Welcome to the website of French Conductor Lionel Bringuier

Reviews:

“Here, the discourse is constantly relaunched and reinvented: from the first to the last second, we find ourselves captivated or even bewitched by the intensity of Lionel Bringuier’s interpretation… At the end of the concert, after an ovation of nearly ten minutes, one can only hope for a prompt return of Lionel Bringuier in the Belgian capital with this excellent national orchestra which he knew how to galvanize and inspire.”

(BACHTRACK, NOVEMBER 2021)

“The Tchaikovsky was balanced at the other end of the program by Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 2, in an expansive reading by Bringuier. The conductor unspooled Rachmaninov’s long-breathed melodies with an eye for the big picture, carefully building the first movement to the storm of swirling strings and thundering brass and percussion at its climax. The Scherzo, infused with the darkness of the Dies irae chant, sparkled with horns and racing strings, while the slow movement was achingly romantic, Bringuier once again deftly pacing the climaxes, before dispatching a celebratory finale.”

(LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE, 2019)

“Lionel Bringuier was a sensitive partner during the concerto and led an invigorated reading by the SSO of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor, with woodwind and horn solos of richly-coloured clarity.”

(THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2019)

“With Ravel’s “Valses Nobles et Sentimentales,” Bringuier further flashed his Ravel credentials. The conductor took some of the waltzes at daringly slow tempos that dripped with sensuality while exulting in the swaying swing of the opening waltz. Bringuier had the help of the L.A. Phil’s jazz-minded soloists pouring on the bluesy slurring in Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” Three saxophonists were forwardly balanced in the central homesick blues section that gave it a Paul Whiteman-like period sound. Elsewhere, Bringuier made infectiously jaunty work of Gershwin’s fast walks through the French capital.”

(LOS ANGELES TIMES, 2019)

“Bringuier took the stage briskly, without fuss, and wearing an immaculately tailored suit and big smile. He plunged immediately into Albert Roussel’s ballet-pantomime “The Spider’s Feast,” drawing from the orchestra a huge palette of dewy, subdued colors, delicately shaded. Bringuier’s gestures on the podium are big but never excessive. He communicated changes of tempo and meter precisely, and the musicians seemed to follow him effortlessly, in the subtlety of his musical imagery and the absolute mastery of his craft, Bringuier’s conducting brings to mind the great Pierre Monteux.”

(THE WASHINGTON POST, 2019)

“Bringuier, who as a Ravel specialist has repeatedly demonstrated a special flair for shaping tonal color, also knows how to conjure up with Rimsky-Korsakov all the richness of sonority from the dazzling score.”

(THOMAS SCHACHER / NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG, 2018)

“Bringuier does not seek out the message, the great gesture or the originality: he builds, he guides, he directs while knowing how to let the musicians express themselves. He keeps the building upright by attaching itself to the foundations — splendid articulation, powerful and lively string basses — and the colors — winds are alert and free to sing while taking risks, always assumed.”

(ALAIN LOMPECH / BACHTRACK, 2018)

“If there was a link between the concerto, Dutilleux’s Métaboles and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé Suite No 2, it was in the transparency of the sound achieved under Bringuier, whose debut this was with the LSO. The ecstasies described by Brahms, Dutilleux and Ravel are distinct, and were beautifully individuated by the French conductor.”

(THE TIMES, 2018)