“[Hrůša] is wonderful in this work, superbly judging its mixture of lyricism and tension. Katya’s almost mystic childhood reminiscences of church sound ravishing, and a tremendous surge of eroticism takes your breath away when she and Boris finally meet in the garden scene. Elsewhere the terror and emotional violence are uncompromisingly realised, from the hammering monotones that close the first act to the visceral ferocity of the storm … this is musically overwhelming. You really do need to hear it.” 

Gramophone Magazine  October 2023

“… In Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, Hrůša shaped the music meticulously. The central waltz movement whirled and spun – hints of 1940s American swing – while the last dance became snarling and cataclysmic … Who could fail to succumb to Hrůša’s charms? Usually elegant rather than extravagant in gesture, here he let rip, hips swaying, left foot turnouts and elegant kicks, balletic arms. He would be a natural to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic’s waltz-fest New Year’s Day concert.

The Guardian  September 2023

“… this was a distinguished version [of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances], full of precision and energy and, most of all, wonderfully balanced. Dynamic switches were never too abrupt. Fanfares were tempered while laments were at no point overly melodramatic.” 

Bachtrack  September 2023

“… Jakub Hrůša achieved an extraordinary level from the entire orchestra … executed with grace and exquisite musicality … the entire musical discourse was of commendable clarity and transparency. A real delight.”

Clásica Moumental  September 2023

“… a memorable interpretation … rousing … Hrusa’s astonishing omnipresence is visibly at home in Mahler’s orchestral verbiage, and he understands the Bohemian-Moravian dialect of his compatriot who set out to build a symphonic counter-world to the corrupt world.”

Tageszeitung  August 2023

“… a transcendent Mahler Ninth Symphony … nuanced and illuminating … overt collective virtuosity … a clear picture of Hrůša’s conducting style: controlled, exact, engaged and expressive … Hrůša made his greatest impression, summoning music of radiance, grandeur and ravishing intensity … magnificent …”

Chicago on the Aisle June 2023

“It was simply epic how Hrůša made these concentrated notes speak with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein, and it was only the beginning of a breath-taking programme …“

Der Standard May 2023

“After the interval, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, intense in every note … The Czech conductor shaped Shostakovich’s double meanings with clever dramaturgy, intense concentration and wonderfully shaped endings. Huge cheers.“

Wiener Zeitung  May 2023

“… masterly conducting … poise as well as glamour … brilliantly pictorial …”

The Times  February 2023

“Total brilliance in Bartok, Dvorak and Strauss … a firebrand of a concert … the best live performance of the symphonic poem I’ve heard … the Philharmonia sounded like the sleekest orchestra in London …. astounding artistry … the most persuasive, achingly beautiful account [of Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel] …”

The Arts Desk  February 2023

“… once again a triumph … musical visionary …  an incredible experience, certainly one of the best performances I have ever heard in my life. Spectacular evening.”

Harmonie  December 2022

“Power and precision … mastery … breadth and accuracy … In the end, the Musikverein was in a state of great euphoria, bringing the conductor back onto the stage four more times.”

ORF  November 2022

“One has never heard it so tenderly, so sweetly and transcendently … [Hrusa] manages to create a great arc across all four movements; he leads the ravishingly musical Bamberg Symphony Orchestra with verve and brilliance through the work, whose importance, whose grandeur becomes particularly impressing through this interpretation.”

Pizzicato  August 2022

“… conductor Jakub Hrůša carries the singers. He leaves all the vocal parts free to develop in a differentiated and individual way, yet never gives up the reins. Under his baton, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra creates intimate and warm moments of sound, which abruptly tip over, if need be, to become harder and more stinging or storm-like. Janáček’s multi-layered music is thus conveyed vividly and directly. And the balance between romantic cantilenas and energetic, audacious rhythms succeeds magnificently.”

BR Klassik  August 2022

“Stand-in Jakub Hrůša led the Lucerne Festival Orchestra to another triumph with Mahler…Since yesterday, this summer festival has a star with hero status.”

Luzerner Zeitung  August 2022

“Hrůša steps in and strikes gold with an all-Mahler concert in Lucerne … With Riccardo Chailly having fallen ill, the baton for this Lucerne Festival Orchestra programme was passed to the gifted Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša, who hopped from the Salzburg Festival to Lake Lucerne and not only saved the evening, but led a truly enlightened performance.”

Bachtrack August 2022

“Jakub Hrusa’s incredible achievement … the Czech conductor worked miracles at the head of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra on Wednesday evening for a formidable “1st Symphony” by Mahler … It’s a success story as we like it, the story of a replacement at short notice that turned out to be successful. Riccardo Chailly was declared unwell on the morning of the concert and had to be replaced … Insisting on keeping things fresh, Hrusa conducted the concert without rehearsal, using Maestro Chailly’s annotated score (which he had studied carefully for the rest of the day) as the basis for his interpretation. Everyone was amazed by the intensity of the concert and the quality of the orchestra, given the circumstances. No sooner had the last chord sounded than the audience leapt to their feet to salute the conductor and musicians. Standing ovation!”

Le Temps  August 2022

“ … this revival Wagner was conducted on the stage of the Royal Opera for the first time by Jakub Hrůša, and his conception and performance earned great acclaim both from the audience, who visibly and audibly cheered on him, and from critics … if Jakub Hrůša were to conduct one of Wagner’s other operas in the future, I would really hurry to watch the performance.”

Harmonie June 2022

“… the conductor’s most distinctive feature was his attention to the unfolding musical arc, his capacity to grasp the big picture and only then allow for microscopic enquiries. Undoubtedly, the perspicuity of Hrůša’s interpretation was an ideal match for Dvořák’s score … Hrůša’s scrupulous control over dynamics and phrasing, as well as his fortunate choice of tempos, proved the value of the symphony as a functioning and exhilarating mechanism of its own … ”

Bachtrack  June 2022

“[the score] requires a dab hand on the baton to spark it into life. With Jakub Hrůša, that is never in doubt: his fresh, fluid and warm-hearted conducting makes these four and a half hours flash by.”

The i April 2022

“The way it was played last night, by Jakub Hrůša and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, will have delighted Lohengrin devotees … Hrůša treated us to a masterclass in Wagnerian conducting …”

Bachtrack April 2022

“Musically, the revival is built on extremely strong foundations. Jakub Hrůša has an unerring sense of the work’s structure …. The Royal Opera orchestra’s playing in the great scene between Lohengrin’s two enemies, Telramund and Ortrud, in act two was gripping.”

The Guardian April 2022

“Jakub Hrůša shines at the podium … Best of all was the orchestral playing under the astute leadership of Jakub Hrůša … the climaxes, to the Prelude and to each of the acts, are just stunning. The Royal Opera is on the lookout for a new Music Director: could this engagement by a try-out for Hrůša? If so, he is a strong contender.”

The Arts Desk  April 2022

“Hrusa’s contribution … was crucial. His handling of the climactic procession to the minster later in the act, of the unfolding denouement in the last act and indeed of the whole drama was revelatory … masterly musical direction … an evening of acute theatrical potency”

Evening Standard  April 2022

“What makes this revival truly stand out is its talent … conductor Jakub Hrusa cannily distils the eeriest sonorities of the score, highlighting its bleak beauty … Hrusa deploys the big guns of the enlarged orchestra with authority …”

The Times April 2022

“Simply magnificent Voříšek symphony and Beethoven Ninth from Hrůša and the Philharmonia … Even by the Philharmonia Orchestra’s exalted standards, this was an exceptional concert … So many moments of great character here – it truly did sound as if the players were having a ball at the sheer joy of performance … a superb account characterised by Hrůša’s incredibly intelligent conducting. He sees the long view, so structurally each movement has a grand arc of its own and each, in turn, leads inexorably to that finale … the strength of Hrůša’s interpretation and the Philharmonia’s magnificent realisation of the score … This was certainly one of the finest Beethoven Ninth’s this reviewer has heard, prepared for via a perfectly judged, and impeccably executed, first half … Simply magnificent.”

Seen and Heard International  April 2022

“[Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4] has never been heard in a more fresh and colourful, imaginative, and richly blossoming performance than in this one under Jakub Hrůša.”

ICMA January 2022

“It’s all here! Taut, refreshing, often inspired, never bland. Such music-making confirms Hrůša as among the very finest Mahler conductors of the younger generation.”

Gramophone Magazine  September 2021

“I don’t believe that I have ever heard this symphony before in such a compelling, narrative, atmospheric and agitated performance … astonishing …”

Pizzicato March 2020

“… very special … really superb … [Hrůša] has this music in his blood …”

Fanfare Magazine July 2017

“… a triumph of balanced energy, gentle emotion, and clear sound … There is something beguiling and profoundly right about Hrůša’s way with the music … a privileged glimpse into the human heart.”

Fanfare Magazine July 2017

“With an original approach that privileges epic scope in measured tempi, the conductor Jakub Hrusa offers the famous score a most poignant vision. Perfectly mastering the balance between instruments, he gives life to fragrant emotion throughout the cycle.”

Opus Haute Définition May 2017

“… colourful and exciting … impassioned … animated … impressive … an auspicious debut.”

The New York Times May 2017

“Ma Vlast clearly is close to Jakub Hrusa’s heart. He made it speak through the orchestra to the hearts of his listeners… Mark well the name of this upwardly mobile conductor. He deserves a return engagement at Orchestra Hall.”

Chicago Tribune May 2017

“Everything I hear from this charismatic Czech conductor leaps off the page … Hrůša showed how completely he is inside the music in this big-hearted, compelling performance. Every instrumental nuance, every slender rubato and explosion of drama took us directly into this Symphony’s universal but specifically Czech character … spellbinding …”

Classical Source April 2017