“Jonathan Berger’s monodrama … is both threnody and protest, honouring the victims through the powerful combination of Vietnamese instruments expertly played by Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ with intense string playing by the Kronos Quartet. The skillful interweaving of blues with Vietnamese melodies and material derived from prayers at Yom Kippur is hugely affecting, the thudding helicopter rotors ambiguous as terror and/or salvation. ”
— Steph Power, BBC Music
“A remarkable piece of music and drama, allowing the enormity and the far-reaching impact of the tragedy to be displayed … a moving, deeply
spiritual piece” – Lark
“Speaks as much to today as it is a valuable history lesson. Once again, Kronos has taken on a piece with great resonance for our society”
– Sequenza 21
– James Oestereich, New York Times
“…bursts of instrumental color and vocal solos whose shape and urgency hinted at an expressive subtext.”
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
“The instrumental score… moved in and out of tonality like a vision that briefly pulls into focus before dissolving into a blur.”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
“…riveting…the music shifted from alienating dissonance to archetypal familiarity”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
“Berger, like Schoenberg, calls upon the instrumentalists to hold the listeners in the psycho-musical realm. The instrumental writing fascinates at just the right moments, supporting what is otherwise a delicate psychological experience.”
– Heather Heise, New Music Box
“…a fascinating compliment of extremely colorful, skillfully contrasted dissonant orchestral sounds…”
– San Francisco Classical Voice
“…taut… hauntingly beautiful choral harmonies that bled tellingly into Leon’s mad reveries.”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
“[Visitations]…charted new directions for a hybrid kind of operatic-performance art theater.”
– Mort Levine, Bay Area News Group
“This production is calling out to be toured around the world-”
– Be’eri Moalem, San Jose Classical Music Examiner
Tense and unforgiving, Mỹ Lai was called “a gripping affair, beginning to end” by the New York Times and “a brilliant stroke” by the Los Angeles Times
“Powerful, chilling, haunting….”
– Be’eri Moalem, San Jose Classical Music Examiner
“Berger’s operas stood out for their emotional honesty and the intense performances”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
“…bursts of instrumental color and vocal solos whose shape and urgency hinted at an expressive subtext.”
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
“The instrumental score… moved in and out of tonality like a vision that briefly pulls into focus before dissolving into a blur.”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
“…riveting…the music shifted from alienating dissonance to archetypal familiarity”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
“Berger, like Schoenberg, calls upon the instrumentalists to hold the listeners in the psycho-musical realm. The instrumental writing fascinates at just the right moments, supporting what is otherwise a delicate psychological experience.”
– Heather Heise, New Music Box
“…a fascinating compliment of extremely colorful, skillfully contrasted dissonant orchestral sounds…”
– San Francisco Classical Voice
“…taut… hauntingly beautiful choral harmonies that bled tellingly into Leon’s mad reveries.”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
“[Visitations]…charted new directions for a hybrid kind of operatic-performance art theater.”
– Mort Levine, Bay Area News Group
“This production is calling out to be toured around the world-”
– Be’eri Moalem, San Jose Classical Music Examiner
“Powerful, chilling, haunting….”
– Be’eri Moalem, San Jose Classical Music Examiner
“Berger’s operas stood out for their emotional honesty and the intense performances”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times