critics

Giacomo Puccini:

Madame Butterfly

Angers Nantes Opera, Thibault Vicq

"Madame Butterfly sublimated by conductor Rudolf Piehlmayer at Angers Nantes Opéra -After his imposing Phantom Ship in 2019 at Angers Nantes Opéra, Rudolf Piehlmayer brilliantly holds the rudder of Puccinian affects, with the help of a Pays de la Loire National Orchestra in full desire for distant horizons. The Bavarian obtains a stunning transparency from the instrumentalists, making the voice-orchestra transfers confusingly natural, sometimes ghostly, in all the nuances. He holds the magic wand of time – the famous time of music –: he freezes it and extends it, bringing it into the painting, even into the material of the reliefs. An ogre of sensuality and intensity, he found the dream recipe for a Butterfly between poetic wandering and action, like a pas de deux which immediately merges the bodies of its dancers, but asserts their individuality. In immersion and submersion, we find only a happiness which only underlines the shortfall in the sporadic reading of Fabio Ceresa."

"After his imposing "Flying Dutchman" in 2019 at the Angers Nantes Opéra, Rudolf Piehlmayer holds the helm of Puccinian affects with bravura, with the help of an Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire that longs for distant horizons. The Bavarian achieves a startling transparency in the instrumentalists, making the transfers between voice and orchestra seem astonishingly natural, sometimes ghostly, in all nuances. He holds the magic wand of time - the famous time of music - in his hand: he freezes it and stretches it, lets it enter the picture, right into the matter of the reliefs. A fiend of sensuality and intensity, he has found the dream recipe for a butterfly between poetic wandering and action, in the manner of a pas de deux that fuses the bodies of his dancers from the start but claims their individuality. In immersion and submersion we find only a happiness that only makes up for the lack of gain from Fabio Ceresa's sporadic staging underlines."

Richard Wagner:

Lohengrin

Rouen Opera, forumopera.com

Complicity in which the conductor Rudolf Piehlmayer, at the head of an orchestra of the Rouen Opera at the top, clearly participates. Taking care of the singers' interventions, weaving preludes of ideal quality (superb violins!), accompanying such trumpet or such choristers backstage or at the top of the second balcony: he is the primary architect of this success which has the strength of obviously, very warmly applauded by the Rouen public.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Magic Flute

The Norwegian Opera Oslo, Abendzeitung Munich

"The musical side was excellent: Rudolf Piehlmayer united the performers with great precision, conducted the outstanding opera orchestra colorfully, with a slender, sensibly articulated sound and historical echoes."

Giacomo Puccini:

Manon Lescaut

Leipziger Volkszeitung

"Rudolf Piehlmayer, the first permanent guest conductor, does a good job with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He relies on brilliance, on sound, on rhythm and forward momentum: impressive. The orchestral level of this magnificent Puccini score can also be heard under him and he can still recall a remarkable amount of the brilliance of last year."

Ludwig van Beethoven:

Fidelio

Opernglas

"Rudolf Piehlmayer spurred the Philharmonic Orchestra to a high flight of consistently strong intensity with his gripping conducting, which incorporated clear accentuations and differentiated timbres in equal measure."

Gustav Mahler:

2. Symphony

Augsburger Allgemeine

"Piehlmayer led the audience on a long, sometimes painful journey through the misery of this world to an all the more overwhelming, final triumph of life. The extremely slow tempi of the first two movements were crucial to this. He held the reins firmly in his hand, cleverly disposing of acceleration and decline, hellish outbursts and tense calm. {...} A great moment in Augsburg's cultural life."

Paul Hindemith:

Cardillac

Opera world

"After all, the hybrid of expressionistic power and neoclassical, polyphonic distance and an affirmative requiem finale sounded impressively precise from the orchestra pit - thanks to the meticulous rehearsal work of GMD Rudolf Piehlmayer."

Gustav Mahler:

4. Symphony

Augsburger Allgemeine

"Piehlmayer did this with impressive consistency – and with an orchestra that once again cooperated at its best. A sound image of the highest transparency, as if drawn under a magnifying glass."

Giuseppe Verdi:

Un ballo in maschera

Münchner Merkur

"In addition, GMD Rudolf Piehlmayer and the highly precise Philharmonic Orchestra do not allow themselves to indulge in sappiness. His Verdi is fast, sounds tight, dry, always determined by rhythm."

Jaromir Weinberger:

Schwanda, the bagpiper

Opera

"It says a lot for the irrepressible spirit of the music that it survived this throttling – indeed, gloriously so in the hands of the Augsburg Philharmonic under their galvanizing Generalmusikdirektor, Rudolf Piehlmayer."

Ludwig van Beethoven:

Eroica

Magdeburg Philharmonic,

Magdeburg People's Voice

"Piehlmayer did not succumb to the temptation of a powerful heroic epic in his presentation of the "Eroica". The outer movements stormed and pushed properly, but did not seem rushed. The inspiring and precise conducting supported the precise woodwind interjections and the almost chamber music-like dialogues of the first and second violins. A concert evening of exceptional quality."

Augsburger Allgemeine

"...the orchestra unfolded breathtaking drama in Brahms' fourth symphony. Here, too, Piehlmayer presented precise orchestral work and led his musicians to an excellent sound culture."

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Cosi fan tutte

Augsburger Allgemeine

"The Philharmonic Orchestra encountered stormy seas with high waves and deep troughs. Almost a sensation... the overture, the first quartet and trio."

Richard Strauss:

The citizen as nobleman

Augsburger Allgemeine

"Under the strict and skilful direction of Piehlmayer, the Augsburgers played Strauss' "The Bourgeois Nobleman" with such agility, chiseling and light-footedness that the audience was simply thrilled."

Leoš Janáček:

Jenufa

Augsburger Allgemeine

"The greatness of the evening was largely due to the psychologically sensitive stringency of the Philharmonic Orchestra, which - rhythmically organized under Piehlmayer - rose to the bitter musical intoxication of the finale."

Héctor Berlioz:

Fantastic symphony

Festival Herrenchiemsee,

Southgerman newspaper

"... but what was heard in the Hall of Mirrors on Herrenchiemsee was simply unheard of. Never before has Berlioz's "Sinfonie fantastique" been heard with such rhythmic precision and sonic brilliance. And never before has a guest conductor made such an impression at the Herrenchiemsee Festival. Standing ovations. This concert was a sensation."

Meinrad Schmitt:
Crespino & King Tulipan

PHONE FORUM

"The first recording of Crespino and King Tulipan by Meinrad Schmitt is so successful that the children should give Rudolf Piehlmayer and his Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra both hands, or better yet, lend both ears. Alongside the musicians, Katja Schild shines as a lively, even stirringly likeable narrator."