'All the work’s extravagant pathos, biting wit and clever parody are abundantly present in the orchestra pit. Vitali Alekseenok draws superb playing from the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, and keeps balance perfect, carrying his singers with the utmost care. He also knows how to manage both the work’s extremes and its velocity; he is a storyteller, keeping us spellbound.'

'The Philharmonic State Orchestra conducted by Vitali Alekseenok accompanied the first three works of the evening impeccably and sensitively.'

'Vitali Alekseenok conducts the overture, as well as the entire opera, vividly and clearly, lively and elastic.'

'With his conducting, Vitali Alekseenok, born in 1991 in Belarus, emphasised the musical substance of the composition by playing out details with a greater nuance. From the first, dangerously calm notes, Alekseenok built up the tension with the repetitive rhythms and motifs with an almost hypnotic effect. The middle section of the first movement, an actually banal theme, was driven to its climax by the constant drum rhythm, with Alekseenok not letting the precise musicians off the leash for a single moment. In what felt like eleven variations, he increased the pressure with increasing urgency while never losing focus on the finer points of balance.'

'Laudable conducting by the talented young conductor Vitali Alekseenok, who knows how to translate in his difficult task of concert mediation, the essential core of the opera and does so through varied dynamics, meticulous phrasing, well thought-out performing and a rare ability to follow the singers with constant attention.'