PRESS

“Robert Tweten, making his 17th appearance with the company (the most by far of any conductor), leads the Utah Symphony in a glorious performance of Sondheim’s magnificent score. Tweten’s perceptive reading from the pit—from the clarinet echoing Anthony’s infatuation with Johanna, to the piccolo accompanying Judge Turpin to the barber chair, to the turbulent strings and ironic brass throughout—is as central to the storytelling as any of the elements onstage.”

– Utah Arts Review, 2024

“The maestro himself, Robert Tweten, brings all participants, player, musician, crew, and viewer together for an unrivaled sensory experience.”

– Front Row Reviewers, 2020

“The Utah Symphony, led by Robert Tweten, gave a magnificent performance of the score.”

– Utah Arts Review, 2020

“The production completely satisfied musically and dramatically. Robert Tweten led eight players from the  NEC Philharmonia. The orchestra, with its active, varied, and complex role assigned to a small number of players, sounded exceptionally fine, and Tweten’s pacing of the score enlivened everything onstage.”

– The Boston Musical Intelligencer, 2019

“Recent Grammy winner Edward Parks, a baritone, impressed as a protective, soldierly older brother to Marguerite…while mezzo-soprano Alissa Anderson was sassy as Marguerite’s neighbor. . . The San Antonio Symphony in the pit played with gravity and balance under guest conductor Robert Tweten.”

– My San Antonio, 2019

“Robert Tweten conducted the performance. A regular with the company, he was comfortable with the orchestra, which played remarkably well, the many solo spots clearly and expressively performed.“

– Calgary Herald, 2019

“Utah Opera favorite Robert Tweten, conducting the Utah Symphony, conjured a buoyant orchestral lyricism and deft balance with singers.”

– Opera News, 2019

“Conductor Robert Tweten, a veteran of Utah Opera, led members of the Utah Symphony in a well-crafted performance of the score.”

– Utah Arts Review, 2018

“Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta and Conductor Robert Tweten create a masterful musicality between the chorus and the orchestra, creating some of the most musically effective moments of the story with the choral pieces.”

– Front Row Reviewers Utah, 2018

“Utah Opera Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta and Conductor Robert Tweten come together musically to deliver a stellar production”

– The Utah Review, 2018

“Canadian conductor Robert Tweten took the baton… giving continuous propulsion to the score which is musically significant and, atypically for Puccini, dramatically static. His orchestra and Michael Black’s chorus responded superbly.”

– Opera Canada, 2018

“Robert Tweten conducted in his NEC debut with energy, lightness, drama, and wit; whatever Musto asked for, Tweten and his accomplished band provided. Singers and pit always synced perfectly, and this is not easy with the complexity of preserving speech rhythms while making music.”

– Boston Musical Intelligencer, April 2018

“Robert Tweten conducted the Louisville Orchestra, and it sounded rich even when the only music coming from the pit was from the harpsichord.”

– WFPL.org, February 2018

“Conductor Robert Tweten led the Utah Symphony in a lovingly detailed performance of the lush Puccini score.”

– The Salt Lake Tribune, October 2017

“Robert Tweten conducted. He does this with precision and incredible pacing. Tweten has enjoyed a long collaboration with the Utah Opera and Symphony. This will be his eleventh experience conducting the Opera/Symphony since 2005. The orchestra swells and persuades the audience, just as much as the actors on the stage. We feel a shared connection with the orchestra and the notes they play. With a sixty piece orchestra, the pit was full. The sound falls upon the audience with what feels like perfection.”

– FrontRowReviewersUtah.com, October 2017

“Conductor Robert Tweten, conducting members of the Utah Symphony Orchestra, showed sensitivity to singer’s needs and produced a cohesively balanced and precise performance. The preludes to each act were musical gems, Bizet’s infectious melodies becoming earworms of an agreeable kind. ”

– Opera News, February 2017

“The Utah Symphony provides a stellar performance of the score under the direction of Robert Tweten. The orchestral sections that open each act were among the delights of Saturday’s performance; woodwind playing was particularly enjoyable.”

– Salt Lake Tribune, October 2016

“The production’s biggest treat came from the pit—members of the Utah Symphony Orchestra conducted brilliantly by Utah Opera favorite Robert Tweten. Quicksilver woodwinds and strings negotiated the score unerringly, and the band’s potent horn section capped thrilling climaxes. Tweten showed unerring sense of balance, blend and drama.”

– Opera News, January 2016

“Conductor Robert Tweten kept the pace lively in the pit, and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra showed how well they can play for the right conductor”

– Edmonton Journal, April 2015

“Conductor Robert Tweten presided over one of the most completely satisfying interpretations of a score at the Capitol Theatre in memory — musicians responding with thrilling musical swells and crests from the opening fugue to the heartstopping ending chords.”

– Opera News, January 2015

“Robert Tweten led the Utah Symphony in an outstanding performance of the luscious score.”

– Salt Lake Tribune, October 2014

“It began with the overture. “Carmen” is described as a marvel of orchestration, and guest conductor Robert Tweten’s direction of the Tulsa Opera Orchestra allowed all the elements of the orchestra to be clearly heard, each contributing their individual voice to the whole. The result was a performance that was a marvelous example of passionate restraint just forceful enough, never swooning through those well-known melodies.”

– Tulsa World, May 2014

“The compatible production team of director José Maria Condemi and conductor Robert Tweten closely examined themes of the characters’ private and public lives, highlighting the evolution of their relationships. New eyes on the venerable score also amped-up dramatic moments, providing solid musical underpinning for the gifted cast. . . and the Utah Symphony, currently playing at their highest level under new music director Thierry Fischer, responded well to Tweten’s intelligent interpretation.”

– Opera News, April 2014

“Robert Tweten leads the Utah Symphony in a well-paced and expressive performance of Verdi’s magnificent score.”

– Salt Lake Tribune, January 2014

“In the season’s final performance of Bizet’s opera on March 22, conductor Robert Tweten gave a suave account of the enticing score, and the chorus was fantastic.”

– Opera News, June 2013

“The truly excellent orchestra, sensitively led by Robert Tweten, is consistently satisfying, with warm string sounds and solid winds.”

– Sarasota Herald-Tribune, February 2013

“Conductor Robert Tweten, a Utah Opera favorite, summoned colorful and passionate playing from the superb Utah Symphony Orchestra, highlighting the score’s evocative details.”

– Opera News, January 2013

“The original Overture to Wagner’s “Tannhauser” […] Conductor Robert Tweten led the players in an interpretation alternately solemn and impassioned. […] Fresh from the preceding weekend’s run of Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the Philharmonic tackled the composer’s Fifth Symphony, the most popular of his seven. Tweten masterfully led the orchestra through this highly challenging work replete with an unusual and often quite surprising use of the orchestra. […] The opening Andante, taken at a good clip, was an intriguing mix of thick textures and odd instrumental combinations, creating a sound world uniquely Prokofiev. There was an almost manic drive to the Allegro marcato, a frantic train ride to an unnamed but imperative destination, punctuated by some sprightly wind playing. The expansive Adagio soared with the overwhelming passion of the love scene in “Romeo and Juliet”.

– Albuquerque Journal, January 2013

“Conductor Robert Tweten goaded lively and boisterous performances from the orchestra and chorus alike in this polished, artful and thoroughly entertaining production.”

– Opera Canada, November 2012

“Otello stands as a kind of Mount Olympus in the Verdi repertoire to direct, conduct and perform. Happily, all were up to task, as Calgary Opera under the auspices of director Kelly Robinson and conductor Robert Tweten delivered a triumph for its season opener…Finally, the orchestra is to be congratulated for their hard work in managing to rein in one of the most difficult operas in the repertoire. The orchestra was powerful and navigated their way cleanly through the titanic score with considerable skill, ably led by Maestro Tweten. It was an enthralling performance, befitting a triumphant opening night.”

– Calgary Herald, November 2012

“Conductor Robert Tweten led members of the Utah Symphony with sensitivity, putting the spurs to the orchestra to heighten dramatic moments but always with a keen ear for balance and tasteful phrasing.”

– Opera News, April 2012

“Tweten led an extroverted performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 ablaze with color and startling rhythms. Tweten masterfully sculpted a dynamic arc that naturally allowed the primary theme to soar brilliantly in the strings. The Finale…was indeed majestic, the intersecting lines of counterpoint illuminated by exultant playing in all sections of the orchestra. The decibel level of the applause that followed was truly deafening. The audience appreciation was palpable. For an opening night this couldn’t have been more successful.”

– Albuquerque Journal, December 2011

“The Edmonton Symphony, led by Robert Tweten, enriched the performance immensely. The supplemented brass section, in particular, deserves special mention, but the entire musical balance and attention to the orchestra’s role were superb.”

– Opera Canada, June 2011

“Tweten paced and blended orchestral and vocal forces skillfully, eliciting an engaging energy. Members of the Utah Symphony Orchestra articulated the witty score with precision and clarity. The opera’s ending fugue featured well-defined vocal and instrumental entrances, bobbing to the surface like feeding fish.”

– Opera News, 2011

“Conducted by Robert Tweten, the Utah Symphony orchestra’s performance of Verdi’s work is integral to the story — not just a well-executed and masterfully written accompaniment.”

– The Deseret News, 2011

“The company’s unpretentious style worked somewhat better in its Egyptian-themed staging of ‘Die Zauberflöte.’…The Sarasota Orchestra sounded impressive under conductor Robert Tweten.”

– The Wall Street Journal, 2010

“If you look at the G. Schirmer vocal score of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” you’ll see that it has only 167 pages of music. Yet some productions can seem interminable. Fortunately, the one presented by the Sarasota Opera positively flew by. First, the pacing was swift, starting with the well-known overture, played beautifully by the Sarasota Opera Orchestra under the direction of Robert Tweten.”

– Your Observer.com, 2010

“Conductor Robert Tweten led the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra with a sensible attention to the rise and fall of the dramatic action. There were no dry spots in any of the singers’ quieter moments, where instrumental zeal can overshadow the vocal effort.”

– Opera Canada, 2009

“Conductor Robert Tweten, making his debut with the company, favoured brisk tempos and a genial view of the score, particularly evident in the smooth, but skilfully played overture, surely the most famous in all opera.”

– Calgary Herald, 2009

“Musically, the production was well in hand with Robert Tweten wielding the baton. This young man has a remarkable flair for Rossini, invariably finding the right balance between singers and orchestra and capturing all the wit and sparkle in the score. He also had the courage and the skill to ‘press the pedal to the metal,’ as it were, with some blazing fast tempos. This fine cast and orchestra had apparently been rehearsed within an inch of their lives and in this opening night performance, they responded to Tweten’s beat with enthusiasm and musicality.”

– The Art of the Conductor.com, 2008

“Another star of the evening was the orchestra, with Maestro Robert Tweten, another newcomer, teasing out white-heat playing from the pit that would have graced several of the world’s major opera houses. The orchestral sound, even in the wonky acoustics of the Queen E, came out shimmeringly, with polished playing one of the highlights of an evening that offered pleasure after pleasure. This Tosca, one to add to the memory books (and I’ve seen Carerras, Caballé, and Domingo in these roles), with its lavish sets and top-flight cast, brought a splendid close to Vancouver Opera’s 2006-07 season.”

– Review Vancouver.org, 2007

“The chorus is terrific too, and conductor Robert Tweten gets nothing but beautiful playing from the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. This is a dream closing for an opera company, something that should get the subscriptions going for next year.”

– Vancouver Sun, 2007