Press reviews of 2010

Concert with the Munich Symphony Orchestra in the Viersen Festhalle

'Sebastian Manz : A Soloist of the First Water'

“ … The friendly, unpretentious and evidently relaxed young artist succeeded _ with the support of Schmöhe and the sensitively accompanying orchestra _ in giving a rendition that could scarcely be bettered … This was plain from Manz's stupendous, rich-toned mastery of his instrument and even more from his interpretative nuances _ as with his entry, seemingly materializing from nothing, to the wonderfully beautiful second movement.”
Rheinische Post, November 9, 2010

Chamber Music at the Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Festival

'A ray penetrates the soul'

“ … Silence gradually gave way to long plaintive notes that were followed by bafflingly exotic melodies: a conjurer of sound, this clarinettist! …”
Nordkurier, August 16, 2010

Recital with Duo Riul at the Heidelberg Spring festival h4. 'Finest expressive quality'

“ … Here, if not earlier, it was clear how attentively Manz and Klett gave form to their interplay. A notable artistic concord in compositions by Claude Debussy … , Jean Françaix or Darius Milhaud, no matter whether brusque eruptions dominated, irregular rhythms had to be mastered or frenzied passages at breakneck speed led them on. …”
Mannheimer Morgen, April 22, 2010

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie under Simon Gaudenz in the Salzburg Festspielhaus

“ … He played, no, he made the basset instrument in his hands live every slightest nuance of the work. He explored Mozart's ideas in their contrasting forms through every register — and expanded them at bridges to tutti passages with what sounded like improvised postludes.
With the inspired accompaniment of the orchestra, Manz attained an almost unearthly pianissimo in his rapturous transition to the Adagio. Loath to break the spell of the auditorium's breathless silence, he let the last echo die away — before bursting headlong into the virtuosic arabesques of the Rondo. It is no exaggeration to say this was a deeply considered interpretation which will linger in the memory! …”
www.DrehPunktKultur.at, March 8, 2010

Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto with the Hof Symphony under Hermann Bäumer in the Hof Theatre

“ … Quite slowly and softly, like a secret lullaby, his Clarinet Concerto opens with strings, harp and piano. There are no winds — except for Sebastian Manz, the evening's 24-year-old soloist and already of world class, who pours out a sweet melody full of ethereal yearning. It is a slow-motion elegy: the wonderful first part of this all-too-short work is reduced almost to motionlessness, to silence. The cadenza, though, rouses Manz in broad expansiveness from his deeply-felt dreams as he musters thrilling powers of virtuosity and expressiveness. Sound and fluency grow ever perkier, brighter, jazzier. Finally he frees himself fully for the idiosyncratic staccato of pointed individual notes, for boisterous passage-work. He engages in genial debates with the orchestra, always contriving to have the last word. There is palpable joy in the way Manz's body swings along to the syncopations and dottings, till he concludes the concerto with the glissando that opens George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' — simply brilliant. The audience goes wild.”
Frankenpost, February 8, 2010

Jean Francaix's Clarinet Concerto with the Bayerisches Landesjugendorchester at Rosenheim

“ … It was an immense joy to hear the 24-year-old soloist Sebastian Manz, 2008 winner in Munich of a first prize in an ARD Music Competition that had not been awarded for 40 years. For this clarinettist and his crystal-clear, flawless, sweetly flowing tones, it seems, technical difficulties do not exist. He can make his clarinet giggle, twitter, sing, dream and even blow the odd raspberry, while spanning the heights and depths of the sound spectrum with the utmost assurance and ease. …”
Oberbayerisches Volksblatt, January 12, 2010