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THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mr. Klein is an excellent
pianist. In Berg's Sonata the voluptuous haze was blown
away: one followed the progress of every theme and motive as they
steadily transformed themselves into a single architectural design.
GREEN BAY NEWS
Andreas Klein with the Green Bay Symphony, October 2003
Beethoven Concerto No. 5, (Emperor) .....his conception was anything
but "klein" (small), but he gave as much emphasis to
the sunny lyric stretches as to the stormier portions. His balanced
approach called to mind such masterful pianists as Wilhelm Kempf
and Edwin Fisher artists whose patrician integrity offered examples
too seldom followed today.
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER
An inspired performance, Mozart's depth, influence explored
... Equally luminous moments came from soloist Andreas Klein in
the piano concerto. Composed in 1782 shortly after Mozart's arrival
in Vienna, this score (and its successors) furnished him both
with a source of income and a way to establish himself as both
composer and performer. These late concertos also represent the
essential Mozart at the very height of his powers. Klein was the
consummate musician, especially in the exquisite slow movement.
Throughout the work he allowed the piano to assume an essential
role without ever overwhelming the sonority. Although written
for a keyboard instrument far smaller than today's concert grand,
the concerto was presented by Klein on a scale appropriate to
an orchestra of 19. Indeed, one was left in awe of Mozart's perfect
balance between piano and orchestra. As Klein himself pointedly
observed after the concert, "In Mozart, there is no place to hide!"
Daniel Ginsberg, WASHINGTONPOST.COM
From Lucerne, Woven Strings
... The virtuosity of these performers was on greater display
in Mozart's Concerto No. 12 in A, K. 414. The intelligent soloist
Andreas Klein's articulate yet flowing pianism nicely matched
the orchestra's sound in this crystalline work. Stravinsky's Concerto
in D for String Orchestra had every bit as much of this Mozartian
clarity and grace.
Charles Ward, HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM
Lucerne chamber group pleases SPA audience
... The traditional highlight was Mozart's Piano Concerto No.
12 in A Major, K. 414 with Houstonian Andreas Klein as the soloist.
Here was a chance to hear a concerto performed with the size of
ensemble Viennese audiences might have encountered in Mozart's
time (though the use of modern instruments produced a much larger
sound than they would have heard). All the musicians scaled their
playing appropriately. Klein performed with fluid but almost understated
grace. Fiedler pulled lots of interesting phrasing and details
from the orchestra. Together, they produced an elegant, unforced
interpretation.
DER ABEND, BERLIN
... he performed Mozart's
Concerto in F major KV 459, which is characterized by march-like
decisiveness as well as humorous flamboyancy, with impeccable
technique, a distinct understanding for Mozart's pianistic style
Using muted dynamics and resonant touch. (With the Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra)
DER TAGESSPIEGEL
... Andreas Klein played
this work with, grace, melodious sound and plenty of brilliance,
revealing an immaculate technique. (Mozart's Piano Concerto, KV
459)
WASHINGTON POST
... Elaborate display
of technical prowess.In the prestidigitation of cascading scales
and dizzying octave runs of Liszt's "Gnomenreigen" and
"Mephisto Valse", Klein resembled a sketch artist bringing
a scene to life with quick virtuoso strokes and shading...Klein
conveyed an impression of narrative momentum underlying a musical
structure, regardless of how explicitly programmatic.
NEW YORK TIMES
PIANIST WHO MAKES SILENCES SOUND LIKE MUSIC
Mr. Klein is an excellent pianist.
His technique engaged all of his music, some of it quite difficult.
He was flamboyant in Danzas Argentinas (Ginastera). Two simple
yet highly exploratory Mazurkas (Chopin) engaged Klein's mind
and heart as well. In Berg's Sonata the voluptuous haze was blown
away one followed the progress of every theme and motive as they
steadily transformed themselves into a single architectural design.
WASHINGTON POST
...the Shostakovich
Sonata Op. 40 was performed with introspective passion...Klein
partnered admirably, and both had the virtuosity to cover the
awkward technical difficulties the composer laid into the score.
The performance had weight without heaviness, disjunct leaps were
starkly accurate, some of Beethoven's brusque humor hit home,
and phrasing was elegantly natural (With cellist Jan Vogler)
SETTA STAMPA SERA, ITALY
Klein is an interpreter,
above all modern, attentive in delineation, and accomplishes a
lucid reading of the structural design of every work. He achieves
with impeccable technique a rare beauty of sound.
THUNER TAGBLATT, SWITZERLAND
...To admire was his
elastic touch and defined shaping of even the most insignificant
motives. (Mozart KV 466)
BERLINER MORGENPOST
A LISTENING INDULGENCE
The interpretation of Schubert's Impromptu in B flat
Major belongs to one of the most beautiful pieces presented in
this concert. Klein played ingeniously, each single note differentiated,
vivid and in every regard intended. "Danzas Argentinas"
(Ginastera), not really great music, was a pleasure to listen
to with Klein's competent approach. Klein celebrated Chopin delivering
a performance that was a listening pleasure of the highest order.
The audience thanked him with the appropriate and enthusiastic
applause this performance deserved.
DER BUND, SWITZERLAND
Mozart's Piano Concerto
in D Minor KV 466 was interpreted by Andreas Klein in a most passionate,
concentrated fashion but without exaggeration, preserving the
basic character of this concerto. The bold contrasts in general
and within the second and third movements were juxtaposed with
suspense and balance.
VOIX DE NORD, FRANCE
A secure and precise
performance it would be a pleasure to hear this pianist again
in Douai. (Hindemith's "The Four Temperaments")
BERNER ZEITUNG,SWITZERLAND
SURPASSING MUSICALITY
(Mozart's Sonata in A Major, KV 331): This often performed
work appeared in a special new interpretation. played without
unnaturalness, often somewhat fragile in tone, delicate, but with
strong endings, with light accentsSchubert's op 94, Six Moments
Musicaux, was performed in a manner that portrayed the composer
in his multifacitness. Fine, well-rounded rubati evolve from the
pianissimo, dramatic and virtuous, restrained and songlike.
RHEIN ZEITUNG
CONCERT OF AN EXTRA CLASS
The virtuoso Klein, a pianist counted among the
extraordinary class he was able to set a new milestone into the
history of the Mosel Festival. In the Sonata No .2, he became
Prokofiev: for fifteen minutes he identified himself with every
chord and key.
DRESDNER NEUESTE NACHRICHTEN
Andreas Klein, a pianist
of highest caliber, performed both Beethoven Sonatas in E major,
Opus 109, and in A major, Opus 101, with dramatic expression,
bravura, and a flawless technique: yet the slaw and lyrical phrases
were shaped with subtile sensitivity. A ravishing performance
of a Chopin Ballade (A flat major) was the encore.
HALLISCHES TAGEBLATT
A remarkable meeting
with Andreas Klein. The virtuosity of this artists was most demonstrated
in the variations of "Totentanz" by Liszt. Soloist and
orchestra mastered the tricky challenges convincingly. (Liszt's
Totentanz and Franck's Symphonic Variations)
THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Andreas Klein sparkled: a truly memorable concert
experience of the Beethoven Concerto No.3.
THÜRINGISCHE LANDESZEITUNG
TONAL POETRY AND DRAMA
With sparkling
dexterity, careful pedaling, yet keen sense for the delicate hints
of the coming romanticism Klein shaped the classical profile of
the Piano Sonata opus 7 by Beethoven For the second part of the
program, he chose works by Chopin, besides the Scherzo in B flat
minor -performed with compelling pianistic brilliance- pieces
less known in which he could demonstrate beautifully his finely
detailed touch, tonal poetry and dramatic expression.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
...Klein's performance
of the Mozart Concerto KV 466 was clean and fastidious.. (With
Houston Symphony)
LEXINGTON HERALD LEADER
German pianist Andreas Klein handled Schumann with
dexterity and careful nuance, making the slow sections shine and
the fast moments twinkle. He makes Schumann look wonderfully easy
(which it isn't) and sound gloriously emotional (which it is).
BÜHNE LEIPZIG
In the B minor Scherzo op. 31 by Chopin, Klein digs
into the keyboard vehemently, but also contrasts those massive
sounds with lyrical sonorities thereby extending the room for
numerous shades of expressions Klein performed with tonal beauty
and sensibility the Mazurkas in A flat major and B flat minor.
With the fitness of a marathon runner, the guest from the U.S.A.
played three encores, among them the frolic virtuosic "boogie
Woogie Etude" by Morton Gould.
CLEVELAND PLAIN-DEALER
PIANIST KLEIN INTERPRETS SCHUBERT
Klein
showed himself to be basically a lyricist. He had a nice gift
for spinning out the long lines of those sweet Schubert melodies.
His touch was velvety on the keys and he was never daunted by
Schubert's sprawling rambling musical structures.
MITTELDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG
The audience was taken by the emotional outbursts
of the episodes of "Danzas Argentinas," performed impetuously
and technically perfect. He shaped the music of Chopin with deepest
insight, shaded with superb pianistic technique. All the works
were performed with noble restraint, with unbelievable expression
for the melodies and impeccable virtuosity in the spirit of the
composer. Enthusiastic applause by the audience prompted two encores.
NEUE ZEIT
Andreas Klein did not only prove to be a Chopin-Interpreter
with his exceptional tone sensitivity, but he also captivated
with Gershwin, Ginastera and Stravinsky with his fascinating energetic
rhythmical impulse.
NAUMBURGER TAGEBLATT
Andreas Klein unfolded a technically as well as
musically perfect firework of pianistic excellence. Franz Liszt's
Mephisto-Waltz was packed with suggestions that conjured provocative
and sensuous images of Faust. The applause didn't seem to end,
and the encores entailed another program.
DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE
..the works Klein selected
tended to emphasize technique rather than emotion. Yet Klein's
performance created emotional resonance in places where lesser
pianists may have concentrated on technique alone. Klein's stylized
delivery of Frederic Chopin's Scherzo in C sharp minor, Opus 39
was highly dramaticKlein effortlessly shifted from the fiery impetuosity
of the "Mephisto" opening into the plaintive lyricism
of its middle. In the tempestuous finale, he successfully evoked
the earlier lyricism while maintaining the necessary speed and
clarity. Klein ended his program with an intense driven performance
of Danzas Criollas.
FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
..In his recital he showed the virtues of German
pianism at its best: His playing was thoughtful, his interpretations
grew naturally out of the substance of the music, and he communicated
with the audience without clamoring for its attention.
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