In Grant Llewellyn’s inaugural season as Handel and Haydn Music Director, the press was exhuberant in their praise. Here is a small sampling.

“Handel and Haydn creates a triumph.”

“Word has it that when the Handel and Haydn Society’s new music director, Grant Llewellyn, finished his first rehearsal for Haydn’s ‘The Creation’ with the chorus, the singers burst into applause. On the evidence of yesterday’s performance, no other response would have been rational.”

“Llewellyn’s Handel and Haydn performance of ‘The Creation’ was something exuberantly special.”

“The charismatic Llewellyn was always a charmer, but who knew that he could blaze with such a dramatic, storytelling temperament?”

“This performance was alive, alert, and happening all the way through.”
-Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

“Starting his first season as Handel and Haydn music director, conductor Grant Llewellyn led a dynamic and colorful performance that seemed to reinvigorate its period-instrument orchestra and chorus.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever heard this orchestra play with the poise and beauty they demonstrated on this occasion. And Llewellyn accomplished this without sacrificing one iota of the trademark Handel and Haydn vigor.”

About the Handel and Haydn Chorus: “Gorgeous gusto.”
-T.J. Medrek, Boston Herald

“A glimmer of light has come out of Boston and one of its chief sources is the Handel and Haydn Society.”

“The Chorus members . . . did an excellent imitation of period instruments themselves . . . dry sounding, clear and light of foot.”

“Mr. Llewellyn, with a nice balance of clear-headedness, used what he had well.”
-New York Times

“A performance of spiritual charm and emotional depth.”

“The chorus was perfection, itself, robust and refined.”

“In his first concert, he’s already restored Handel and Haydn to its rightful place in the serious musical life of this city.”
-Boston Phoenix

“Handel and Haydn made a wise choice in hiring the young Welsh conductor...”

“The playing of the orchestra was exceptionally beautiful.”

“The superb Handel and Haydn chorus, trained by Chorusmaster John Finney, delivered an astonishingly nimble, glowing: ‘For unto us a Child is Born’ and a ‘Hallelujah’ chorus to rival the best.”
-Boston Herald

“When the chorus sang ‘Wonderful Counselor!’ you could hear not only the words but the exclamation point.”

“At nearly every moment this performance was engaged with questions of meaning. The cry ‘Hallelujah’ is not an abstraction to Llewellyn.”

“The orchestra . . . played with vigor and freshness”
-The Boston Globe

“Year in, year out, one of the holiday season’s greatest pleasures is hearing the Handel and Haydn Society chorus sing the glorious music of George Frideric Handel’s ‘Messiah.’”

“Led by Music Director Grant Llewellyn the society’s 148th annual presentation Saturday afternoon of the beloved oratorio was another spirit-lifting occasion.”

“This was a lively ‘Messiah’ with quick pacing and snappy rhythms.”

“The Handel and Haydn orchestra played with great transparency and zest, anchored by the crisp and tangy continuo. The ‘Hallelujah’ chorus was thrilling.”

“Again, the Handel and Haydn Chorus sang superbly, the notes, words and meaning coming through with textbook clarity.”
-Patriot Ledger

“The mixture [of jazz and classical] made a blend both pleasant and nourishing.”

“In the Haydn, the orchestra sounded better than this listener could most recently recall.”

“Tempi felt right, dynamics were effectively and tastefully contrasted; and here was grace and humor in the performances.”
-The Boston Globe

“The evening proved entertaining, enlightening and utterly absorbing.”

“Llewellyn was the mastermind, conductor and host.”
-T.J. Medrek, Boston Herald

“Handel and Haydn’s Welsh conductor is a wonderfully natural, buoyant, and communicative musician.”

“The presence of period instruments supplies a dimension of suppleness and transparency that modern orchestral musicians sometime slave to labor to create.”
-Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

“Last night at Symphony Hall, Handel and Haydn Society Music Director Grant Llewellyn staked his claim on three late symphonies by Mozart . . . Somewhere, Mozart was saying, ‘You go, Grant!’”

“But in this mini-Mozart Olympics, each of these three performances could have been a medal winner.”
-Boston Herald

“Llewellyn closed with a second motet, the noble 'Jesu, meine Freude,'’ showing off his strong set of singers and his own strength in choral conducting.”

“All taste and distinction, the work [Birtwistle’s Bach Measures] was utterly charming, the playing infectious, and Llewellyn's leadership manly and understandable.”
-Keith Powers, Boston Herald

“’Lamentations’ is remarkable as a spiritual mood piece, as well as an exquisitely crafted piece of music.”

“The delicate instrumentation… is rendered by members of Handel and Haydn with clarity and grace.”
-T.J. Medrek, Boston Herald

“Any orchestra with early-music hotshots such as Daniel Stepner, Deborah Dunham, Marc Schachman, Phoebe Carrai et al in its ranks is going to give an allegro, a minuet, a gavotte, that extra individuating lift…”
-Richard Buell, The Boston Globe

“Llewellyn is a card, and presented his hand as well as his pre-performance remarks with equal wit … Musical wit was in equal evidence, with stylish delivery and intricate music-making the norm all evening.”

“Handel and Haydn has the players to make concerti grossi work. Concertmaster Daniel Stepner plays early music like no other local violinist. He’s a true leader, and conductor Grant Llewellyn wisely gave him plenty of room.”
-Keith Powers, Boston Herald

“For the occasion Hogwood and Handel and Haydn offered a grandly entertaining, beautifully presented … concert performance of Handel’s admirable but little-performed 1735 opera ‘Ariodante.’”
-T.J. Medrek, Boston Herald

Read critical acclaim from the:
2007-2008 Season;
2006-2007 Season;
2005-2006 Season;
2004-2005 Season;
2003-2004 Season;
2002-2003 Season.

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