"ARTHUR GREENE'S RECITAL - INTOXICATING APPEAL, WONDERFUL PIANO TONE: This world-class pianist played to a packed hall. When the calm melody of the Bach French Suite floated through the hall, the audience held its breath, and was more and more seduced by the beautiful tone..."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mainichi Daily News, Japan
"Mr. Greene, a masterful pianist with a massive technique that is nevertheless free from gigantism, excels in the romantic repertory. He has a splendid feeling for the music of Liszt; his performance of the 'Benediction de Dieu' was panoramically conceived and brilliantly executed.... The program closed with a full-bodied and rhythmically charged performance of the Brahms 'Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel'"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New York Times
"For 99 out of every 100 contestants in a competition, playing the Brahms B-flat would be a mistake. It is an enormous challenge, and is really meant to be played only by the masters. But Arthur Greene assumed the risk and won - in more ways than one. It was a virtuoso reading. But that was not what mattered most about it. For above all one was conscious throughout that here was a profound musician- one of intense concentration and seriousness of purpose."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Washington Post
"This was one of the rare recitals in our hectic modern life that was passionate and moving.... It is extremely rare to encounter a performance that is so satisfying in every respect as on this special evening.... The most striking characteristics of Arthur Greene's playing are his beautiful singing melodic tone and the exciting forward drive which seems to be his nature.... He is the kind of pianist to whom we would like to pay attention for many years into the future."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Watakushitachi-no-Ongaku (Our Music), Japan
"Arthur Greene, winner of several world-class competitions, showed himself as a sensitive pianist with a delicate and cultured touch.... Congratulations to a highly talented artist!"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Berlin Morgenpost
"Arthur Greene demonstrated colorful and impressive technique, leaping over hurdles of speed, dexterity, and dynamic expression with security and seeming ease, and reveling in bravura passages."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Los Angeles Times
"First class artistry.... An assertive performer, he combines galvanic technique with seductive tone, clearly the requisites for a Beethoven specialist."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .San Francisco Chronicle
"His performance of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto was replete with fine, expressive, dynamic music-making. The tone was carefully crafted, and Greene displayed an assurance and clarity of conception that was mature."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Philadelphia Inquirer
"A Romantic splendor of sound-colors and a dynamic and expressive personality were presented by Arthur Greene at his recital last Sunday.... He was rewarded with calls of bravo by the enthusiastic audience."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ruhr Nachrichten
"Greene fascinated the audience with his original and noble playing. Technically he is on the highest level, and his musical character is intelligent and dramatic."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Westdeutsche Allgemeine
"Romantic elan at its best!"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Salt Lake Tribune .
"A pianist with big musical ideas, and a big sound to match..... The playing was exuberant and poetic by turns, the pianist's accuracy and expansive style letting the music show the baroque ideas through the changing prisms of the late romantic harmonies and chordal power.... Rachmaninov's Sonata #1 flowed like oil under his hands. It was a performance full of graceful touches and ardent lyricism - just what Rachmaninov needs."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Philadelphia Inquirer
Wednesday, January 31, 2001
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition. To help celebrate the event, the Bachauer Foundation is sponsoring a series of monthly piano recitals, which will bring internationally recognized artists to Salt Lake City.
Arthur Greene opened the series Tuesday evening with the first of two concerts dedicated to the sonatas of Alexander Scriabin. Greene, who took first prize at the 1978 Bachauer competition, is an incredible talent who combines an innate musicality with amazing technical prowess. And when it comes to Scriabin, few can match Greene's incomparable pianistic dynamism. He exhibits a profound insight into the Russian composer's music, exploring the emotional parameters and expounding brilliantly upon them. Greene's stunning performance at Tuesday's recital quite simply left his audience breathless.
The first half of the program consisted of two early works: the Sonata No. 1 in F minor, op. 6, and the Sonata No. 5, op. 53. The op. 6 is filled with the large sweeping gestures of late romanticism, while the op. 53 shows some of Scriabin's more mature characteristics. The latter is much more advanced in its harmonic and thematic structure than the earlier sonata. However, both are immensely difficult works that demand the utmost in virtuosity. Greene handled the sudden and explosive changes in mood and tempo in these two pieces with dazzling aplomb.
The second half of the recital added a new dimension to the music. Greene, who played the Sonatas Nos. 7 ("White Mass"), 8 and 10 in this part of the concert, was accompanied by sensual and visually powerful lighting effects that heightened the intensity of the music. In his later years, Scriabin became a proponent of the spirituality and mysticism of music, and he was convinced that pitches had a distinctive color associated with them. And this blending of sight and sound at Greene's recital gave a small indication of what Scriabin must have envisioned his music would look like.
At Wednesday's concert, Greene will play Scriabin's Sonatas Nos. 2-4 in the first half, and Nos. 6 and 9 ("Black Mass"), together with the "Vers la flamme," op. 72, after intermission.
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com
2001 Deseret News Publishing Company