Here's a fascinating and extremely beautiful Chopin recital from a pianist of whom we've heard little in the past decades. Uruguayan born Alberto Reyes presents both the big sonatas and some substantial shorter pieces in accounts that are unusual, personal and deeply rewarding.

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Stylistically speaking, there's a great deal in Reyes's playing that harks back to the 'grand manner'. His sound is unapologetically round and luxurious and, once launched, his beautiful cantabile soars in an infallible arc. Tempos tend toward the spacious and sections are vividly contrasted. The overarching sweep of a work's formal structure is emphasized above focus on detail. Asynchronicity of the hands and broken chords occasionally serve to clarify polyphony or heighten expressive nuance but always within the realm of good taste. Above all, in each work there is an incontestable point of view, an expressive intent devoid of any ambiguity, that lends these disarmingly direct readings their singular authority.

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What we have here is richly toned, thoughtfully paced, and honestly referential music-making. I have used the analogy before; forgive me if this reveals a weakness, but the Chopin of Reyes is the bottle of wine I can curl up with for an evening, as opposed to that splashy, high-octane Napa Valley cab that knocks you out too early on. The more I hear Reyes, the more I find some insightful moment, a thoughtful repose, or, most significantly, a sense of a coherent overall vision. Combine this clutch of attributes with splendid recorded sound, and you have a Chopin release of special merit.

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Alberto Reyes tiene a su favor la brillantez del toque, la claridad de sonido y la transparencia con que desentraña la textura melancólica, reflexiva y permanente de la música de Chopin

What made Alberto Reyes's piano recital ...so exciting was the Uruguayan pianist's way of capturing each work's essence - the quality of its nervous energy, its musical fingerprint - and his ability to transform it into something like a living organism

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From a purely musical point of view, the best performance of the day came from Alberto Reyes, soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A (K. 488). ...in his debut here, (he) delivered a nicely musical account of his part, lapsing into neither flashy excess nor self-effacing plainness.

His playing breathed poetry; there was enough color for an orchestra. He does not exploit the piano for the sake of technique display, rather uses it to draw life from those little black dots on the page.

Alberto Reyes raised a surprising arch of passion in a work that made the most sustained technical demands, Prokofiev's Concerto No. 2 in G minor. It was a job of high prowess, showing supple responsiveness to Prokofiev's lyricism and a highly intelligent grasp of the internal balances.

His playing is consistent with the grand pianist aesthetic, with its balancing of lyrical sensitivity, overpowering finger-work and the kind of musical flourishes that denote masculine authority.

No one was prepared for the extraordinary excellence of the piano recital presented by the young Uruguayan pianist Alberto Reyes. Reyes chose for his program some of the most difficult works in the piano repertoire and performed them with seeming ease...combining a shimmering technique with very lovely tone and phrasing, but above all, with intelligence and delicacy.

He possesses a phenomenal keyboard mastery...The performance of the Ginastera was a breathtaking adventure. This extremely dynamic music was played with compelling musical insights and a prodigious facility.

Reyes established himself immediately as an artist of taste and sensitive touch as well as unlimited power. Yet, his piano can sing when the music requires it.

His interpretation provided an excitement of rhythmical drive and technical perfection which incited the audience to a salvo of spontaneous applause.

A born keyboard aristocrat

Alberto Reyes turned out to be a genuine musician. In Mozart he showed his personal lyricism and brilliant technique. In Rachmaninoff and Chopin, Reyes demonstrated that he is performer with a particular style, capable of transporting the listener to a world of fantastic musical imagery. Finally, his Tchaikovsky scintillated with genuinely Russian colors.

Alberto Reyes triumph was due to his attributes of virtuosity and musicianship. His Brahms Concerto No. 1 was full of bravura and sentiment.

Reyes nos ofrece un Liszt cantabile (que respeta el sentido verdiano original) virtuoso (que enfrenta los escollos de estas partituras, base de tales variaciones e invenciones) y profundo (que no olvida el hondo sentido musical de unas obras de madurez que van más lejos del puro amor hacia el teatro lírico del maestro de Busseto). Sería de desear escuchar en vivo en nuestro país a este sensacional pianista uruguayo.

Hay en Reyes un raro equilibrio entre la inteligencia y la sensibilidad. Frente a esa suma de excelencias, hablar del mecanismo de Reyes parece obviamente innecesario. Quien se desenvuelve a nivel internacional como lo hace él no puede competir con medios por debajo de lo brillante. No toca, sin embargo, como un virtuoso sino como un músico; como un músico personal, que no deja que los moldes lo asfixien y que logra expresarse por sí mismo a un nivel excepcionalmente rico y sugerente