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| “The blond Ukrainian pianist, is one of today's most coveted "starlets" in the main international circuit and, consequently, also in this Milanese series, which is always sensible (and lucky) in picking up at birth many talent of the future (for the "Society" they have debuted almost still unknown, soloists like Bunin, Vengerov or Kissin). The musical balance of this charming artist was shown in a musical itinerary made with vivid contrasts.” |
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| “The way Lisitsa shapes a phrase, quick-changing from a flowing legato touch to a crisp staccato and back again, gives Mozart's music an extra, joyful lift. The technique glitters like cut glass, with never a hint of over pedaling. Lisitsa's constant smile as she plays might be suspect in some pianists, but here it mirrored an irresistibly smiling sound.” |
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| “Lisitsa understands the piece's (Concerto #2) turbulent inner life and swallows it whole, with blazing virtuosity and those unstintingly fast tempos reminiscent of Rachmaninoff's own recordings.” |
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| “To put it simply, Lisitsa is a gigantic talent. She has infallible fingers, imagination and a control of dynamics — from the softest to the loudest sounds — little short of electrifying. Her final movement (Shostakovich Concerto #1) was filled with bite and wit and her slow movement with yearning expressiveness that eschewed false, sentimentality. But what may have been even more impressive was an account of the first movement, which she played with rather more weight than one usually hears and which, in turn, brought an unexpected depth to the music.” |
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| “Unlike so many duo pianists, who appear to expend half their energy in coordination, these seem simply to play as independent artists, yet they yield to no one in unity of spirit and technique. Ms. Lisitsa in particular showed herself a player of genuine soloistic temperament, as she has before in concert and in recordings made by Audio on.” |
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| “Already memorable, Piano Week at the Grant Park Music Festival was made even more so by Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa's jaw-dropping performance Saturday of the Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2. The Rach Second is, like almost every piano work written by the Russian master, a demanding showcase, and one that frightens the less than brilliant. In addition to her formidable technical talents, Lisitsa is a visual delight as she plays. Tall and graceful, her long-limbed frame perches atop the bench, fingers flowing over the keyboard as if attempting to coax magic from it through sheer charm. And from the bell-like opening theme that pealed majestically from the metallic-sounding Baldwin grand, Lisitsa was glorious. Building this music like a romantic cathedral, she was in full control of Rachmaninoff's tempo and mood swings. Lisitsa demonstrated wondrous pace and rhythmic consistency, her swanlike hands linking passages smoothly. Shifting back and forth from martial to romantic themes, Lisitsa impressed with an unerring dynamic sense. Soft passages were so delicate, you were afraid to breathe, while Rachmaninoff's chords thundered effortlessly from Lisitsa's fingers.” |
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| “In many ways, Lisitsa is a throwback to the old days of unabashed piano derring-do, possessed of a staggering technique and virtuosic panache that can surmount nearly all challenges. Lisitsa's program recalled the likes of Shura Cherkassky and Earl Wild, not only in its spotlighting two demanding Liszt transcriptions, but in the musician's flame-throwing digital dexterity.” |
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| “…Then, however, bravada came to the play. The 30-year-old pianist Valentina Lisitsa born in the Ukraine took over the command on the stage. First sentence of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 suggests "Allegro brioso " took them as an engineering and formative challenge. The outer movements sounded not only pianistically eloquent but technically experienced at it's highest. They glittered formally in the evening and lit the inhabitants of Stuttgart to ovations. Two encores (Chopin’s minute waltz and the Liszts' “La Campanella“), and only then an indignant break march of the eager.” |
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| “…it was pianist Valentina Lisitsa's turn at the keyboard, and she was positively dazzling. Tall, platinum blond and powerfully built, the Ukrainian-born Lisitsa looks like a kind of pianistic Valkyrie and plays like a bona fide angel. She has a sound that is bright, colorful, even glossy, and the kind of incomparable technique that allows her to toss off even the most daunting passagework with relative ease.” |
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| “The program's first half was a jolly showcase for "Lynn Harrell & Friends," the friends being the beloved cellist's wife, violinist Helen Nightengale; violinist Bruce Dukov; and pianist Valentina Lisitsa. They played five virtuosic duos with panache, and the crowd cheered them on. After intermission, there was Tchaikovsky's wondrous A-minor Trio to satisfy those who came for real chamber music. The trio, played with sensitivity and force by Lisitsa, Nightengale and Harrell, realized its character as a work of equal parts melancholy and triumph, the composer's true colors. For a supposedly intimate piece, it often grows larger than life, yet it is endlessly touching and poignant, for all its bombast. The three players gave it all its blood.” |
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| “Russian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa joined the group on Sunday for an exciting reading of Mozart's dramatic D-minor concerto, K. 466. A large audience — something that has not been the norm for the Sunday concerts in past seasons — warmly embraced Lisitsa's engaging personality and passionate performance. Her choice of tempos, particularly in the finale, was daring, and she was sensitive to the delicate nuances and unexpected outbursts of the slow movement.” |
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| “The Saint-Saens Second demands dexterity, of course, from the soloist - and power, and delicacy and precision. All were provided by Lisitsa, with a dazzling matter-of-fact approach. She played a difficult work with seeming ease, from the bold opening cadenza; to the jaunty, rollicking, almost ragtime-tempoed second movement; to the staccato chords and glissando progressions of the final movement; right through to the final powerful and demanding presto passages. …A pleasure to see and hear.” |
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| “…Lisitsa's entry immediately raised the level of performance several notches. Previously known to Fort Worth, audiences as half of the duo piano team she forms with her husband Alexei Kuznetsoff, Lisitsa proved herself a remarkable pianist in her own right. Her performance produced a universe of emotions and a catalog of distinctive piano tones within the confines of good classical-era style.” |
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| “The way Lisitsa shapes a phrase, quick-changing from a flowing legato touch to a crisp staccato and back again, gives Mozart's music an extra, joyful lift. The technique glitters like cut glass, with never a hint of overpedaling. Lisitsa's constant smile as she plays might be suspect in some pianists, but here it mirrored an irresistibly smiling sound.” |
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| “...Lisitsa impressed with an unerring dynamic sense. Soft passages were so delicate, you were afraid to breathe, while Rachmaninoff's chords thundered effortlessly from Lisitsa's fingers.” |
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| “Valentina has the rare gift... of generating enormous volumes of sound without ever sounding like she's pounding the keyboard; her tone is always beautiful.” |
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| “Such electrifying pianism doesn't come around often. Lisitsa is a powerhouse pianist in the tradition of Martha Argerich — the highest possible praise. Like Argerich, she does not settle for mere technical display, but makes genuine music.” |
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