"Steven Sloane, who conducts from memory, forms gripping arcs of tension and changes of mood. The hall quakes with the beat of the bass drum in the Infernal Dance, the Lullaby creates an intimate atmosphere – and in the finale Sloane ignites the controlled ecstasy that Stravinsky so brilliantly stages."

Marcus Stäbler, Hamburger Abendblatt, 21/6/2021, ( the "Firebird" Suite by Stravinsky in the Elbphilharmonie)

"Strong in its entirety – both as concerns the singers, orchestra, and choir under Steven Sloane’s musical direction and in director Lotte de Beer’s staging. A gripping and at the same time thought-provoking performance."

Sverigesradio.se, Per Feltzin, 02/2/2019 (The Flying Dutchman)

“The opera and museum orchestra inevitably played an authoritative role once again in the inspiring experience of the (second) revival of this opera. Steven Sloane stood at the podium, with a good view on his former job as first conductor (nearly thirty years ago). With great oversight and passion, he led his orchestra through the demands of the dense task, making for delicate strings and dense, powerful brass.”

Frankfurter Neue Presse, Matthias Gerhart, 29/5/2018 (Adriana Lecouvreur, Oper Frankfurt)

“Mahler's eighty-minute final symphony is a work of haunting beauty. In Sloane´s sensitive and expressive interpretation as conductor, the marvel of timbres, polyphony, and symphonic structures was developed to perfection. And the canon of moods – drama and conflict, grief and tenderness – was kept in remarkable balance. […] Stunning! Given this bold performance, one nearly forgot that the exquisite graciousness with which the evening began.”

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Jürgen Boebers-Süßmann, 12/3/2018

“The house orchestra, under guest conductor Steven Sloane, executes the score’s broad palette of textures with impressive attention to nuance and balance, from gongs that crash in the outer aisles, to detuned, mocking flutes, to squealing brass. It may not always be a pleasant journey, but Reimann’s Medea offers the listener no escape.”

Financial Times, Rebecca Schmid, 23/5/2017

“The real shock of Medea comes from Reimann’s orchestra. As in his Shakespeare opera Lear […], all of the sound’s violence comes from the orchestral pit, which was released into the room with an incredible presence by Steven Sloane and the house orchestra – fierce, seething, wildly faltering string and brass figures, and raw and cracked percussion agglomerations. This was listening as a challenge and a dangerous exercise.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Wolfgang Schreiber, 25/5/2017

“Prégardien, Sloane and the Bochum Symphony are wonderfully matched. They bring a rare, dreamlike quality and sense of other-worldliness to Mahler‘s visions of love and war, life and death. Ghostly woodwind solos and distant trumpet calls make chamber music with Prégardien’s steady but supple lines of long breathed melody. Sloane’s conducting offers bracing support in its alertness to the underlying dance rhythms of so many of these setting.”

BBC Music Magazine, Hilary Finch, 3/2014 “Recording of the Month”

“Steven Sloane moves through Britten’s music like a fish in the waters of a fresh, bubbly and crystal clear source. Immaculate entries from each musician, a rounded and delicate sound, orchestral flow, airy and brisk rhythms.”

Le Temps, Sylvie Bonier, 21/11/2015

“The conductor, Steven Sloane, drew pulsing, feisty and textured playing from the orchestra.”

The New York Times, Anthony Tommasini, 18/9/2013

“Steven Sloane, who already led the baroque orchestra to delicate transparence, unleashed not only the abundance of colours but also the entire force of Bartók’s music.”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Gerhard Schroth, 31/5/2013

“Steven Sloane excelled at bringing out the mockery Prokofiev’s music makes of the theatre of illusion, with sharp contrasts and agility. This made listening to the singers an even greater pleasure.”

Opernwelt, Albrecht Thiemann, 02/2013