Any orchestral score conducted by Maria Sensi Sellner is a thing of joy…the confidence of a conductor who knows how to rehearse and inspire a group to give of its best is a very specific skill endowed on few, and not always so generously as in last night’s pillar of reliability.
- G. Parous, onStage Pittsburgh
Maria Sensi Sellner, when she conducts, is a guarantee that the music will be presented with keen insight and an in depth knowledge of, and sympathy with, the score. She demonstrated that gift again last night. The music is an eclectic mix of styles and sounds, coming closest to the “grand opera idiom” in the final bars. Ms. Sellner and her chamber orchestra of excellent musicians played the difficult score in a manner that has come to be expected of them – artistically, with apparent ease, and balanced at all times in favor of the singers on the stage.
- G. Parous, onStage Pittsburgh
“Maria Sensi Sellner and the instrumentalists in the orchestra turned in a sterling performance. It was a well rehearsed reading of a difficult and unrelenting score. From the foreboding overture to the crashing finale, all sections played as one singular, sonic wave on which the singers surfed. The score includes some of Verdi’s most effective orchestration, and no delicate nuance, no thrilling crescendo, was missed by the conductor and her players. Only in a spot or two was the volume too loud for one or two of the singers, but overall it easily ranked among the very best orchestral performances of the year. The acoustic properties of the Carnegie Music Hall, Carnegie, proved ideal for the tone of the orchestra, and a most thunderous ovation greeted them at the final curtain.”
— G. Parous, On Stage Pittsburgh
In November, Maria made her conducting debut with the Dallas Opera orchestra in the finale concert of the 4th Hart Institute for Women Conductors. Conducting selections by Tchaikovsky, Britten, and Verdi, Maria was one of six international conductors (and two Americans) chosen for the program.
“hardly glancing at the singers, Maria Sensi Sellner just seemed to know what they were going to do, and to provide just the right support.”
— Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News