Press

Selected reviews of Steven Osborne’s live performances:

Schubert duets with Paul Lewis, Wigmore Hall

After the massive call-to-attention chord which opens the ‘Lebenssturme’ - ‘Storms of Life’ - Allegro, the pair launched into a brilliant synthesis, with Osborne’ filigree tracery weaving delicate patterns above Lewis’s powerful bass; in this performance the piece emerged as unusually fine-grained, while losing none of the requisite hurtling force.

The theme of the ‘Variations in B minor’, which followed, was wonderfully bleak and wistful, with its progressive embellishments seeming to emerge almost spontaneously, thanks to the rubato freedom each player allowed himself. If the ‘Fugue in E minor’ came across as a derivative curiosity - as a contrapuntalist, Schubert had absolutely nothing to add to Bach - the ‘Rondo in A’ had lovely grace.

After the interval the players switched positions, with fascinating results. Listening blind, as they played the ‘Fantasie in F minor’, you’d have said it was two other musicians. But the effect was no less magnificent than before.

The Independent, 31 January 2010



Messiaen Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, Melbourne Recital Centre

Steven Osborne was responsible for what may prove to be the most outstanding event in the Recital Centre's opening celebrations.... He played with towering brilliance.

The Age, 12 Februrary 2009

Schubert Schwanengesang and Wolf with Dietrich Henschel, Wigmore Hall

Henschel truly lives the songs he is singing, and Osborne's accompaniment was thoroughly at one with the poetry's mood and with his partner's understanding of it.... There was a fine-tuned mutual response going on here, and it made for a cumulative impact that wisely was allowed to intensify over 75 minutes or so without the disruption of an interval.

The Telegraph, 14 January 2009

For all the surface elegance, the less obvious anguish of the seven Rellstab settings was perfectly conveyed, while the massive emotional power of the first and last songs of the Heine sequence that follows, Der Atlas and Der Doppelgänger, was unmistakable.

The Guardian, 15 January 2009

Messiaen Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, Wigmore Hall

...a breathtaking performance, received with an enthusiasm that saw it cheered to the rafters.... If there is one Messiaen concert that will live long in the memory after this anniversary year, this was it.

The Telegraph, 15 December 2008

This was one of the great concerts of 2008

The Guardian, 21 December 2008

Ravel trio, Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time, Birmingham

... a truly mind-blowing evening of rare chamber music.
Birmingham Post, 12 December 2008

Brahms 2nd piano concerto: RSNO/Denève

Soloist Steven Osborne found the ideal blend of muscular power and poetry, equally at ease dominating the orchestra as he was dropping away from the limelight into the accompanying role.
The Guardian, 23 October 2008

Adding muscle and fibre to the concert was the impressive performance by Steven Osborne in Brahms's Second Piano Concerto, an account that powered through the mountainous opening movements as though they were a continuum; lifted the pressure with the gleaming clarity of the slow movement, and danced with a brilliant lightness of step through the finale.
The Herald, 20 October 2008

Edinburgh Festival: Debussy Children’s Corner, Beethoven Sonata No 21 in C ‘Waldstein’, Messiaen extracts from Vingt Regards:

In the second half, absolute stillness and concentration were the order of the day as Osborne played five movements from Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jesus, variously glittering and deeply calm playing, all demonstrating Osborne's mastery of space, sonority and silence, and exemplifying just why he is regarded internationally as one of the great Messiaen pianists of the era.

At generating the vast spaces and silences of the opening movement, he is unequalled, and the sheer exultant power of his finale remains awesome.
The Herald, 29 August 2008

Recital at Tabernacl, Machynlleth:

Osborne opened with an unassuming account of Beethoven's G major Sonata, Op 79. There was no attempt to make it any grander than it is, yet his uncanny ability to draw the audience in and to command rapt attention meant that from the first pulsing chord of the C major sonata, Op 53, the Waldstein, every facet of Beethoven's tonal drama was communicated with startling immediacy, the clarity of the playing matched by a resonant richness.... In the second half, the pianist confounded expectations [by beginning with] with a nonchalant improvisation. A mercurial fast section - atonal, though with definitely jazzy inflections - was followed by an altogether slower meditation, its chords and haunting echoes redolent of Debussy. It not only made for riveting listening, but sent Osborne into the Rachmaninov [preludes op.23] with heightened sensibilities, delivering everything with a formidable weight and power and an imaginative instinct that was inspired.

There was another jazz improvisation by way of encore and, all told, this was a remarkable demonstration of both pianism and musicianship at their very best.
Guardian 28 August 2008

Bath Mozart Festival: Philharmonia Orchestra/Segerstam, MOZART Piano Concerto No 27 in B flat

The Mozart Piano Concerto No 27 was sheer delight. Steven Osborne's playing, precise and graceful in these rippling melodies, full of movement and energy, expressed the subtle changes of mood so characteristic of the work.
The Bath Chronicle, 20 November 2007

Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra/Hannu Lintu: Mozart Piano Concerto No 27 in B flat

Steven Osborne is an ideal Mozart pianist who has the technique to produce tone effortlessly and the sense of style for a musically insightful interpretation."
Aamuleti 28 October 2007

International Piano Series, London: Debussy Children’s Corner, Preludes nos 5-10, Beethoven Sonata No 21 in C, Rachmaninov Preludes nos 8-13

Osborne’s range of touch, colour and dynamics was a boon in the six Debussy Préludes – which he has recorded complete for Hyperion – and brought a potency that sustained the specific worlds of each, whether icily hypnotic, tempestuous or volatile.
Classicalsource.com 17 October 2007

BBC Proms: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov, Britten Piano Concerto

The scintillating soloist in the Britten was Steven Osborne, relishing the bravura of all the scales, arpeggios and flourishes, but also tellingly increasing the emotional weight at the start of the slow third-movement impromptu… There was a spectrum of orchestral detail here to complement Osborne’s deft and sensitive pianism, the virtuosity matched by tranquility and, above all, by joie de vivre.
Geoffrey Norris Telegraph, 1 August 2007

Stephen Osborne was the dazzling soloist in Britten's Piano Concerto, articulating the passage-work of the first movement with glittering assurance. 4 stars.
The Guardian, 3 August 2007

Perth Concert Hall: Debussy Children’s Corner, Beethoven Sonata No 21 in C ‘Waldstein’, Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

His Mussorgsky was wonderfully- paced, with acres of space around the music - an Osborne specialism. But it was the Beethoven that formed the soul and core of what I believe was a great Osborne performance… It was the extraordinary, immaculately-gauged, unhurried and transcendently calm account of the finale, with its long prefatory heartbeat of a slow movement, which stopped time and regular breathing. A recital in a thousand.
Glasgow Herald, 13 April 2007

Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Douglas Boyd, MOZART Piano Concerto No 27 in B flat

Osborne beautifully highlighted the daydream-like quality of the music with great charm and wit. He has a superb technique which relies on a lightness of touch, both at the keyboard and on the pedal, to create a rich, clear sonority. This was demonstrated to perfection in the introspective larghetto
The Scotsman 26 March 2007

Edinburgh Festival, DEBUSSY Preludes Book 2, Rachmaninov Preludes Op 32

Steven Osborne reaffirmed his ability to pull off one of the major repertoire challenges… Osborne is a master at creating the sense of atmosphere they [the audience] cry out for
The Scotsman, 25 August 2006

Philharmonia/Vladimir Ashkenazy, Shostakovich Piano Concerto No 2 (UK tour)

Osborne brought to the solo part a contrapuntal clarity worthy of Bach combined with a sense of unadulterated fun
The Herald, 5 May 2006

One was so transfixed by Steven Osborne’s lucid, vivacious pianism – immaculate in technique, touching in the more reflective moments
The Independent, 17 May 2006

London Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Watkins, Mozart Piano Concerto No 12 in A K414, Queen Elizabeth Hall

… a superlative performance… The Mozart concerto received a crisply buoyant and characterful rendering. Osborne gave this music a real muscularity and backbone whilst never over-stepping appropriate stylistic bounds. The outer movements were taken at a swift pace, Osborne still finding plenty of light and shade and subtly varying the tensions… and Osborne timed the music's important pauses with particular care. The dignified slow movement, with its echoes of Handel, was given with rare concentration and was the performance's emotional core.
Classical Source.com, 12 February 2006

Australian Chamber Orchestra tour, Mozart Piano Concerto No 12 in A K414, Britten Young Apollo

Osborne is a pianist of great skill.  He plays with an even hand and for this andante movement the result was an unruffled glassy texture, each phrase growing organically from the last… The ACO and Osborne fired off each other like rockets, with Osborne at his extroverted best
Herald Sun, 18 September 2005

BBC PROMS: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins, Tippett Piano Concerto

Pianist Steven Osborne was one of the first to lead the Tippett centenary tributes in January, with the four Sonatas; here he seemed just the right soloist for the composer's Piano Concerto, the centrepiece of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's all-British programme under Martyn Brabbins. (4 stars)
The Guardian, 10 August 2005

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo, Tippett Piano Concerto

Osborne’s mastery, and the CBSO’s under Sakari Oramo, was not just to elucidate the concerto in terms of texture and structure, but to make it positively leap from the page as a piece of music with an expressive core, dynamism in the bravura and a fascinating relationship between piano and orchestra
The Daily Telegraph, 3 June 2005

 

Wigmore Hall, Tippett Festival, Tippett Piano Sonatas 1-4, Ravel, Gershwin, Bartók, Ives, Beethoven, Debussy
 Osborne’s performance (of Tippett) was titanic – easily the best I’ve ever heard with every gesture given its full, dramatic weight
The Guardian, 7 January 2005

Schubertiade, Austria, Beethoven 6 Bagatelles op 126, Waldstein Sonata, Schubert Sonata in B Major

 

Beethoven’s 6 Bagatelles… in which, .a bold virtuosity… was clear.  This impression intensified in the following ‘Waldstein Sonata’, which Osborne played at breakneck speed, with thrusting sharp engraved runs.  Piano as a high energy sport.  In the finale, Schubert’s Sonata in B Major, Osborne played the first two movements so falteringly morbidly, so extremely sadly, that it almost took your breath away.  The Schubertiade public celebrates Gerd Nachbauer’s marvelous pianistic discovery for its festival.
Voralberger Nachrichten, 13 June 2004

 

Reviews of Steven’s recordings can be found here.