The Boston Globe
by Richard
Dyer
"[On] Saturday night,
she made her local debut, and it was easy to understand
why even people who are hard to please like her so much.
She is a musical and expressive player who commands a
flexible, singing sound. She is often sensitive and
poetic, and when she should dazzle with lively rhythm,
piquant inflexions, and dashing virtuosity -- as in
Chopin's ''Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise
brillante,'' or in the Chopin waltz she offered as an
effervescent encore -- she knows how to. Quynh opened
with an unusual Sonata in F Minor by Muzio Clementi,
which she played in an operatic and romantic style. Her
playing of Ravel's ''Tombeau de Couperin'' was marvelous:
she excels in everything that requires elegance,
proportion, balance, taste, and wit...Schumann's
''Kreisleriana'' was almost too beautifully played, with
subtle interplay of inner voices... "
Yvonne
Lorriod-Messiaen
Honorary Professor of the Paris
Conservatory
". . .
I listened to you with great pleasure and I find that you
are an excellent pianist! Clear playing, expressive,
distinguished, perfect technique, I congratulate
you!"
Jerome Rose,
pianist
Faculty, Mannes College of
Music
Founder
and Director, International Keyboard Institute
& Festival
". . . her pianistic ability is
beyond question; proven by her many concerts, reviews and
recordings. She demonstrates in her performances a unique
combination of virtuosity, poetry and passion. It is
always a joy to be in the audience when she performs . .
. [She is] a
brilliant pianist . . . she has worked with me as well
asBella Davidovich and is a truly wonderful artist . . .
she is extraordinary in every way . . . there is a
loveliness and strength to her playing and true qualities
that make her a superb performer of
Chopin."
International Piano Magazine
by Benjamin Ivry
"The Hanoi, Vietnam-born pianist
Quynh Nguyen, now an American citizen, was born in 1976
and studied at the Juilliard School and Mannes College of
Music, after debuts in Hanoi and some early training at
the Gnessin Institute in Moscow, studying with Oleg
Musorin. In New York her teachers have included Martin
Canin, Jerome Rose, Jacob Lateiner, Bella Davidovich, and
Robert Turner. She has concertised in Hungary, Germany,
Switzerland, Austria and the United States. She is gifted
with a tender musicality, allied with a dazzlingly deft
balance between the hands that make her performances of
Schubert and Chopin, as heard on this new disc,
irresistible. In Chopin's Nocturne in E flat, her trills
have a poignancy that is entirely suited to the music,
while she expresses the joyous dash needed for the same
composer's showpiece: the Andante Spianato and Grand
Polonaise.
When Nguyen made her New York
recital debut last year at Weill Hall, she was greeted by
a rave notice from the usually judicious keyboard
connoisseur Harris Goldsmith, who exclaimed, 'Ms.
Nguyen's pianism and music-making are graced with beauty
and exuberance. She is a real artist; a wonderfully
communicative performer obviously intoxicated with the
joy of living her music and sharing it with those lucky
enough to hear it spring from her soul. What a compendium
of intellect, sophistication and taste! True enough,
Nguyen's Schubert is fresh and fleet, with a kind of
poetic approach allied with digital dexterity in the
tradition of the late Russian virtuoso Yuri Egorov,
although more pliant and endearing than the splashy
Egorov generally sounded...
Rarely does one hear a young
artist with such a naturally flowing sense of melodic
line - vivid and unforced - that permits the music to
breath uninhibited. This flexible way of playing allows
poetry and emotion to expand organically. Quynh Nguyen is
already a major talent of the younger generation of
keyboard artists, to be placed alongside Klara Wurtz and
Irina Rees."
Christian Monitor Science Magazine
by Benjamin
Ivry
"Take Vietnamese-American pianist
Quynh Nguyen. Last year, she made her New York debut to a
rave review from the dean of US piano critics, Harris
Goldsmith. He cheered Ms. Nguyen's performance of Chopin,
saying that she played more eloquently than such great
keyboard heroes as "Ignaz Friedman, Perahia, Horowitz,
Rubinstein – or anyone whose interpretations linger in
the mind's ear.
This kind of reaction would, in other
days, have guaranteed a recording contract, especially
since she is young and photogenic. Instead, she has paid
to publish two CDs, which are available on her
website.
"... it would be better to have a
recording contract with a big company," says Nguyen. But
"I am happy that my music has reached a much wider
audience..."
The New York Times
by James
Oestreich
"This young pianist, born in
Vietnam and trained in Russia as well as in the United
States, received high praise from reliable quarters for
her New York debut recital last year. Now she offers an
interesting and well-varied program of Clementi (Sonata
Op. 13 No. 6), Schumann ("Kreislariana"), Ravel ("Le
Tombeau de Couperin") and Corigliano ("Fantasia on an
Ostinato"). Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall,
129 West 67th Street, Manhattan, (212)
501-3330."
New York Concert Review
by
Harris Goldsmith
"A New
York debut of exceptional distinction was played by
pianist Quynh Nguyen on March 3rd at Weill
Hall as part of Artists International’s Debut Winners
Series. Ms.
Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam to a family of musicians,
played her first recital at the age of nine, and at
eleven made her orchestral debut performing Mozart’s
Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466. That same year she gave
a recital in Moscow, and at 13, received a full
scholarship to study at the Gnessin Institute in
Moscow. She
continued her studies as a scholarship student at the
Juilliard School and at the Mannes College of Music,
where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees
respectively. She is currently
enrolled in the DMA program at CUNY. Her teachers include
Oleg Mussorin, Robert Turner, Bella Davidovich, Alexander
Paley, Jacob Lateiner and Jerome Rose. And, as her bio for the
recital adds, “she has performed in master classes given
by Tatiana Nicoleiva, Garrick Ohlsson, Bryce Morrison,
Pavlina Dokovska, Peter Frankel, Richard Goode, and
András Schiff”. Ms. Nguyen’s
credentials are indeed impressive, and little wonder that
she has distinguished herself in various piano
competitions and gained extensive concert experience
worldwide—in Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and
the United States.
But even my fondest hopes and
expectations were gloriously sustained and surpassed by
this dream of a recital. Ms. Nguyen’s pianism
and music making are graced with beauty and
exuberance.
She is a real artist; a wonderfully communicative
performer obviously intoxicated with the joy of living
her music and sharing it with those lucky enough to hear
it spring from her soul. What a compendium of
intellect, sophistication and taste! And she is also (in her
unobtrusive way) an accomplished virtuoso, equipped to
dispatch even some of the most difficult and subtle
compositions on her program (J.S. Bach’s English Suite in
G minor BWV 808, Schubert’s Sonata in D major, Op. 53, D.
850; and three of Chopin’s most rarified masterworks, his
Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54; his late Nocturne in E
flat major, Op. 55 No. 2; and earlier but demanding
Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise, Op.
22).
The Bach Suite took wing with infectious
brio. Her
propulsive way with the opening Preludium may have
initially seemed too dangerously precipitate but the
rhythmic control was secure and admirable
steady. The
ensuing Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gavotte and Gigue
all likewise shared that same lustrous singing
tone. The
Sarabande was especially modest and eloquent, and she
brought a delightful sense of humor to her fleet delivery
of the Gavotte (with the tambourine-like repeated bass
notes in its second strain deliciously and tastefully
emphasized; and the almost Schumannesque maggiore central
Trio poignantly savored).
The first movement of the Schubert
Sonata took wing at an almost wicked clip. Here, if there is any
room for reservation, Ms. Nguyen might have allowed for
just a hairbreadth more tonal solidity and breathing
space to make the most of this extremely Beethovenian
writing.
But, no matter, the potentially quirky crossing of hands
and such were admirably under rhythmic control (no
Schnabel-like desperation this time!). And how Ms. Nguyen’s
spot-on sense of color and timing kept the potentially
repetitious Con moto second movement
airborne.
(All of the myriad variations of filigree were splendidly
creative and engaging and never once did interest
flag). For
once, there were no “editorializing” of rhythm in the
Allegro vivace Scherzo (again that “Tradition”
established almost reflexively by that famous old
Schanbel recording), and in retrospect it was a pleasant
and unpretentious departure from precedent. The Rondo: Allegro
moderato, taken a bit more rapidly than usual, delectably
recreated the nursery-rhyme “Sing a Song of Six Pence”
quality in this fleet and lovely
version.
And so it was with the Chopin group
heard after intermission: the Fourth Scherzo had an
almost Mendelssohn-like gossamer quality. Filigree was impishly
tossed off, the octaves sonorously in place, and the
central Trio section again achieved without fuss or
contortion.
The Nocturne was, if anything, even better: the absolute
highpoint of the afternoon: I have never heard it played
more eloquently, by Ignaz Friedman, Perahia, Horowitz,
Rubinstein—or anyone whose interpretations linger in the
mind’s ear. (Yes, this performance was truly
sublime.)
The Andante Spianato had a classical simplicity and
proportion, and the following Grande Polonaise—a
brilliance and swagger—with some effective left hand
anticipations and octave amplifications making the
proceedings all the more stylish and
effective.
We will, no doubt, be regularly hearing
much more from Quynh Nguyen: Remember her
name!"
Arthur S. Danner
Music Department, West Los Angeles
College
"What a
beautiful evening! . . . It was food for the
soul!
I feel inspired and
energized.
Thank you so much.”
Bella
Davidovich
Faculty, The Juilliard
School
"She was my student at The
Juilliard School for four years during which time she
showed herself to be a wonderful young
artist. She
has impressive technical and musical assets, along with
discipline and desire to develop herself. She made wonderful
progress while studying with me and I look forward to
watching her life as professional pianist
evolve."
Rundschau fur
Meizig-Wadern
Wadern Newspaper, Germany
". . .She captives
impressive and splendid characterization of
musical
creation through intensive animation and
flexibility.
With filigree technique, she charms everyone present with
her music. . . [and] the listeners gave this musical
romantic a wonderful reception.”
"This pianist understands
and has mastered the dramatic, lyrical and introvert
nuances in Chopin compositions, and for this she received
the biggest applause."
Alvin Mills
Permanent Conductor and Music Director, The
Brentwood-Westwood Symphony
Orchestra
". . . She is an excellent pianist . . . we are proud
of her great accomplishments…"
David
Lawrence,
Ph.D
Producer, "Grand Piano" Television
Show
"The Beethoven [
sonata ], especially, was thoughtful, heartfelt, musical,
and technically flawless-essentially everything that one
could possibly want from a
performance."
