Stefan Minde - Selected Reviews bio and resume

For "Der Rosenkavalier" with San Diego Opera
"The production succeeded in portraying these moods in all of the essential ways, not the least of which was the work of Stefan Minde, who conducted with a great sense of style and theatrical purpose.
- San Diego Union

For "Falstaff" with Portland Opera Company
"This Falstaff is, both in the choice of such connoisseur's opera and the integrity with which it was presented, a further testimony to the continuing artistic accolades Minde is gathering while leading the Oregon company. Maestro Minde's range of repertoire is certainly one of the most intelligently serious to be found anywhere in North America, and my sampling of the three of Portland productions in the past year has indicated that the actual quality of what goes on stage sustains the ambitious choice of works...under Minde's consistently enlivening and convincing view of the score we heard finely sustained string tone, beguiling woodwinds, and finally an ensemble between pit and stage that brought the opera to a glorious conclusion with its eight voice fugue. This production of "Falstaff' was one of unalloyed joy in every sense; it was the sort of performance you'd cheerfully sit through again the very next day....and I can't think of higher praise than that!"
- CBC Review, Vancouver, B.C.

For "Walküre" with Arizona Opera and Cincinnati Opera
"...However, as Wednesday's performance progressed, the drama almost took second place to another grand occurance: an evening of musical splendor so consistent, so beautiful, so thorough as to be almost unbelievable. The huge Arizona Wagner Orchestra, led by Stefan Minde, literally was "on a roll".

"...Anno small amount of credit should go to conductor Stefan Minde. It was he who combined the elements of excellence into a performance which will remain one of the most memorable of this opera.
- Cincinnati Post

For "Tristan und Isolde" with Portland Opera
"Conductor Stefan Minde, formerly chorus director and occasional conductor for the San Francisco Opera, achieved a stunning result. Minde took broad tempos, rather in the Furtwängler traditon. Thus with a 7pm curtain, final bows began a few minutes after midnight. It was worth it, for the whole evening was superb."
- The San Francisco Chronicle

For "Life of Orestes" Portland Opera
"His handling of the score was masterly - dynamic but not driven, emotional but not sentimental."
- Andrew Porter, The New Yorker

For "Elektra" with Seattle Opera
"In the pit, Portland Opera's Stefan Minde got exceptionally fine technical work from the orchestra; rarely have the Seattle Symphony musicians sounded so free and secure."
- Seattle Weekly

"...The orchestra has rarely sounded so important as it did with Minde. Just hearing Minde conduct Strauss would have made the evening a success."
- Post-Intelligencer

"...The orchestra very nearly stole the show with a brilliant, virtuoso performance of Strauss' wickedly difficult score. Stefan Minde, Portland Opera conductor, proved thoroughly that he is a master of the score, leading the orchestra with fire and precision. Don't miss this one."
- Seattle Times

For "Fidelio" with Vancouver B.C. Opera
"The production succeeds in most respects, due largely to the profoundly poetical conducting of Stefan Minde. The conductor, a familiar figure in the opera houses of Europe and the U.S., evokes from the orchestra the passion and lyricism that Beethoven poured into his only opera.
- Webster K. Nolan, United Press International

For "La Cenerentola" with Portland Opera
"...Minde not only assembled the cast, but he also is the conductor for the production. His performance last night demonstrated that he is finely attuned to difficult delicacies of Rossini, that his musical intelligence and sensitivity informed the whole production, that he is able to get beautifully controlled and transparent sound from the orchestra."
- Seattle Times

For "Meistersinger" with Portland Opera
"Last year Portland...attracted international attention by venturing a major American premiere: Ernst Krenek's "Life of Orestes'. The venture turned out to be a triumph, the sort of production that would credit New York or Vienna or London...That's why one returned this month for "Die Meistersinger' ...The credit must go to a controversial man with an impossible dream: Stefan Minde...With only four orchestra rehearsals, he made Wagner's lyricism surge and flow eloquently. This was leisurely, spacious Wagner in the Furtwängler-Knappertsbusch tradition, cleanly articulated and sensitively gauged. Minde presided like a superior musician who had been conducting "Meistersinger' all his life. Actually, this was his first."
- Martin Bernheimer, Los Angeles Times

"...Under the warm yet controlled conducting of the company's artistic director Stefan Minde, the opera was given its right and true underpinnings. From the blaze of the brilliant overture through to a truly festive conclusion the musical expressiveness of performance ranged engrossingly, often thrillingly. Minde's casting of this difficult work was as well judged as his conducting."
- Dr. Floyd St. Clair, Opera News and CBC Radio

"Minde's Portland "Meistersinger' proved to be a vastly moving musical experience: in fact, the most exciting and triumphant production of the entire opera season in the Pacific Northwest.
- CHQM/FM

"Stefan Minde, conductor and general director of Portland Opera, has gained an international reputation as an operatic conductor. Monday night he demonstrated a penetrating grasp of symphonic literature as well. Minde captured the color and accent of Bruckner (Symphony no. 4) with a fedelity truly remarkable.
- The Oregon Journal

"...Led by conductor Stefan Minde, the orchestra played with understated elegance...with Sunday's moving rendition of the Oratorio, he continues what promises to be a cherished tradition here in Portland..."
- Kip Richardson, The Oregonian

"Mendelssohn's famous overture was gorgeous and appropriately eerie, the dynamic climaxes thundering..."
- Ellen Bussing, The Oregonian

"...Conductor, Stefan Minde kept the superb Phoenix Symphony in balance..."
- James Reel, The Arizona Daily Star

"The Phoenix Symphony in the pit played with fabulous intensity under the musical direction of German-born conductor Stefan Minde...Minde and the PSO provided musical commentary that was wrenching, eerie, evocative and hypnotic..."
- Kenneth LaFave, Arizona Republic

"...The pickup orchestra played very well...the ensemble followed the musical ideas of condutor Stefan Minde beautifully. Minde held it all together with perfection, taking on one of the music world's most unwieldly and seemingly overwhelming challenges and succeeding.
- Sterling Beaff, Arizona Daily Star

"Arizona Opera coloses the "Ring' Tetralogy with a musical triumph. In the end, it was the music...Siegfried and Götterdämmerung were musically nothing short of world class. At the helm throughout it all was conductor Stfan Minde who maintained the musical tension magnificently by stretching tempos nearly to the breaking point.
- Kenneth LaFave, Arizona Republic

"...Further benefit came in the choice of Stefan Minde, the low-profile conductor formerly associated with the Portland Opera...with but a month to prepare himself and orchestra, Minde led first-rate, balanced performances..."
- J.A. Van Sant, Opera International

"...I was riveted by the music and time came to mean nothing. In general - the intermissions seemed to be longer than the operas...The best part of the Flagstaff Ring, however, was not on stage, but under it: Conductor Stefan Minde kept the music moving forward with balance, poise, and, when needed, the necessary wattage..."
- Kenneth LaFave, Arizona Republic