Sousa was electrifying in moments of grandeur, high drama and emotional intensity. Playing and choral singing were both sensationally good, which meant that the fall of Troy was edge-of-your-seat-stuff, with an almost fanatical vehemence in the singing, and a thrilling exploration of Berlioz’s orchestral palette, with its edgy woodwind, dark strings and rasping, terrifying brass. The Guardian

Sousa is a natural dramatist, and he brought energetic bounce to every phrase so that the action never flagged. […] The musicians of the Royal Northern Sinfonia sounded terrific throughout, the winds chuckling in a way that made it sound like they were in on the joke from the start, while the strings caressed their phrases with delectable softness in the love music.  The Times

Dinis Sousa, who animated the English National Opera revival earlier this year, conveyed his vivacious love of a masterpiece to the Royal Northern Sinfonia, of which he is Music Director. [...] Sousa's pacing, as at ENO, was simply perfect [...] He'll surely be music director of a major opera company in time. The Arts Desk

Sousa took charge of a fully involving performance, which at its best, as in the closing scenes of the sack of Troy or the call of the Trojans to war, went at white heat. Financial Times

The mastery shown by this young conductor… who made a brilliant debut last year at the Proms at the head of the Northern Sinfonia of which he has just taken over, is as impressive as it is exciting. […] Dinis Sousa implements the composer’s intentions very exactly […] he holds and supports his musicians with a gaze that sees everything […] He never forgets the trajectory… It captivates us from start to finish… Like a vast speech whose eloquence seems to flow naturally. Bachtrack

It was hard to imagine the symphonies more thrillingly performed than they were here. […] Beethoven of visceral impact in which the notes seemed to leap off the page, almost as if they were new. […] The ORR played as if fired by the young man’s energy and scrupulous attention to detail. […] An unforgettable performance of inexorable, Promethean momentum, played as if the orchestra’s life depended on it. […] Last year’s Monteverdi/ORR Troyens revealed Sousa’s promise. After this Beethoven cycle, I can say, unequivocally, that this dynamic young conductor has truly ‘arrived’. Operalogue

Dinis Sousa makes dream debut in Amsterdam. It was so good... The Monteverdi Choir placed a brilliant crown of sound on top of the strongly playing Concertgebouw Orchestra. An incredible collective achievement. Volkskrant

The conductor and his musicians take us to great heights and we find ourselves moved to tears as we listen to this music so superbly interpreted. The last words of this final Beethovenian symphony make the Philharmonie audience stand up, a rare thing, and shout their joy for nearly fifteen minutes. Undeniably, Dinis Sousa is one of the great conductors who will have to be reckoned with in the years to come. Premiere Loge

For anyone still thinking of Pelléas et Mélisande as 'vague' or 'impressionistic', the performance conducted by Dinis Sousa at Bergen National Opera would have proved both revelatory and salutary. Each of Debussy's sequence of meticulously conceived sound worlds was recreated by the Bergen Philharmonic with lucid precision, as exquisite as it was unsparing in its dramatic purpose. Opera Magazine

Though brilliantly conceived and written by Feldman, this was somehow more than music, it was a sharing of the minds, sound worlds and imagination of these extraordinary players. If I have awarded this concert five stars, it is only because I cannot award six. Bachtrack