This performance leaves one gaping in admiration... It is impossible to imagine a more favourable way of experiencing this enthralling music than by listening to this superbly engineered and presented release.
William Hedley, International Record Review
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Nicholas Kok, who also conducts Orpheus and Eurydice in Stuttgart, generates a consistently sensitive, inspired sound with the Stuttgart State Orchestra, pastel tones in the lyrical passages and demanding forte in the martial passages. Overall, a high level of Gluck competence.
Ralf Siepmann, Opernnetz
An overwhelming emotive experience… Conductor Nicholas Kok commands an impressive range of colours.
Alfred Hickling, The Guardian
It is conducted with authority and confidence by Nicholas Kok, and the performance, both vocally and dramatically, was equally assured.
Anthony Arblaster, Opera Now
The chorus scenes are magnificent, and conductor Nicholas Kok produces a clean, majestic sound from the Northern Chamber Orchestra... it’s a satisfying, often stunning listen.
Charlotte Valori, Theatre Cat
The artist
In focus.
Nicholas Kok studied at New College, Oxford, as an organ scholar with the world-renowned New College Choir, and furthered his education at the Royal College of Music. From 1996 to 2006, he served as Chief Conductor of the East of England Orchestra (Sinfonia Viva) and was Chief Conductor of Psappha, North England’s leading contemporary music ensemble, from 2007 to 2011. In 2012-2013, he held the position of Principal Guest Conductor with the WDR Rundfunkchor. Mr. Kok is known for his extensive and diverse repertoire, conducting both in concert halls and opera houses.
At the English National Opera, Mr. Kok directed works including Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte, as well as two world premieres by Mark-Anthony Turnage. With Opera North, he led productions of Dido and Aeneas, Les Noces, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and premiered The Nightingale’s to Blame by Simon Holt and Pleasure by Mark Simpson, the latter in collaboration with the Royal Opera. In 2018, Mr. Kok conducted the British premiere of Kevin Puts’s Silent Night at Opera North.
At the Staatsoper Stuttgart, his productions have included King Arthur, L’incoronazione di Poppea, L’italiana in Algeri, Hänsel und Gretel, Iphigénie en Aulis, and Orphée. In 2012-2013, he was the musical director for a new production of Schaf at the Junge Oper (JOIN), for which he composed and arranged a version of King Arthur in 2020. Most recently, in 2023, he conducted a new production of Cabaret at the Staatstheater. His engagements as a conductor have also included performances at the opera houses of Leipzig, Bielefeld, Braunschweig, Porto, Cologne, Magdeburg, Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon, Music Theatre Wales, English Touring Opera, and Opera Factory.
Mr. Kok has participated in numerous festivals, such as the Aldeburgh Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, BBC Proms, Zürich Contemporary Music Festival, and Éclat Stuttgart Sommerfestival. He has collaborated with nearly every BBC Orchestra, as well as the Gewandhaus, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Hallé, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, RSO Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. His work with prominent ensembles includes Ascolta, Nash Ensemble, Ensemble Premiere, and Remix. He has also made numerous recordings for radio and CD.
On stage
Artistry, in motion.
Christian Spucks Orphee Ausschnitt 3. Akt Staatstheater Stuttgart
Selected recording