... reaches and moves the listener...

.... Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov were overshadowed in this concert (by the violin concerto). That is somewhat unjust because both, " A Night on Bald Mountain" as well as "Scheherezade" under the convincing leadership of the conductor William-Michael Costello profited. He is without a doubt a conductor who has the determination and ability to express music in such a way that it reaches and moves the listener. The orchestra gave an outstanding performance. Solo-clarinettist, oboe as well as concertmaster Espen Lilleslätten distinguished themselves in the demanding " Scheherezade" Knut Helbekkmo Bergenpuls.

Knut Helbekkmo Bergenpuls – Norwegian Newspaper

A triumph for Ugroski and Costello with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra

(…) proved the North-American conductor, who lives in Berlin, with confident sensitivity and a clear vision an understanding, with which he underlines and sufficiently differentiates inner processes.

ABC – Spanish newspaper

Return of the piano

Even the very first bars of this work [overture to Manfred], played by the Oppeln Philharmonic, showed a maximum degree of expression and feeling for the tempo orientated concept by this conductor (…).

Sibelius’ monumental 2nd Symphony filled the second part of this Friday evening. Both the mosaic shaped form and the original instrumentation of this fascinating work demanded a skilled distribution of tension and narrative width from the conductor.

GAZETA WYBROCA

Maestro Costello

The high art of skilful conducting was presented to the audience in Oppeln by this first-class musician William Michael Costello. The seemingly delicate conductor revealed an exceptionally passionate temperament and a great sensitivity. With expressive gestures he – temporarily resembling an animator – appeared to separate additional musical motives using invisible threads, thus forming the vivid structure of the piece.

(…) the non-cliché symphony in d-minor by César Franck, brilliantly interpreted by William Costello.

GAZETA, Oppeln

Perfect Brahms

The American conductor William-Michael Costello – graduate violinist of the Boston University – was unknown to us, which made his choice of Brahms works, renowned for their most difficult interpretation, even more exciting. The (…) concert was to be opened with the (…) “Tragic Overture”. This time the conductor’s baton would only extract the work’s entire noble pathos and the best from the orchestra: a magnificent full sound as well as (…) a solidly worked perfection of both expression and technique.

The skill of this conductor was revealed even more in the second orchestral piece – 1st Symphony in c-moll, written 1876. Out of all guest musicians in Lodz Costello, who lead both pieces from memory, showed himself as one of the most outstanding Brahms interpreters. (…)

TRYBUNA ŁÓDZKA

Beethoven Program

The (…) 5th Symphony in c-minor is a work, which will find its way to the goodwill of an audience, even if performed mediocre. However, Billy Costello was able to elicit something from the Allensteiner Orchestra, which could surprise even selective music lovers. The fast tempi and the precise articulation filled this interpretation with determination and energy. (…) Billy Costello knows his opportunities and knows how to use them. As a sensitive musician he designs the performance in a most honest and direct way and as an excellent Maestro he is able to extract much more from this orchestra than other conductors.

DZIENNIK POJEZIERZA, daily newspaper

In memory of Wroclaw’s artists

The program “Requiem” by G. Verdi. (…) The Wroclaw interpretation of this “Requiem” was prepared with the utmost care. (…)

This magnificent performance was achieved by the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the musical leadership of the American conductor William Costello.

Costello conducts the Wroclaw “Requiem” with a lot of momentum and at the same time ensuring a faultless sound of the orchestra.

SLOWO POLSKIE

Billy Costello in Allenstein

Often the conductor’s accompaniment says more about him than some symphonic performance. A conductor does not only interpret the music in a concert but he also re-interprets the soloist’s musical performance through accompaniment and often even through direction. This might sound like commonplace, but indeed conductors often forget this and they try to dominate the soloist or accompany their action passively. It emerged clearly that Billy Costello is not only an excellent conductor but also and especially a sensitive and intelligent musician, who is able to master any situation. (…) The orchestra led by Billy Costello reached the pinnacle of its potential and admittedly it did that in an effective way.

DZIENNIK POJEZIERZA, daily newspaper

“Le Sacre du printemps“ during autumn

Costello can lead everything.

DONOŚSLASKA GAZETA CODZIENNA, daily newspaper of lower Silesia

Beethoven and Mozart

All through the enchanting interpretation of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony the conductor proved his class. (…)

His interpretation filled the work with lively character and a distinct sound. Skilfully he obtained awareness from the orchestra for each mood change in the separate parts of the piece.

NOWOSCI

Arts/Leisure

In Costello’s concert, every movement of every work was approached as if never played by that orchestra before, and rehearsed meticulously for dynamic levels and (flexible) rhythmic exactitude. (…)

But it was in the Symphony [„Eroica“ opus 55] that Costello’s rare ability to pace the drama of pure music came to the fore via careful adjustments in the given text. (…)

If Costello can achieve the miracle of making the familiar sound new each time he conducts, he bears watching as an up-and-coming interpreter of extraordinary gifts.

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, James Helme Sutcliffe