What they say:

"The [Schoenberg] 'Serenade'…, conducted by Eckart Preu, was just about ideal, one of those rare performances in which precision and sheer musical joy unite as inseparable allies."

 [A]"fiery conductor" [with a] "kinetic style"

The New York Times

''Eckart isn't interested in standard repertoire names, what astonishes him is discovering the riches of the repertory. Instead of doing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, he might do the ''Joachim'' Concerto. Instead of doing a Brahms symphony he might do a Hartmann symphony. He has a tremendously winning personality,'' he added. A lot of people in this business are narcissists. He doesn't get caught up in its theatricality.''

Leon Botstein, Music Director American Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony 

"What was most remarkable about Preu's approach to this symphonic poem was, well, the poetry. His delivery was not merely a gush of pretty melodies or the technicolor bombast of its heroic sections. What happened instead was a carefully measured unfolding of descriptive music... The logic of the transformation of a tiny grain of an opening melodic idea through Liszt's amazing contrasts was beautifully handled."

The Spokesman Review 2009