Martin Pearlman

Martin Pearlman has directed Boston Baroque in its annual subscription series since its founding in 1973-74, leading the ensemble in many American and world period-instrument premieres of operas, choral works and instrumental works. He has also led the ensemble on tour in the U.S. and Europe and in its internationally distributed recordings, three of which have received Grammy nominations.   Among the modern-instrument ensembles he has conducted are The Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center, the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Utah Opera, Opera Columbus, Boston Lyric Opera, San Antonio Symphony, the New World Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Alabama Symphony and others.   He is the only conductor from the period-instrument field to have performed live on the internationally–televised Grammy Awards show.   Boston Baroque   “Mr. Pearlman is an inventive conductor with an ear for color, balance and placement.”   —The New York Times   “Under Pearlman, Boston Baroque’s playing combines supreme technical precision with unexpected psychological depth... This is story-telling par excellence."   —Gramophone   “Boston Baroque’s performance [displayed] vibrant color and a fleet momentum that brought out Haydn’s architecture... Pearlman and company made it a vivid, effervescent occasion.”   —Boston Globe [Haydn, The Creation]   “Boston Baroque [is] one of the world’s premier period-instruments bands... These are wonderful performances that I would put up against any comers, either on period instruments or modern.”   —Fanfare   “Martin Pearlman and his Boston Baroque have released some wonderful CDs over the years. As the foremost period-instruments ensemble in the United States and one of the premier groups in the world... Free from academic intellectualism and pedantic musings, Pearlman brings a refreshing vitality to his readings. The music is vibrant and alive and just plain fun to listen to."   —Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)   “Pearlman really knows what he wants to hear and how to get it, and that’s a lithe, fleet, transparent, ebullient, dancing performance.”   —Boston Globe   “An exhilarating program... Performances that were remarkable for their transparency, agility, and drama... The performances of both the Beethoven symphonies were revelatory.”   —Boston Globe   "If there is a musician's musician in town, it's probably Martin Pearlman. The artist director of Boston Baroque might be known as cerebral or dispassionate if his performances weren't so electrifying."   —Boston Herald   "Never antiquarian, always alive..."   —The Times of London   Messiah   "Pearlman: #1" [Chosen in 1997 as best of all Messiah recordings up to that time].   —Classical CD (London)   "Behold I tell you a mystery: the history of recording has not seen a more beautifully styled or elegantly sung Messiah than this one."   —Detroit News and Free Press   Monteverdi Vespers   “An exultant reading by Martin Pearlman...opulent... His chorus was a wonder, their singing combining an ethereal purity of tone with expressive fervor.”   —Chicago Tribune   "Boston Baroque’s music director, Martin Pearlman, says he considers the Vespers one of the ensemble’s signature works, with good reason: its 1997 recording (on Telarc) remains a standout in a crowded field...this was a vital, often ebullient performance."   —New York Times (New York performance, 2010)   "[A] thoroughly laudable performance... This was an experience not soon to be forgotten."   —Opera News   "Martin Pearlman...transformed those singular notes from Monteverdi into passion, miracle and auditory radiance."   —Concertonet.com   “Pearlman’s mastery of the total arc of the Vespers was always and everywhere evident... It’s no secret that many consider Pearlman’s version 'the' Vespers of our time."   —Hub Review   Opera   "One can't praise the precise and adept conducting of Martin Pearlman highly enough... Pearlman is a Gluckian through and through, and it shows in every note of this enterprise."   —Fanfare [Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride]   "A major success. Pearlman's forces lend a special theatrical excitement possessed by none of the previous versions."   —San Francisco Examiner [Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride]   "Pearlman as always makes an orchestra understand the demands of a great opera and he did here... And Pearlman was a magician with the baton."   —Boston Herald [Don Giovanni]   "Boston Baroque's Don Giovanni was about as close as one can get to operatic perfection... Kudos, Mr. Pearlman."   —OperaOnline   "This superb production is cause for celebration... Martin Pearlman leads his Boston Baroque and its excellent chorus in a fluid, beautifully theatrical performance."   —Billboard   “Boston Baroque [gave a] gripping, deeply moving performance... Pearlman [is] an inspired interpreter of Monteverdi’s music.”   —Opera News [Monteverdi, Il ritorno d'Ulisse]   “What an extraordinary act of scholarship and imagination Boston Baroque’s Martin Pearlman has achieved...[Pearlman’s] rhythmical vigor and dramatic contrasts of timbre and tempo... made for a riveting three hours.”   —Boston Phoenix [Monteverdi, Il ritorno d'Ulisse]   “Is Boston Baroque period performance's best kept secret?" "Martin Pearlman, [conducted] his 25-strong band with verve, precision and great rhythm... This was high-class Handel."   —Opera Today (U.K.) [Handel, Xerxes]   “Martin Pearlman led the remarkable Boston Baroque orchestra and chorus in a performance filled with energy and sparkling wit."   —Opera News [Handel, Xerxes]   “Martin Pearlman and his ensemble delivered a strong, richly detailed performance of Xerxes... The orchestra under Pearlman's direction was never less than crystal clear, rhythmically steady, and precisely balanced."   —Boston Globe   "Under Martin Pearlman's direction, Rameau's imaginative orchestration was splendidly realized... Soloists, chorus, and orchestra performed this florid, ornamented music with clarity, style, and grace."   —Musical America   "Martin Pearlman's musical direction was impeccable."   —Chicago Sun Times [with Mark Morris Dance Group, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas]   “Martin Pearlman’s vital reading made one grateful for this rare opportunity to experience an American opera production with period instrument support.”   —Financial Times of London   Other Orchestras & Opera Companies   "In the lean, Gluckian clarity of early Mozart, [Martin Pearlman] has few podium peers."   —American Record Guide [Boston Lyric Opera]   "Martin Pearlman...has taken a couple of giant steps in the direction of historical authenticity. The result at Orchestra Hall Wednesday night was lively and invigorating—perhaps the most interesting Messiah that's been heard hereabouts in recent years."   —Minneapolis Star Tribune [Minnesota Orchestra]   "The musical heart of this production, though, beats steadily and securely in the pit, where conductor and harpsichordist Martin Pearlman directs the proceedings. His tempos always seem natural and right. And his continuo...is beautifully played, ever sensitive to text and singers. [The orchestra] performs expertly under Pearlman's leadership."   —The Columbus Dispatch [Opera/Columbus, Monteverdi's Poppea]   "You couldn't ask for a better example of the fresh baroque breeze than Boston Baroque director Martin Pearlman... The scholarship was certainly present, but in the background, where it belongs. In the foreground was the music itself—swift, lithe, organic, swift, intuitive, colorful, theatrical... Pearlman's tempos were often breathtakingly fast, wonderfully exhilarating. But the music never sounded rushed and where stately grandeur is called for...he provided it with a flourish."   —San Antonio Express [San Antonio Symphony]   "Hallelujah for Pearlman's Messiah... It riveted from beginning to end."   —The Birmingham News [The Alabama Symphony]   "This was Mozart conducting of the highest order: brisk yet not rushed, detailed yet not pedantic. And communication and coordination between the pit and the stage was absolute."   —The Tab [Boston Lyric Opera]   "Conductor Martin Pearlman's beautifully calculated pacing..."   —The Washington Post [Washington Opera, Kennedy Center, Handel's Semele]   "Mr. Pearlman's direction was crisp and clearly stamped with his personal vision."   —The Washington Times [Washington Opera, Kennedy Center, Handel's Semele]   "The direction of Martin Pearlman [was] clear and fresh as at a premiere. He brought out the character [of the music] with musical taste and knew how to give internal life to each note, each word... [The chorus] never so involved, so subtle as in their singing of the beautiful Monteverdi work, was pushed to their best by Pearlman."   —Le Droit, Ottawa [National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa, Monteverdi Vespers]