“Under her direction, the musicians found and captured with remarkable precision the magical, immaterial aura of the music. The gradual grounding that followed, as deeper instrumental layers entered, and the renewed sense of lightness at the end formed a spellbinding dramaturgical tour de force. […] After this excerpt from Lohengrin, one may say that she possesses not merely an affinity for the music, but a profound understanding of how to access it. […] This emphatically does not mean the fat, bombastic, widescreen sound of someone who misunderstands the music of the period, but rather a lean clarity that opens up the depths of the score — and an exquisite sense for its specific atmospheric nuances. Jacquot’s beat comes entirely from the body and is as precise as it is free from schematic routine. […] None of this is achieved through a gesture of power, but rather through an attitude that shapes, modifies and intensifies what the orchestra itself brings forth.” (Markus Schwering, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 21.9.26)
“On the programme at the Kölner Philharmonie was Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony in E major — with one of those vast Adagio spans for which a conductor must bring not only authority and command, but also a willingness to surrender to a very particular sense of musical time. Bruckner is patience transformed into sound. Before that, to everyone’s astonishment, came Handel’s Organ Concerto in F major. Jacquot and the WDR Orchestra mastered both brilliantly: the horizon always in mind, while keeping the next beat firmly in sight. […] Jacquot’s Bruckner in Cologne did not begin as a feverish curve shimmering above the notorious primordial mist, but as highly conscious poetry. Jacquot allowed the orchestra to tell the story of the music, resulting in an interpretation that was utterly logical and unforced. The Handel, meanwhile, was an exceptionally airy, breathing attempt to perform historically informed music on modern instruments — exemplary in its approach.” (Wolfram Goertz, Die ZEIT, 10.9.26)
“She has frequently appeared as a guest with the Staatskapellen in Berlin and Dresden, as well as with the broadcasting orchestras of Bavarian, Hessian and West German Radio. What one encountered was a conductor with an unassuming presence, whose gestures were economical and entirely free of vanity. Richard Strauss (one of her favourite composers), an advocate of conducting in one hand alone, would surely have appreciated her approach. Marie Jacquot keeps the music constantly flowing, always suspended and buoyant; it never becomes sticky or heavy, not even in the symphonies of Anton Bruckner (another of her favourites), which she conducts with a feel for a full-bodied sound, but also with a sense of freedom and breath — her eyes sparkling, a smile on her lips (recalling Claudio Abbado and Carlos Kleiber in this respect). Her musicians are allowed to breathe under Jacquot, too: however authoritative her beat may be, there is never anything dogmatic or hard-edged about it.” (Clemens Haustein, FAZ, 8.9.26)
„Free from rhetoric, melody-based, played as if in one breath, with a sort of inner glow nudging out any sense of bombast. […] This is an account of what is arguably Bruckner's boldest symphony that has lingered long in the mind”
(Gramophone, Andrew Mellor, September 2026)
“Holding it all together with an utterly musical, utterly assured sense of pace, was young French conductor Marie Jacquot. She drew ultra-stylish playing from the orchestra. […] Remember Jacquot’s name: this Royal Opera debut suggests we’ll be needing it."
(Flora Willson, The Guardian, 12.10.2025)
“Marie Jacquot approached this music not through pathos, but through structure; not through sacred monumentality, but through subtle shaping. Her interpretation avoided any sense of heaviness, while remaining imbued with a profound and sublime depth.” (Mundo Clásico, Juan-Carlos Tellechea, 17.11.25)
“At the podium of the Staatskapelle, Marie Jacquot demonstrates an exceptional sense of the work’s character and architecture. What emerges from the orchestra pit is sensitive rather than sentimental, stirring rather than melodramatic, and, above all, thoroughly modern. It is hard to imagine music theatre that could be more compelling and gripping.” (Dresdner Morgenpost, Guido Glaner, 2.2.2026)