspiring musical direction allowed Britten’s masterful score, full of fun, to paint every action perfectly."

East Anglian Daily Times, Kathryn Deane, Albert Herring

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"This Iford opener was simply stunning. The constant tension between comedy and tragedy was perfectly judged by conductor Oliver Gooch who clearly has the work in his bones, and who relished every bar of this wonderful score"

Bristol Evening Post, Helen Reid, The Rake’s Progress

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"Under the baton of Oliver Gooch, this comes miraculously close to perfection"

East Anglian Daily Times, Kathryn Deane, Cunning Little Vixen

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"Led by Gooch in the pit, this is one of the most exciting performances of this opera I can remember"

East Anglian Daily Times, Frank Cliff, Turn of the Screw

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"Oliver Gooch conducted with a real feeling for the textures and nuances of the original scoring"

Opera Now, Ashutosh Khandekar, Rigoletto

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