Helge Dorsch had the choir, orchestra, and soloists fully under control. He conducted expressively, with infectious temperament, lively, precisely, well-balanced, and intensely experienced each passage.
WESTFALEN-BLATT
Helge Dorsch knew how to ignite true Italianità, which became a strength of the entire performance.
OTZ JENA
Helge Dorsch left the score untouched and conducted with the precision of a seasoned professional.... The orchestra played with unprecedented density, transparency, homogeneity, and expressiveness.
MAIN-ECHO
Conductor Helge Dorsch chose pleasantly brisk tempos but otherwise refrained from extravagant surprises.
MÜNSTERLÄNDER ZEITUNG
Helge Dorsch appropriately highlighted the melodic diversity of Verdi's shimmering melodies; the choir was also excellently prepared in its staging.
OFFENBACH-POST
The orchestra under Helge Dorsch performed with dynamic differentiation, rhythmic precision, and the passion that such stirring Italian music requires.
FRANKFURTER NEUE PRESSE / KULTUR
The "home game" on the Loreley rock attracted 8,000 spectators over 2 days... Particularly moving was the conducting of Helge Dorsch, who brought the dramatic power of Verdi's score to the forefront.
RHEIN-ZEITUNG/KULTUR
Even the overture was dramatically shaped and vividly performed... Helge Dorsch brilliantly maintained the dramatic coherence throughout. The orchestra did not play in front of but alongside the stage. (Not easy for the conductor!). Dorsch conducted from memory to the left and right, providing both orchestra and stage with the necessary confidence. He did not render the often overly sweetened and marred "Prisoners' Chorus" in a saccharine way, but powerfully and with compelling simplicity. This is surely how Verdi intended his composition.
WESTFÄLISCHE RUNDSCHAU
From the conductor’s podium, Helge Dorsch connected soloists, choir, and orchestra into a homogeneous unit.
WESTFALENPOST
The overture was already promising. The vitality and freshness of the musical diction, as well as the individual tone color and the contrasting portrayal of dramatic opposites, were convincing.... A nuanced and lively interpretation.
GRAFSCHAFTER NACHRICHTEN
Helge Dorsch, confident, energetic, and finely nuanced (without a score), had the musical apparatus perfectly in hand. He coordinated the sonorous and rhythmically playing orchestra with the stage clearly and musically motivating.
DIE RHEINPFALZ
The choir and orchestra of the Loreley Festival made an extremely fresh impression from the start under the direction of Helge Dorsch.
NRZ DÜSSELDORF
Helge Dorsch's conducting gave the soloists all the space they needed for expression.... A sovereign orchestra.
BONNER GENERALANZEIGER
Helge Dorsch achieved the feat of keeping the score free from patina and returning to the lean dimensions of the original. This allowed for the often neglected aura of the fairy-tale to be ideally highlighted.
OFFENBACH-POST
The orchestra never stepped into the foreground more than necessary and saw itself as a supporter of the events on stage.
FRANKFURTER NEUE PRESSE
The orchestra followed the instructions of conductor Helge Dorsch with commitment. He set appropriate tempos and elicited many beautiful details from the orchestra.
BREMER NACHRICHTEN / KULTUR
Under the direction of Helge Dorsch, the orchestra presented many faces. Sometimes gentle and sensitive, then thunderous and powerful, but always with perfect intonation and precision.
MAIN-RHEINER AKTUELLE NACHRICHTEN
Musically, this "Magic Flute" was very appealing. Conductor Helge Dorsch and the orchestra remained unobtrusive and sonically differentiated, closely aligned with the music that Mozart developed with many compositional means.... Enthusiastic applause.
KÖLNISCHER RUNDSCHAU / KULTUR