Vallet gets a spirited reading of the score from members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

But because the music is so alluring, and because the music and much of the dancing were performed with such grace and transcendent beauty, and because the singing by the three principals (Jennifer Johnson Cano, Orfeo; Maria Valdes, Amore; and Andriana Chuchman, Euridice) is so magnificent, it really doesn’t matter what stage directors and scenic designers and costumiers bring to a crown jewel such as Orfeo.

In the pit, conductor Pierre Vallet led the 1859 French version of the score (supervised by Hector Berlioz) with idiomatic style. This split of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra played this graceful music with skill and true artistry;

Pierre Vallet conducted with a fine feeling for the opera’s musical rewards.

Pierre Vallet’s refined approach to the luscious overture immediately set the tone from the start for the audience to rest assured that an honest delivery would be the key overall theme.

The overture itself was a masterpiece of melody which Maestro Vallet conducted with Gallic verve

Sombart’s playing is superb: technically precise but possessing a flexibility and freedom that lets the music breathe. Vallet conducts with an innate understanding of the soloist’s intentions.

The hushed music as she entered the garden was handled with particular elegance by the orchestra, conducted in both works with an ear for transparent textures and fleet motion by Pierre Vallet.

...outmatched by the chorus and orchestra who, galvanised by conductor Pierre Vallet, consistently grab Verdi’s score by the lapels.

French conductor Pierre Vallet strongly believes in every sound of every phrase and creates a sensitive conversation between himself and the music

P. Vallet's interpretation of the concept of this opera was somewhat reminiscent of the one offered by Riccardo Muti.

Compared to the latest opera premieres of the LNOBT, this time the orchestra, led by French conductor Pierre Vallet, sounded somewhat aristocratic and didn't overshadow anything at all

As he did with the opening number, Vallet established a very wide dynamic range early on, allowing for a high ceiling, which the group built to as seamlessly as can be done with such a technically demanding work.

“ with solid direction from Pierre Vallet...

The orchestra plays powerfully under Pierre Vallet's conducting,

...the orchestra, driven forward with a feverish intensity by Pierre Vallet

“Pierre Vallet, a fine conductor, gives this opera it’s full value...

With a meticulous attention to dynamic shifts and contrasts, guest conductor Pierre Vallet brought the curtain up with a trio of pieces from Berlioz’s “concert opera” The Damnation of Faust. The first selection, Menuet des Follets, got a jolly, balletesque sway balanced by pillowy strings; the second, Ballet des Sylphes, had a nocturnal if not particularly nymphlike sweep; the third, the Rakoczy March (based on the Hungarian national song) broght the boisterously dancing energy back up.