National and International Press
Jaap van Zweden
Music Director Designate
"Dallas plucks a Eurostar. Jaap van Zweden, a conductor little known in the U.S. but celebrated in his native Holland and acclaimed for his appearances in Europe, Asia and Australia..."
Symphony Magazine
March-April 2007
"The boldest choice of late has come from, of all places, Dallas."
The New York Times
April 15, 2007
"...His musical pedigree is extensive...Van Zweden's eminent past as a violinist gives him a particular credibility in dealing with the strings..."
Gramophone Magazine
May 2007
"Zweden is another who has yet to reveal blind spots. This violinist-turned-conductor...led the Hague Residentie Orkest in an SACD Beethoven symphony cycle three years ago, revealing all sorts of hidden relationships in the music's inner workings...His Brahms symphonies with Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland - well worth hearing with their counterpoint of rhythmic acuity and particularly soaring melodic lines..."
The Philadelphia Inquirer
June 25, 2007
"Earlier this month I visited the famed Concertgebouw concert hall in Amsterdam to hear the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden perform the Fifth Symphonies of Beethoven and Mahler. The Beethoven symphony is obviously better known...but it was the Mahler that made me cry."
The New York Times
July 21, 2007
"Ever heard of Jaap van Zweden? A busy conductor in Europe, he is the next music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which with admirable honesty acknowledged in a news release that he was 'relatively unknown.'"
The New York Times
July 22, 2007
Performance Reviews
Supple Mahler July 22, 2008
"The third annual Festival del Sole came to an impressive conclusion Sunday afternoon at the Lincoln Theater in Yountville, with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under its dynamic new music director, Jaap van Zweden, performing an all-Mahler program capped by a forceful, streamlined performance of the composer's Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor." More
Dallas Symphony Dives Into New World With 'Blue Planet Live' July 2, 2008
"Singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz once said, "If you're writing a song about a train, it ought to sound like a train." He has nothing to do with The Blue Planet Live, but its creators know exactly what he means. Rarely has music matched the material as well as this." More
Majesty Of Life, Set To Great Music July 2, 2008
"A visual element accompanying a classical concert is nothing new these days. But usually they are just pictures with orchestra and feel tacked on. Blue Planet Live is different. " More
Rachev's Last 'Casual Classics' Concert For DSO A Gem June 29, 2008
"Saturday evening's Dallas Symphony Orchestra was a sad occasion. Sad because it was Danail Rachev's last classical concert as the DSO's assistant conductor before leaving for the same job with the Philadelphia Orchestra." More
Youth Shine At DSO's Summer Series June 23, 2008
"Youth was definitely a theme of Saturday night's concert by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra." More
Rachev, DSO Do Wonders With Casual Classics June 14, 2008
"If there's anything fair in life, Danail Rachev should be on his way to becoming a star orchestral conductor. And we'll be able to say we knew him when. " More
Assistant Conductor Bows Out With Casual Classics June 14, 2008
"Danail Rachev hadn't been in town long when the buzz started." More
Percussive Fireworks Spark Corigliano's 'Conjurer' May 2, 2008
"With a brand-new percussion concerto, a flashy sendup of fandangos and Elgar's Enigma Variations, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra can't be accused of boring programming this week." More
Singers Bring Operatic Feel To Requiem April 25, 2008
"While everyone was watching the conductor, the singers stole the show Thursday night during the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's concert at the Meyerson Symphony Center." More
Van Zweden And Dallas Symphony Orchestra And Chorus Give A Taste Of Things To come With Verdi's Requiem April 25, 2008
"From apocalyptic blasts of chorus, brass and percussion to all but inaudible high violin tremolos, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center was the scene of a sonic extravaganza Thursday night." More
Pointer Sisters Jump, Jam and Jubilate at the Meyerson April 21, 2008
"Sometimes concerts don't need to be long-winded. In a short hour, backed by their band and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the enduring Pointer Sisters delivered a blast of a show Sunday afternoon at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center." More
Podium Pioneer JoAnn Falletta to Conduct DSO April 10, 2008
"Marin Alsop has gotten a lot of press recently as the first woman to be music director of a major American orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony. But, depending on your definition of "major," JoAnn Falletta was there first, taking over the Buffalo (N.Y.) Philharmonic in 1998. " More
Throwback Pianist Jonathan Biss To Play With Dallas Symphony March 27, 2008
"Jonathan Biss is the ultimate non-Lang Lang." More
Barefoot Amy Grant Delights March 24, 2008
"Amy Grant set the tone Friday night at the Meyerson in Dallas by kicking off her heels, then showed off her singer-songwriter credentials." More
Ears On The Music, Eyes On The Screen February 22, 2008
"Casual concerts, themed concerts, spoken introductions, videos projected while music is played -- orchestras use such devices to enliven concerts often perceived as stuffy and old-fashioned." More
Conductor Peter Oundjian Urges Instruments To Their Outer Limits February 22, 2008
"Strange as it may sound to say so, we have repetitive strain injury to thank for Peter Oundjian's second career as an orchestra conductor." More
Tom Jones Jokes, Gyrates His Way Into Hearts At The Meyerson February 19, 2008
"Did you notice that cloud of steam rising from downtown Monday evening? That would have been the heat wave stirred up by Tom Jones, who proved once and for all at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center that "bringing sexy back" is for the youngsters: He never lost it, thanks very much." More
For Dallas Symphony, Energy is Brewing February 18, 2008
"Jaap van Zweden, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's next music director, won't officially take over until September, but he's wasted no time placing his stamp on the orchestra." More
DSO Announces '08-'09 Lineup with New Music Director February 14, 2008
"Cue the fanfares. The Jaap van Zweden era begins Sept. 11." More
DSO, Guests Remmereit and Fliter All in Impeccable Form February 1, 2008
"If all concerts were as superb as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's Thursday evening, there'd be no need for critics. " More
DSO, Steinberg Thrill with Shostakovich Symphony January 25, 2008
"Sarcastic vulgarity and jackbooted militarism can, it's true, be too automatic a default position in the symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich. Whether the late Russian composer was celebrating or mocking Stalin and company keeps musicologists arguing." More
All-Bernstein at the Meyerson January 18, 2008
"Leonard Bernstein would have been 90 this coming August. Nearly 18 years after his death, it was good to be reminded of his contributions by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's all-Bernstein program this week." More
A Party For A Truly Gifted Composer January 18, 2008
"There is no such thing as a bad excuse for a party -- especially one this enjoyable." More
Bernadette Peters Punches Out the Show Tunes at Meyerson January 12, 2008
"If champagne came in human form, it would be Bernadette Peters: sparkling and gorgeous; crisp, bubbly and overflowing with mirth; full of light but capable of packing a dark punch." More
Michael W. Smith, Melinda Doolittle Set the Meyerson Aglow December 5, 2007
"The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center looked festive and elegant Tuesday night, all dressed up for the Michael W. Smith concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra." More
Jaap van Zweden Wows with Dallas Symphony November 13, 2007
"For a pigskin-crazed metropolis like Dallas, the best way to explain the excitement at the Dallas Symphony is like this: the orchestra's own Tony Romo has arrived." More
Van Zweden Inspires DSO to Fabulous Intensity November 9, 2007
"By, say, March 2009, if there's any justice, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra could be the most talked-about orchestra in North America. Already, in only two weeks, music director-designate Jaap van Zweden has absolutely transformed the group." More
Beethoven, with Energy, Discipline and Lots of Verve November 9, 2007
"Would lightning strike twice at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center? After last week's electrifying Dallas Symphony Orchestra program, conducted by music director-designate Jaap van Zweden, it seemed an appropriate question." More
In Like a Lion November 9, 2007
"Before Jaap van Zweden, music director designate of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, came on stage Friday night, there was already an audible buzz and stir in the capacity audience. Something about this Dutchman's presence - maybe the reputation he had already garnered from his reviews last year - put an edge of anticipation on the night." More
Pulse-Racing Thrills November 2, 2007
"You may be able to score a ticket for one of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's concerts this weekend. If you can, don't pass it up. With Jaap van Zweden leading his first concerts since being named music director-designate, and with a program of Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth symphonies, these are the hottest classical music tickets all season." More
Symphony's Director-to-Be Enjoys Auspicious Debut November 2, 2007
"Get yourself to the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center while you still have a chance." More
DSO Finds Fresh Drama in an Electric 'Eroica' October 26, 2007
"Every once in a while a performance makes thrice-familiar music sound fresh and gripping in ways you wouldn't have thought possible." More
Guest Conductor has Right Touch October 19, 2007
"For classical musicians, the hardest music to pull off isn't the new or densely complicated, but the familiar...Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 sounded so buoyant that the music almost seemed to levitate." More
Loving Attention to Detail at Beethoven Festival October 21, 2007
"Ludwig van Beethoven died 180 years ago, of some combination of liver and kidney failure, maybe lead poisoning and goodness knows what else. He was only 56. But the composer seemed very much alive Thursday evening at the hands of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Opening a five-program Beethoven Festival stretching through Dec. 2, guest conductor Gilbert Varga led dapper, lovingly detailed performances of the first two symphonies." More
Smothers Brothers at the Meyerson Tickle Funny Bones Without Crossing Any Lines September 1, 2007
"There are certain things that have a uniquely American sense of relief: fresh-churned vanilla ice cream, steaming wedges of just-baked apple pie. Friday night at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, fully backed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, another classic bit of Americana was on display...." More
Kenny Rogers Show Traverses Nearly 40 Years of Hits August 30, 2007
"There may well be no better example of the yin and yang of popular success than Kenny Rogers. Kenny Rogers crooned to an appreciative crowd Wednesday night at the Meyerson." More
