“(…) Und gerade als man denkt, man habe alles gehört, steuert Billone einen alarmierended Höhepunkt an, dem eine ausgedehnte Coda folgt: Ein bisschen kürzer wär’s wohl gegangen, aber die 65 Minuten schienen insgesamt rund. Das lag auch am Ensemble “Phace”, das mit dem stets peniblen und zugleich eleganten Emilio Pomarico am Pult alles Feingefühl für die fordernde Partitur aufbrachte.”. Walter Weidringer, Die Presse, 09/11/19

“(…) And just when you think you’ve heard it all, Billone heads for an alarming climax, followed by an extended coda: it could have been a bit shorter, but the 65 minutes seemed to be round altogether. This was also due to the Ensemble Phace that, with the always meticulous and at the same time elegant Emilio Pomarico on the podium, showed all the sensitivity needed for the demanding score.”

“(…) L’excellent Emilio Pomárico bataille avec génie dans cette œuvre incroyable!” Arvid Oxenstierna, Anaclase, 18/10/19

“The excellent Emilio Pomarico battles with genius through this incredible piece!”

“Il faut pour un tel projet un chef d’orchestre qui puisse en assumer toutes les données, avec la patience d’une construction dans le temps. Emilio Pomarico, stature de géant, transfigure avec les musiciens de l’Orchestre de Radio France cet opéra.” Helene Kuttner, Artistikrezo, 01/10/19

“For such a project, you need a conductor who can assume all the data, with the patience of a construction in time. Emilio Pomarico, of giant stature, transfigures with the musicians of the Radio France Orchestra this opera.”

“Brillant wie Dirigent Emilio Pomarico den Ensemblemitgliedern hier freie Bahn gab und den Schlussablauf mit einem spannenden Moment des Nachlauschens hinauszuzögern verstand.” Michael Klier, Bachtrack, 20/05/2019

“Brilliant how conductor Emilio Pomarico gave the members of the ensemble free rein and was able to delay the final sequence with an exciting moment of eavesdropping.”

“On se souvient ici du travail accompli par Emilio Pomarico dans la direction d’un Wozzeck d’anthologie. Ce soir, avec Klangforum, la réussite n’est pas moindre : l’orchestre est d’une redoutable précision, d’un équilibre parfait, et excelle à rendre ces climats si différents et étranges voulus par le compositeur. La synchronisation avec le plateau, c’est-à-dire, non seulement chacun des chanteurs, mais les éclairages, la vidéo, la machinerie est parfaite. C’est un constant régal.”  Yvan Beuvard, Forum Opera. 06/10/2017

“We are reminded here of the work of Emilio Pomarico in his interpretation of an anthological Wozzeck. Tonight, with Klangforum, the success isn’t any less significant: the orchestra plays with formidable precision, a perfect equilibrium, and excels in conveying the very different and strange climates imagined by the composer. The synchronization with the stage, not only with the singers, but also with the lightning, the video, and the machinery, is perfect. It’s a constant treat.”

“La puesta en escena (…) tiende al oscurantismo, y resuelve con medios exiguos pero brillantes resultados el tránsito entre las diferentes escenas y ambientes. Lo más conseguido es, quizá, el encierro de la marioneta en la cárcel, donde desempeña un papel crucial la música improvisada por Fabrizio Cassol (saxo) (…) Philippe Turiot (acordeón) y Tcha Limberger (violín zíngaro) (…) sostenida en todo momento por la formidable prestación instrumental del Klangforum de Viena, dirigido de forma sobresaliente por el argentino Emilio Pomarico, cada vez más justamente demandado en citas importantes: el pasado mes de enero fue también el encargado de inaugurar la sala de cámara de la Elbphilharmonie de Hamburgo al frente del Ensemble Resonanz.” Luis Gago, El Paìs, 06/07/2017

The staging (…) tends towards obscurantism, and resolves with meagre but brilliant means the transit between the different scenes and environments. The most successful is, perhaps, the imprisonment of the puppet, where the improvised music of Fabrizio Cassol (saxophone) (…), Philippe Turiot (accordion) and Tcha Limberger (gypsy violin) (…) supported at all times by the formidable instrumental performance of Vienna’s Klangforum, directed in an outstanding way by the Argentine Emilio Pomarico, more and more justly demanded in important appointments: last January he was also in charge of inaugurating the chamber hall of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie at the head of the Ensemble Resonanz.

“Familier des métropoles musicales, Emilio Pomarico, chef argentin d’origine italienne, est rompu à toutes les exigences et aux subtilités de la musique écrite depuis un siècle. Il excelle à restituer le « son » de Berg et obtient l’inouï de l’orchestre. La battue est claire et efficace, la technique irréprochable, ses équilibres parfaits. Le choix est celui d’une lecture expressionniste, de la plus imperceptible caresse à l’explosion, magnifiée par sa netteté, sa précision, son souci du détail comme de la fresque.” Yvan Beuvard, Forum Opera. 6/05/2015

A regular of musical metropoles, Emilio Pomarico, Argentinean conductor with Italian origins, is familiar with all the requirements and subtleties of the music written over the past century. He excelled at restoring Berg’s “sound” and obtained the unheard-of from the orchestra. The beat is clear and efficient, the technique impeccable, his establishment of equilibrium is perfect. The choice is that of an expressionist reading, ranging from the most imperceptible caress to an explosion, magnified by its sharpness, precision, attention to detail and fresco.

“„Ich denke oft an einen Akrobaten, der von einem Seil zum anderen geht oder springt und sich im letzten Moment fängt. Diese Zerbrechlichkeit, diese Gefahr ist es, die ich suche,“ erklärt Aperghis zu seiner Musik. Das Klangforum Wien unter der Leitung von Emilio Pomàrico lief allerdings keineswegs Gefahr, auf dem musikalischen Hochseil die Balance zu verlieren, und bot ein atemberaubend sicheres und klangschönes Zusammenspiel. Pomàrico leitete virtuos durch die komplexe Klangmaterie und führte das Klangforum Wien zu intensiver musikalischer Interaktion und einem gelungenen Abend” Saori Kanemaki, Bachtrack, 27/03/2015

“‘I often think of an acrobat who goes or jumps from one rope to another and catches himself at the last moment. This fragility, this danger is what I’m looking for,’ explains Aperghis to his music. However, the Klangforum Wien, under the direction of Emilio Pomarico, was by no means in danger of losing its balance on the musical high wire and offered a breathtakingly secure and harmonious interplay. Pomàrico guided virtuously through the complex sound material and led the Klangforum Wien to intensive musical interaction and a successful evening.”

“Es imposible imaginar una comunión mayor con esa obra que la del director Emilio Pomarico. Sus manos enormes parecen contener la totalidad del tejido polifónico, remover con energía en la espesura de esos corales de sonidos graves y pastosos para luego iluminar el detalle y frescura de las nuevas voces que surgen. Imposible imaginar una concertación más exacta de esos ochenta individuos en virtuosa celebración de su unicidad.” Sandra De La Fuente, Clarìn, 21/11/2014

“It is impossible to imagine a greater communion with this work than that of the director Emilio Pomarico. His enormous hands seem to contain the totality of the polyphonic fabric, to remove with energy in the thickness of those corals of serious and pasty sounds to then illuminate the detail and freshness of the new voices that arise. Impossible to imagine a more exact conciliation of those eighty individuals in virtuous celebration of their uniqueness.”

“Nach Donaueschingen, wo Oh cristalina… im Rahmen des Eröffnungskonzertes der Musiktage am 17. Oktober vom SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg und dem SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart aus der Taufe gehoben wird, ist es von hier aus ein Katzensprung. Mit freudiger Spannung blickt Hans Zender dem Ereignis entgegen: „Seitdem ich nicht mehr dirigiere, genieße ich es, mich einfach hinzusetzen und zuzuhören“, sagt er, zumal er die Uraufführung in der Hand von Emilio Pomárico weiß, „einer meiner Favoriten, wirklich.“” Nina Rohlfs, Karstenwitt Magazine. 10/2014

“On 17 October Oh cristalina… will form part of the opening concert of the Donaueschingen Festival, with the SWR Symphony Orchestra and SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart. It is with happy anticipation that Hans Zender is looking forward to the event: ‘Since I stopped conducting, I now enjoy just sitting down and listening,’ he says, especially as he knows that the world premiere is in the hands of conductor Emilio Pomarico, ‘one of my favorites, really.’“

“Emilio Pomarico affronta la Settima da questo punto di vista, con l’ ottica di un direttore che conosce a fondo i percorsi stilistici della musica posteriore all’ opera mahleriana e gli influssi che la produzione del compositore boemo ha avuto sugli autori venuti dopo di lui, in una lettura che esalta al massimo gli aspetti innovativi della composizione. Il musicista italo-argentino possiede una tecnica solida e sicura e un gesto di grande chiarezza e funzionalità, in grado di risolvere senza il minimo problema tutti i passi di ardua complessità sinfonica presenti nella partitura. Sonorità lucide e taglienti, trasparenza di timbri e fluidità ritmica erano le caratteristiche principali di una lettura lucida e coerente, che ha offerto i risultati più pregevoli soprattutto nelle due Nachtmusik, rese con squisita delicatezza cameristica e raffinatezza di suono (…)” Mozart2006, 15/10/2014

“Emilio Pomarico tackles the Seventh from this point of view, with the perspective of a conductor who knows in depth the stylistic paths of music after the Mahler opera and the influences that the production of the Bohemian composer had on the authors who came after him, in a reading that exalts at most the innovative aspects of the composition. The Italo-Argentine musician has a solid and sure technique and a gesture of great clarity and functionality, able to solve without the slightest problem all the steps of arduous symphonic complexity present in the score. Shiny and sharp sounds, transparency of timbres and rhythmic fluidity were the main characteristics of a shiny and coherent reading, which offered the most valuable results especially in the two Nachtmusik, rendered with exquisite chamber delicacy and refinement of sound (…)”

“Emilio Pomarico erwies sich besonders im Finale als ein Meister klug aufgebauter gewaltiger Steigerungen. Dieses hervorragend musizierte Rondo-Finale uferte förmlich aus und schien fast zu explodieren. Der Marschrhythmus beschwor wiederholt wechselnde Stimmungen, bis ideell und thematisch die Verbindung zum ersten Satz gefunden war. Dem Dirigenten gelang es aber, Mahlers strenge Formvorschriften in die enorme Vielgestaltigkeit der Partitur einzubinden. Der Schluss mit Glockenklang und gleissendem Orchesterprunk brachte nochmals Gipfelleistungen der Blechbläser, die vom Publikum mit enthusiastischem Jubel quittiert wurden.” Alexander Walther, Online Merker, 14/10/2014

“Emilio Pomarico proved especially in the final as a champion of cleverly built up huge increases. This superbly-made rondo finale was overcrowded and almost seemed to explode. The marching rhythm repeatedly evoked changing moods, until the connection to the first movement was found in idealistic and thematic terms. But the conductor succeeded in integrating Mahler’s strict formal requirements into the enormous diversity of the score. The end of bell sound and splashing orchestral splendor brought again peak performances of the brass, which were acknowledged by the audience with enthusiastic cheers.”