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Photo: Marco Borggreve

 
Press

2022

 

'We were literally swept away by the spider-hands that choreographed these sensual, frantic and earthy dances'

Le Courrier de l'Ouest - December 2022

'Grosvenor presented the piano version [of Ravel's La Valse] as if he had four arms, drawing roars from the São Paulo audience with a muscular and vibrant interpretation'

Marvio dos Anjos, O Globo, November 2022

'Can we speak of a recital by this interpreter without evoking his incomparable pianistic art, if not that of a few great masters of the past; Ignaz Friedman, Guiomar Novaes, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Vladimir Horowitz, who dressed the music in finery cut perfectly in shimmering fabric'

Alain Lompech, Bachtrack - Paris October 2022

 

"English pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, at 30 with almost two decades of concerts behind him, still has youth on his side. From the unerring heft with which he delivered Grieg's opening cascade of chords to a particularly spirited folk-fired finale, he made the too often over-familiar fresh once again.”

- New Zealand Herald, September 2022

"you will be amazed at Grosvenor’s laidback style, technical prowess and undoubted virtuosity and his wonderful partnership with the Vienna orchestra."

- Seen and Heard International, August 2022

"The orchestra were joined by Benjamin Grosvenor for Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C major … the pianist was happy to float in the ebb and flow of the music, interspersing it with sparkles of raindrops. Following an ironic gavotte which opens the second movement and a beautiful statement of the theme, Grosvenor produced a wonderful set of quiet variations and good interplay with individual orchestral instrumentalists. A gallop to the close of the second movement preceded a satisfying finale, after which we were treated to a generous and deliciously watery encore in the shape of Ravel’s Jeux d’eau.”

- Bachtrack, August 2022

"Benjamin Grosvenor assertively led the orchestra through the music’s carefree swagger ... this is a piece that demands tight teamwork if the pianist is going to sound like a star, and that’s what it got here, with Alsop maintaining a tick-tocking momentum throughout. Grosvenor’s encore, Ravel’s Jeux d’eau, was quite a contrast, but its liquid textures were underpinned by the same forensic precision of touch.”

- The Guardian, August 2022

"There followed a spirited account of Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, Benjamin Grosvenor not shirking the virtuosity needed, but not glorying in it either, a ‘first among equals’ performance, which allowed the ORF members to also shine, Marin Alsop ensuring a lively response throughout, and some touches from Grosvenor in the middle movement were especially gratifying” 
- Colin’s Column, August 2022

“…the alchemist has gold in his fingers, an amber and feline touch, a visionary art of sound levels… A pioneering musician, he maps virgin lands known only to him”

- Le Monde, August 2022

"In Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1, Grosvenor wielded an enormous arsenal that included, in addition to stellar technique, a poetic sense of expression and a genuine eagerness to engage with the ensemble”

- Cleveland.com, July 2022

"Grosvenor demonstrated the extent of what one can only call his pianistic genius in the First Book of Iberia by Albéniz - reinvented and sublime: totally void of any technical constraint, he was able to magnify the exuberance that is at the heart of the score. We can only dream of the other three book!"

- Diapason, June 2022

 

"29 years old in 2022 and yet the British pianist born in Essex is today's giant of the piano: a rare pearl that combines the agility of a tightrope walker with the power of the most accomplished poet."

- Classique News, June 2022

"In the Auditorium du Nouveau Siècle, Benjamin Grosvenor gratifies us with an exceptional performance. A former child prodigy, confirmed ten years ago at a very young age as an exceptional talent to follow, he offered a recital combining supreme maturity and astounding musicality ... We can’t decide which to admire the most: the total control of the polyphony, the quality of the touch, or the immaterial sound but never tenuous, or telluric but never hardened. As an encore to punctuate this unforgettable recital, Ravel 's Jeux d’eau are of rare and delicate distinction.”

Benedict Hévry, ResMusica, June 2022

 

“Grosvenor’s performance is natural and modest … He does not have to make himself interesting by being ingeniously reserved or extroverted … His exciting emotional range matches his enormous dynamic palette … [In Liszt’s B Minor Sonata], Grosvenor unleashes all his virtuosity in sometimes frightening tempi and yet creates a giant narrative of Faustian depth - with massive chordal blows to the gates of hell, deep recitative-like laments, a fugue of wandering and deeply submerged bell sounds that emerge from the Mephistophelean fires … The knowledgeable audience in the Small Hall of the Konzerthaus followed every note with rapt attention. Their cheers were guaranteed."

- Der Tagesspiegel, May 2022

“Breathtaking … it was an exemplary violin-piano evening of the highest quality in every respect. Both, the wonderful violinist Hyeyoon Park and the fabulous pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, as respective masters of their instruments and in the breathtaking togetherness of their interplay, fulfilled the requirements for higher virtuosity ... limitless tonal variety, rhythmic finesse and sparkling artistry."
- Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 2022

“theatre at the keyboard without breaking a sweat. A remarkable sight … Grosvenor is an assertive player, drawing on remarkable reserves of power at a moments notice, helping him create epic dramatic contrasts whenever the score dictates. He conjures up a symphonic sound at the keyboard, contrasting vast sound worlds with tender moments that linger and occasions haunt.”

- Thoroughly Good, May 2022

"Grosvenor’s playing was exemplary. The correct balance between rigour and passion seems to come naturally to him for this music, and it is not overstating the case to place him as the foremost interpreter of both Chopin concertos of our times."

- Vox Carnyx, April 2022

"Grosvenor really understands the balance of drama and beauty that [Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto] needs. There is muscularity to his playing, but it is always tinged with sweetness, and under his fingers the music’s urgent drama can turn to bel canto lyricism in an instant. He played the dreamy, gorgeous slow movement with a touch of insouciance so that it never lost a hint of spice, and he communicated admirably well with Carneiro. Every time conductor Joana Carneiro turned around and I caught a glimpse of her face, she had a beaming smile of contentment. Rightly so: we in the audience had one, too."

- Seen and Heard International, April 2022

 

"Going from the superlative of the piano to the triple fortissimo, with a use of the pedals as virtuoso as his fingers, Grosvenor brings an orchestra into his piano; his phrasings have the elasticity, the weight as much as the weightlessness"

- Bachtrack, April 2022

 

“Grosvenor closed the program with brilliant performances of two Ravel showpieces. Jeax d’eau positively shimmered, and La Valse lit up the room with his pianistic fireworks.”

- Classical Music Guide, April 2022

 

"Grosvenor’s artistry is notable for its style, wit and narrative focus … he delivered hit after hit in dazzling Philadelphia recital … Five years after his debut, he returned to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and cemented his status as one of the premier pianists of his generation."

- Bachtrack, April 2022

"Perhaps Grosvenor is the greatest pianist of his generation. It is not important to label him, in any case. What matters is his poetic voice, his chromatic palette and his adventurous takes on traditional repertoire, all supported by a monumental technique that allows him to approach whatever he wants with utmost naturality ... there are very few of his calibre.”

- Miami Clásica, April 2022

"It hardly seems possible, but the British pianist’s preternaturally developed technique was even more impressive this visit than in his Philadelphia recital debut in 2017 … if there was one point on the program where performer and piece seemed made for each other it was in Franck’s Prelude, Choral et Fugue, FWV. 21 … It’s a technically demanding piece and one that benefits from emotional complexity. Here was music that emerged in idealised form."
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 2022

“[In Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Grosvenor] captured the brooding agitation of the opening Maestoso, where he was in sync with the rhapsodically shifting moods of Chopin’s writing. The exquisite central Larghetto had the intimate feel of one of the composer’s Nocturnes, Grosvenor sustaining its limpid melodies to great effect ... audiences can look forward to future outings from the young British star.”

- Chicago Classical Review, March 2022 ****

“Once again, it was the case that everything Grosvenor touches turns to gold. He is not a showy performer, and you can only be amazed by the guileless naturalness of his style.”

- Classical Source, February 2022

“Benjamin Grosvenor was in his element, relishing the exchanges with members of the orchestra – the brief duet with clarinettist Maximiliano Martin was particularly lovely. I don’t know who, apart from a conductor, could have sculpted the orchestral sound quite so persuasively; for example, there was a whole passage for muted strings played fortissimo, producing an extraordinary sense of menace.”

- The Arts Desk, February 2022 ****

“… two refreshing minds came together, [with] soloist Benjamin Grosvenor joining Emelyanychev and his team for a performance of Liszt’s single-movement Piano Concerto No 1 with compelling results. Grosvenor’s approach was utterly thrilling, on the one hand assertive and rhetorical, on the other eschewing indulgence and self-absorbed showmanship of the sort that so often skews the logic of Liszt’s cohesive thematic scheme.”

- Vox Carnyx, February 2022

"[Grosvenor and Emelyanychev] made the concerto sing. Most of their success came from a brilliant study of contrasts. The hammer-like opening sounded surprisingly weighty from a chamber orchestra, and Grosvenor answered it with fistfuls of muscular octaves; but almost immediately the music slipped into something altogether more tender and intimate, the piano singing gently alongside the orchestral soloists in a way that brought out the music’s unusual lyricism. The second section sounded impossibly dreamy, and the finale was part triumphal march and part jolly holiday. Liszt sceptics take note: this is music of passion and poetry when it is played under the right hands."

- Seen and Heard International, February 2022

"Emeyanychev matched power and precision throughout, with brisk tempos and stark dynamic contrasts – an energy and vividness he continued in the Liszt First Piano Concerto that followed. The SCO was on gripping form, but soloist Benjamin Grosvenor was more than a match in terms of sheer pianistic power and definition, also playing up the piece’s rhapsodic unpredictability to beguiling effect ... it was an evening of revelations."

- The Scotsman, February 2022 ****

“The individual movements which make up Kreisleriana veer from one emotional extreme, reflecting the two very different sides to Schumann’s character … Grosvenor captured each extreme with total conviction, his seemingly effortless virtuosity allowing him to inhabit its worlds of unbuttoned exuberance, rapt reflection…and just about every emotional state in between.”

- Reviews Gate, January 2022 *****

"Once in a great while a musician will play an old warhorse with such nuance and freshness that one is reminded of all the reasons it became a concert mainstay. Such was the case with Benjamin Grosvenor’s performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto Friday night with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall … Grosvenor highlighted the piece’s soulful qualities in a way that made its virtuosic climaxes even more powerful … Grosvenor’s synergy with Trevino and the orchestra reached its apex in the triumphant finale, with an explosive finish that brought the audience to its feet."

- Utah Arts Review, January 2022

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