‘...An orchestra that showed an unquestionable artistic commitment at all times and in all of its sections, especially visible in those irresistible bowings of the solid string section formed by 44 members… The “Concerto for Orchestra” of the Hungarian Béla Bartók closed the program. The orchestra of 71 musicians magnificently conducted by Beatriz Fernández, made the most of the score by pulling all of the resounding substance of its staves….’
Luis Alfonso Bes. “El Heraldo de Aragón”, on the 25th of March
‘...the solos were always worthy of applause and praise. (...)
...they performed with impeccable correction, as for example the tubas in the startling sequence of the Dies Irae, or the solo flute, who shone since the repeated notes in the beginning of the symphony. Oboes, clarinets, the four bassoons, and, in general, the brass section, showed its best qualities.’
‘The string section deserves a special mention, since its mission in this committed symphony is as essential as the rest of the sections’, with no exception. Hilari García Gázquez managed to make it sound with ductility and coordination, with a solid family of double basses and a concertmaster who knew how set the beat wonderfully. The two harps brought fantasy, magic and colour in a substantial and bold role during the waltz, as well as the timpanist and the percussion in general, who put the solid rhythmic base in of a well organised and measured reading from an elegant podium, in a very effective way.
Justo Romero. Levante-EMV, on the 19th of May 2018
‘And after that, we still had to listen to none other than the ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ of Berlioz. Facing this piece with a young orchestra is a great challenge, and the Valencian university students overcame it thanks to their dedication, their previous work and, especially, the fact that they had a professional conducting like Hilari García Gázquez.’
Juan Carlos Galtier. El Heraldo de Aragón, on the 5th of March 2018
‘And of course! The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Universitat de València, whose enthusiasm, vitality and availability are always an example for those big professional symphony orchestras. And about their master, Hilari García Gázquez (La Pobla Llarga, 1975), always a resourceful and solvent conductor with a bombproof personality.’
Justo Romero. Levante-EMV, on the 19th of December 2017
‘The absolute implication of the master Hilari Garcia Gázquez and the enthusiasm of the young university students created several moments of fine artistic strength.’
Justo Romero. Levante-EMV, on the 22nd of October 2017
‘...the master performed an outrageous version of the 2nd Symphony in E Minor by Rachmaninov, ...Hilari Garcia performed fluently and with only few but fundamental gestures -and not tools-, he made us feel the drama and the intensity of the 60 minutes which the play lasts.He allowed the strings to be the main characters, accompanied with the English horn and the wonderful performances of the clarinet and the oboe. To end with, he showed us passionated phases in which any pro rachmaninoviano would notify the moments and harmonies used by the composer in his concerts for piano. Special night full of thunderous ovations, music and future They will be even better’.
José Doménech Part. Levante, 8th of April of 2017
‘The audience enjoyed the performance, clapped and even cheered both interpreters and interpreted... The vibrant academic opening day ended as it must so: as an indisputable success as a whole. A success belonging to those heroic Valencian composers who, in difficult time were the origin of everything and they owe the fact that in their beloved country, Valencia, there is an orchestra and instrumentalists such as the ones who perform in the Phylarmonic Orchestry of the Universitat de València.
Justo Romero. Levante, 22nd of October of 2016
‘The first play of ‘Carmina Burana’ showed a disciplined orchestra being conducted by Hilari Gázquez. Some features resulting notorious in ‘Fortune plango vulnera’’.
Alfonso Bes, Heraldo Aragón, 22nd of December of 2015
‘The success was so exalted as always (...) the general good work of the orchestra. To this triumph contributed the balance reached by the discreet Hilari Garcia between the possibilities of the intepreters and the claims established by the musical score.’
Alfedro Brotons. Levante, 2nd of December of 2015
"The soprano Belén Roig finished off each one of the two parts of the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 of Villa-Lobos with two trebles of different nature but both exquisite, like everything else in their performance and in that of the eight accompanying violoncellos (...) The Symphony No. 8 of Dvořák was moving, and in the elaboration of the first section of the second movement the clarinets shone during the performance"
Alfredo Brotons. Levante, 5 July 2015
"... the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Universidad de València exhibiting fine, dynamic and well-regulated sound in Manuel Palau's ‘March Burlesque'. (...) Britten's 'Guide' flowed capturing the attention of the public (...) Outstanding artistic level of the university group in general, with shines of divinity in the metal group. (...) The orchestra reached expressive peaks of unquestionable attraction marked by the conductor Hilari Garcia Gázquez with a very well-defined line of music”.
Luis Alfonso Bes. Heraldo de Aragón, 11 May 2015
"... the interpretative level was raised again in Borodin's 'Polovtsian Dances'. Especially in the last two, all the musicians literally gave as much as they could with effect..."
Alfredo Brotons. Levante, 26 October 2013
"The orchestra brought well-rehearsed the always tricky score (The Rite of Spring), which Hilari Garcia Gázquez conducted with the contagious aplomb that is the norm in him".
Alfredo Brotons. Levante, 26 July 2013.
The Rite of the Spring... is a tough challenge for an academic formation like the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Universidad de Valencia to face one of the most intense scores of 20th century music. Everything was in its place, every attack was precise, great soloist interventions and a sound big enough marked a more than worthy version of this masterpiece".
Juan Carlos Galrier. Heraldo de Aragón, 5 March 2013
"...they raised the level of the program again, while maintaining the interpretative quality, achieved by an orchestra full of prodigies conducted with a very steady pulse."
Alfredo Brotons. Levante EMV, 26 October 2012.
"Hilari Garcia, but of course also Josep Lluís Valldecabres, director of the Orfeón, managed to extract from their respective groups what so many stars on the podium have escaped as a tribute due to professional routine: the sincere emotion transmitted in a way that doesn't exactly match the term "interpretation" for what it has of pretence...".
Alfredo Brotons. Levante EMV, 29 May 2012.
"...We saw the orchestra very accomplished, with great rapport and with a very homogeneous sound between all the instrumental families... Hilari García showed himself to be a calm conductor, with a clear gesture, cautious, without unnecessary signals that only provoke misleading, efficient in his transmission of information to the interpreters and very attentive to the choir".
Víctor Rebullida. Heraldo de Aragón, 28 March 2012.
"...With sure and clear technique, from beginning to end, García gave unity to an always tense version. In the two central movements, the respective characters of the component parts were sensitively contrasted... Schubert's Serenade tipped a delicate brooch to an extremely promising evening”.
Alfredo Brotons. Levante EMV, 20 October 2011.
"...Hilari García's baton then introduced the string section and the woodwind instruments, in a union of abundant harmonic cohesion, crowned by the dialogue of cello and violin...The orchestra was very brilliant, in general, as happened in that fascinating song of the oboe on the tremolo of the string instruments with harp ornaments in the initial moderato. It was all an indication of the interpretative level the Valencian were going to maintain, in whose podium the new holder, Hilari Garcia, relieved Cristóbal Soler definitively...".
Luis Alfonso Bes. Heraldo de Aragón, 8 March 2011.
“...The protagonist of this new luxury was the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Universitat de València, an orchestra that for its quality (bearing in mind the that we are talking about a student orchestra) had earned a permanent place in the auditorium’s programmers...We are talking about The Planets by Gustav Holst...The brasses were decisive and correct in this opening, accompanied by a section of string instruments and woodwind instruments that did not clash, offering us a very elegant version...’’
Juan Carlos Galtier. Heraldo de Aragón, March 10, 2010.
“Four are the virtuous required to performer one of the Schumann's most original or vibrant scores: his "Konzertstück for four horns”. There was the Valencian university orchestra, with its soloists at the front, demonstrating the good reputation of the Valencian wind instrument...and a very remarkable role of the conductor at the front of this university formation that sounded very professional’’.
Luis Alfonso Bes. Heraldo de Aragón, March 3, 2009.
‘’...It was a different version to the one we are accustomed to hearing; a very personal version of that great Valencian orchestra conductor Cristóbal solar. who with such an interpretation demonstrated the universality Amando Blanquer’s music: It was like listening to a symphonic poem with all its force and its richly timbered that Blanquer orchestrated...’’
J.M. El periódico Ciudad de Alcoy, April 15, 2008.
...the Cloister was filled to hear a very serious program, coherent and varied, offered with levels of quality in the performance and the inspiration in the interpretation more admirable in some musicians mostly teenagers. During those twelve years of existence Cristóbal Soler has been its titular director, who has not stopped growing the profession...".
Alfredo Brotons. Levante EMV. June 30, 2007.
‘’The opening concert of the 2006/2007 academic year at the Universitat de València had two significant events: the high level achieved by the members of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Universitat de València, under the direction of the conductor Cristóbal Soler and the chosen program...’’
Antonio Vidal. Revista RITMO (Nº 792), December, 2006
‘’... Absolute fullness in the Sala Iturbi of the Palau and the captivating program with the young and expert baton of Cristóbal Soler at the head of a group of eighty components with an average age of twenty years old. Valencian musicians who offered a new version of the Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, preceded by the magnificent performance of five soloists of wild instruments, that gave several encores responded the insistent ovations...’’
Mara Calabuig. Las Provincias, 10 January, 2006.
‘’...Important international awards have restrained at this time what there was no need to go out to recognize as a constant and profound work of formation and promotion. Today they are more than five hundred instrumentalist established in their lecterns, and many of them make their living from music. I was not the flower of a day or its ephemeral fruits ...’’
Alfredo Brotons. Levante EMV, 2 November, 2005.
"...Brahms Symphony No. 2, which was performed with maturity by these excellent ambassadors of the University of the Levantine capable of very worthy readings of a much more than acceptable quality. “
Víctor Rebullida. El Heraldo de Aragón, May 24, 2005
"As for the representation, what was most surprising was the work done by the musicians of the university orchestra and orphan, magnificently directed by Cristóbal Soler, owner and founder of the same. How serious there is behind their projects! The string was good; the wind, woodwinds and brass instrumenst, without fissures; the timbales and the percussion in their place...".
Schneekloth. Cartelera Turia, November 15, 2003
"...In the orchestra the surprising thing ceased to surprise: that some fans reach such a high level of cohesion and interpretative quality. They have it of course, from the controlled percussionists to the intoned violoncellos, passing through the attractive timbre, full and pasty, of the oboe soloist. “
Alfredo Brotons.- Levante EMV, November 8, 2003
