Reviews
This page contains review excerpts. For downloadable full-text reviews, visit the press kit.
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Daily Telegraph Messiaen: Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus (Hyperion) released September 2002 |
"One of the most successful and spectacular piano discs of recent years" | |
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Gramophone Editor's
Choice Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus (Hyperion) released September 2002 |
"Osborne's performance is one of towering authority and technical achievement" | |
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Guardian CD
of the Week Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus (Hyperion) released September 2002 |
"Osborne uses an immense dynamic range and tackles every challenge head-on in his blistering, visceral account" | |
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BBC Music Magazine Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus (Hyperion) released September 2002 |
"Few possess the spiritual, emotional and physical stamina required for a successful interpretation of the complete cycle…Steven Osborne's new account certainly demonstrates these qualities in abundance…[and] holds off the substantial competition" | |
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The Record Geijustu Magazine
(Japan) Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus (Hyperion) released September 2002 |
"What distinguishes Osborne's new recording from the numerous previous recording is its spirituality…the stillness and glory of its pianissimos are awe inspiring" | |
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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Bach:
Prelude and Fugue in c#, |
"Osborne is a highly talented pianist. He is a master of the quieter tones: His ability to taper off from a piano to a pianissimo is unsurpassed yet his tone never loses substance and is always there, right up to the last row" | |
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Rheinische Post Dusseldorf Bach:
Prelude and Fugue in c# |
"Steven Osborne mastered the demanding programme with a majesty and tonal subtlety that amazed the audience. The sensitivity and breadth of his playing was utterly convincing. One would like to hear this pianist with orchestra here and very soon" | |
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The Herald Schubert,
Kurtag, Debussy |
"The two young British lions of the keyboard covered a vast spectrum - from outright hilarity to the darkest musical shades" | |
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Kronenzeitung Liszt:
Années de pelerinage book 1, |
"Technically perfect, with precisely controlled touch, he shaped the items in clear lines. With wonderfully balanced sound, his interpretations are convincing, owing to colour shaping, glittering finer points, and a strong atmostphere. A much applauded evening! Let's hear more from Steven Osborne!" | |
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Gloucestershire
Echo Ravel:
Piano Concerto in G major, |
"The soloist, Steven Osborne, delighted his listeners with the lightness and brilliance in his playing, especially in the jazzy first movement with its echoes of Gershwin and Stravinsky."
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San
Francisco Chronicle Ravel:
Valses nobles et sentimentales |
"Where has this young Scotsman been all this time? How is it possible that a pianist of such penetrating insight, technical facility and intellectual breadth is only now making his first appearance in San Francisco?"…[This programme] revealed him as a virtuoso of keyboard sonority. The range of timbres and textures he can elicit from the piano is simply astounding, from thundering but finely detailed explosions to the barest whispery filaments of sound" | |
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The
Independent Messiaen: Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus |
"A most extraordinary musical and imaginative experience" | |
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The
Times Gershwin:
Rhapsody in Blue |
"It was hard to know what to admire more; Steven Osborne's perky dexterity at the keyboard, or the jazz punch and clarity of the orchestra" | |
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The
Daily Telegraph Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus |
"Osborne had his listeners almost totally rapt for no less than two hours and 10 minutes, without an interval. Even unbelievers might have felt like falling to their knees." | |
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The
Independent Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus |
"His is a pianist not only of versatility and spirit but also of shrewd strengths and insights. This performance of Vingt regards was quite simply the finest thing he has done to date. There was not a single second in the two-hour span when the intensity and concentration of the playing wavered, nor one in which he failed to reveal layers of subtlety and understanding. I came out of his recital excited, fulfilled and very much the wiser." | |
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The
Observer Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus |
"In his magicianly hands, the piano transformed itself into harp, vibraphone, organ, bells. His grasp of structure was impressive, his virtuosity unshowy." | |
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The
Independent Messiaen:
Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus |
"Steven Osborne got considerably beyond the notes…this was warm, responsive, altogether stunning playing, big in colour, textures and variety of sound. And the response to the religious was bold and brilliant, like a roar of joy." | |
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The
Independent Poulenc: Three Novelettes (Wigmore Hall) |
"But for innate humour and charm, the prize went to pianist Steven Osborne, who played two Novelettes by Poulenc quite exquisitely, and his later Novelette sur un thème de Manuel de Falla with just the right dash of sauciness" | |
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The
New York Times Ravel:
Valses nobles et sentimentales |
"...the waltzes that Ravel had in mind as models were Schubert's, which Osborne seems to understand. His performance was a model of classical clarity and rhythmic crispness. [the Schubert Sonata] a bold experiment in subdued, sustained lyricism and sudden contrasts. Osborne gave a refined and impressively controlled account of the entire sonata. [Messiaen] every minute was riveting…never faltering in stamina, concentration and inspiration… Osborne is a special case. | |
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The
Daily Telegraph Gershwin:
Rhapsody in Blue |
"The best thing about the concert was the two soloists. Steven Osborne tackled Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with zest and brilliance, a bounce and a twinkle in the fingers." | |
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The
Independent Messiaen:
Trois petites liturgies |
" It was the piano, played with tremendous flair by Steven Osborne, that stole the glory" | |
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