Gnecchi ́s Cassandra

„Israel Gursky did an admirable job of conducting this demanding score.“

-Eric Myers, Opera News, 1/1/17

„...Israel Gursky led the Teatro Grattacielo Orchestra in a forceful, intriguing performance that flew by...“

-John Yohalem,, 10/11/2016

„One could consider the star of the evening to be conductor Israel Gursky who brought out the many nuances of this impressive score.“

-Meche Kroop,, 10/9/2016


Iphigénie en Tauride

„Der zweite Teil des dreistündigen Abends ist Christoph Willibald Glucks Oper „Iphigenie auf Tauris“, gekürzt aber nicht an den falschen Stellen entschlackt. Das Orchester schillert in vielen Nuancen, das leise, synkopische Pochen als Unheilsverkündung funktioniert genauso hervorragend, wie große, heroische Bögen. Dirigent Israel Gursky hat die Dynamik von Orchester und Chor voll im Griff.

-Martin Bürkl, BR Klassik, 4/24/2016

„Subtil ist hier wenig, gewollt viel, die Wirkung macht ́s, und nach der Pause geht es mit dem Dirigat von Israel Gursky und der Stimmgewalt von Theodora Vargas Iphigenie mit Schmackes weiter. Am Ende jubelt das Publikum über einen mit Macht und Anspruch hingezimmerten Abend.“

-Egbert Tholl, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 4/24/2016

„Die leise nagenden Bratschen während Orests Arie, die überwältigend schöne Totenklage Iphigenies (Theodora Varga): zum Heulen schön. Israel Gursky hielt alle Fäden in der Hand und ermöglichte wirklich anrührende Szenen in dieser Oper, bei der die Zeitgenossen sogar die ganze Zeit vor Rührung geweint hatten, obwohl das Wort Liebe nie vorkommt.“

-Claudia Böckel, Mittelbayrische Zeitung, 4/24/2016

„Das Orchester unter der Leitung von Israel Gursky erfasst die Partitur in Glucks Oper mit Sinn für Spannungsbögen und Details und der Chor wurde von Alistair Lillay gut einstudiert.“

-Stefan Rimek,, 4/25/2016



„The conductor, Israel Gursky, a Grattacielo regular, is a sure guide through this lush repertory. On Saturday he was flexible with the singers without ever losing momentum, and the orchestra bloomed for him. (Here, the balalaikas were mandolins.) The Cantori New York chorus, directed by Mark Shapiro, was effectively solemn in the prisoners’ despondent marches.“

-Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times, 10/26/15


Konzert mit den Augsburger Philharmonikern und Placido Domingo

"Die Augsburger Philharmoniker unter der Leitung von Israel Gursky legten saubere Arbeit vor. Das Konzert, das mit der konzertanten Ouvertüre von Nabucco begann, war den Schwaben keinesfalls zu groß – im Gegenteil. Den Tenor, der die Bühnen dieser Welt gesehen hat, trug das Orchester unter Gurskys Leitung federleicht in den Nachthimmel und in die Herzen des Publikums."

-Christian Eckl,, 7/2/15

"...Die Augsburger Philharmoniker machten ihre Sache unter der Leitung von Israel Gursky allerdings gut und sekundierten den Solisten auch im Operettenteil sehr aufmerksam"

-Juan Martin Koch,, 7/23/15


Teatro Grattacielo's 20th Anniversary Gala

"Having worked on and performed in numerous concert performances of opera, I was singularly impressed with the exquisite balance conductor Gursky achieved among soloists, chorus and orchestra. So often concert performances of operas suffer in this regard, largely because the orchestrations were designed to be heard from a pit, rather than from the same stage as the singers. This problem never surfaced, even as the orchestra’s musical intensity and texture swelled. Gursky proved a skilled and emotionally committed conductor, as well as a sensitive, attentive accompanist. And, in general, the orchestra and chorus rose to meet his vision."

-Arlo McKinnon, Opera News Magazine 3/2015


Alfano's Sakuntala

“Teatro Grattacielo, devoted to concert productions of Italian operatic rarities, delivered in a warm, fragrant bath of a performance on Tuesday at the N.Y.U. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. The music had lush charm in the Grattacielo orchestra’s..committed performance, conducted with energy by Israel Gursky”

-Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 11/22/2013

“Israel Gursky conducted the orchestra and chorus for the performance in the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 19, presiding over a noble reading of this intricate tapestry of sound.. Both the outline and spirit of this elusive opera were more than adequately, even poetically suggested by Gursky and his colleagues.”

-Peter G. Davis, Musical America, 11/21/2013
“Israel Gursky led a taut, swift-moving performance full of exquisite instrumental colors.” -John Yohalem,, 11/20/2013


La Boheme


-Cornelia Iredell,Opera News, 11/1/2013


Madama Butterfly

“Led by...Israel Gursky spirited and meticulous conducting of the Alabama Symphony, this was riveting opera from the overture to the final curtain... Gursky molded a sweet, luscious sound from the orchestra the blended and swelled, as needed”

-Michael Huebner, The Birmingham News, 1/26/2013


Montemezzi's La Nave

"The orchestra, perhaps the most important ingredient of La Nave, played with both skill and expressive flair for conductor Israel Gursky, who also deftly coordinated the chorus and a variety of antiphonal instrumental effects located about the theater."

-Peter G Davis, Musical America, 11/5/2012

“Teatro Grattacielo lavished superior forces on this undertaking. Under the firm hand of Israel Gursky in his New York conducting debut, the Teatro Grattacielo orchestra and Men's Chorus and the Dessoff Symphonic Chorus executed the difficult score with vivid clarity.”

-Eric Myers, Opera News, 1/1/2013

"The sheer lushness of the score was beautifully brought out by Israel Gursky's passionate conducting of the Teatro Grattacielo orchestra, and his timing seemed to me faultless - he let the music breathe, but also drove it along with irresistible momentum."

-David Chandler, Opera Today, 11/10/2012

"Israel Gursky, another New York debutante, led the company orchestra and all properties to an exceptionally lively and convincing performance of a work that seemed to delight all palates present."

-John Yohalem,, 11/2/2012


Così fan tutte

"The musical performance was more energetic than dazzling, but it had undeniable integrity. Firm, judicious guidance came from Manhattan School of Music alumnus Israel Gursky, who has been conducting at Washington National Opera since 2007. He found a viable balance between detail and pacing. The tightly controlled ensembles did not culminate in a virtuoso blaze of speed or push too obviously for dramatic depth but followed a more modest dynamic. Each of the acts worked to a convincing conclusion in calibrated steps. As in any worthy Così, the emotional high points came in the crucial Act II love duets of both couples - "Il core vi dono" and especially the soprano-tenor "Fra gli amplessi" - which were performed with affecting lyricism."

-David J. Baker, Opera News, 3/2012


Il Postino

"Al frente del Coro y la Orquesta del Teatro de Bellas Artes se contó con la batuta concertadora de Israel Gursky, que conforme fueron avanzando las funciones logró un ascendente rendimiento musical del conjunto."

-José Noé Mercado, Pro Ópera, 10/2011

"El director concertador Israeli Israel Gursky desprendió de la Orquesta de la Ópera un sonido afinado, matizado, justo y eficaz."

-Vladimiro Rivas Iturralde, Milenio Online, 10/16/2011

"Otro de los aspectos que enriqueció la puesta en escena, estrenada en el Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, en Los Ángeles, California, el 23 de septiembre de 2010, fue el acompañamiento musical, a cargo del Coro y de la Orquesta del Teatro de Bellas Artes, bajo la dirección de Israel Gursky, porque fue el acoplamiento ideal para los actores centrales."


"Afinidad y compenetración existió entre la orquesta y el director israelí Israel Gursky quien con seguridad y dinamismo extrajo la musicalidad y ligereza de la orquestación que fusiona diversos estilos e influencias como Puccini y Debussy entre otros."

-Una Voca Poco Fa, 11/14/2011


Don Pasquale

"There was a great deal of of spark from chorus and orchestra alike. Conductor Israel Gursky took the opening measures of the overture at warp speed, sending a fun jolt through the house...the net effect of Gursky's propulsive but eloquently contoured and rubato-sensitive approach to the score yielded consistently persuasive results."

-Tim Smith, Opera News, 08/2011


Les Contes d'Hoffman

"Israel Gursky conducted convincingly in the pit"

-Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, 08/07/2011

"The rest of the soloists and the chorus made dynamic contributions... So did the orchestra. Despite being chamber-sized, that ensemble produced a good deal of cohesive sound and expressive depth for conductor Israel Gursky, whose knowing way with the score yielded equally satisfying doses of gentle nuance and all- out, riveting passion."

-Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun, 08/09/2011

"Throughout the evening, Israel Gursky and the small but stuffed-to-the-gills pit orchestra did a fine job accompanying the cast without drowning them out."

-Terry Ponick, The Washington Times, 08/08/2011



"Under Israel Gursky's baton, the 31 Alabama Symphony musicians forged a silvery blend with the leads and chorus, its ebbs and swells impeccably calculated, the opera's rich orchestration and melodies soaring resplendently."

-Michael Huebner, The Birmingham News, 1/30/2011

Hänsel und Gretel

"PORTopera's new production of "Hansel and Gretel," which opened Thursday at Merrill Auditorium, has everything -- wonderful sets and costumes, excellent singing in all the roles, and some of the best orchestral music I've heard from the pit in years. Under conductor Israel Gursky, it even has echoes of Wagner."

-Christopher Hyde, The Portland Press Herald, 7/31/2010

"Humperdinck's score was in the capable hands of Israel Gursky who got things off to a glorious beginning with a gleaming reading of the overture that had Wagnerian breadth and allowed the music to soar and, well, do it's job. Throughout the evening Gursky struck an ideal balance never allowing the orchestra to cover the singers at any point, yet permitting the house to swell with sound at every climax. The band has rarely sounded better than they have here."

-Paul Padillo,, 8/2/2010


Roméo et Juliette

"This year marked the company debut of Israel Gursky, a gifted young conductor whose quiet command drew lush, beautiful sounds from the pit. Tempos were brisk, and lines were shaped exquisitely: the climatic crowd scene, in which Mercutio and Tybalt are slain, was beautifully crafted by Gursky and Vaughn, with rousing wellexecuted swordplay choreographed by Mark Bedell."

-Judith Malafronte, Opera News, October 2008

"Vaughn's artistic direction, however, coupled with the superb conducting of Israel Gursky, reveals a thoroughly modern masterpiece... Gursky's orchestra, composed mainly of Portland Symphony musicians, was indistinguishable from that of the Metropolitan Opera and often better, for example in the moving cello and violin duos."

-Christopher Hyde, Portland Press Herald, July 26, 2008


Don Giovanni

"What a superb house debut for conductor Israel Gursky. As the company's assistant conductor, he knows this orchestra, which put a full palette of color and texture at his disposal."

-Daniel Ginsberg, The Washington Post, November 10, 2007

"One sits for three hours as if facing a headwind that blows with passionate velocity from stage and orchestra pit, where WNO assistant conductor Israel Gursky made his main-stage debut as a man closely attuned to Pascoe's concept of the work."

-Wes Blomster, Opera Today, November 19, 2007