Alberto Reyes : Acclaim

A very personal tribute to Chopin from a thoughtful and reticent pianist

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The final pages of the Fourth Ballade are as magisterial and lucid as you could wish and in the central Elysium of the Second Sonata's Funeral March Reyes relaxes into a moving and personal eloquence. -- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone

Alberto Reyes plays Chopin "Recommended" recording in Pianist magazine

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Alberto Reyes produces a singing line and judges tempos to near perfection -- Marius Dawn, Pianist

BBC Music reviews Alberto Reyes plays Chopin in its March issue

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

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.

(Traducción al español en Read more... )

-- Jessica Duchen, BBC Music Magazine

More reviews of Chopin recording

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

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.

(Traducción al español en Read More...)

-- Patrick Rucker, International Record Review

First reviews of Chopin CD (I)

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

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.

(Traducción al español en Read More...)

-- Peter Burwasser, Fanfare

First reviews of Chopin CD (II)

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

His ability to breathe new life into these works is his strength. It is hearing the freshness of youth coupled with the experience of life that so impresses here. It also makes him rather difficult to classify for comparison purposes. Sometimes Bolet springs to mind in the combination of freedom with a mastery of multiple voicing, but Reyes occupies, in essence, a space all of his own. How very refreshing.

(Traducción al español en Read More...)
-- Colin Clarke, Fanfare

Cr

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

...el pianista hilvana los pasajes consiguiendo unidad en las obras que interpreta mediante un enfoque rico en emociones y nítido en cuanto a matices. El intérprete canta con concentrada expresión y aporta fuerza y ardor a las partituras, en lo que es un Chopin vivo y sensible que prima la poética del sonido. -- Emili Blasco, Revista Scherzo de Madrid

Rese

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

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

-- Alberto Gonz

The New York Times

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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

(Traducción al español en Read More...)
-- Allan Kozinn, The New York Times

The New York Times

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- The New York Times

Washington Star-News, Washington, D.C.

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- Michael Donaldson, Washington Star-News, Washington, D.C.

San Francisco Chronicle

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- San Francisco Chronicle

Buffalo News

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- Buffalo News

American Record Guide

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Reyes is obviously up to all the virtuoso demands, but does not flaunt his abilities. Instead he takes the music seriously, maintains a singing line with little effort, and extracts both the essence and the full impact of Liszt's treatment -- Donald Manildi, American Record Guide

Gramophone

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
...his playing showed impressive grandeur...patrician ease and naturalness -- Gramophone

Calgary Herald, Canada

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
A major talent blessed with a world-class technique -- Calgary Herald, Canada

Palm Beach Times, Palm Beach, Florida

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- Palm Beach Times, Palm Beach, Florida

San Diego Union, San Diego, California

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- San Diego Union, San Diego, California

The Fort Worth Press, Fort Worth, Texas

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- The Fort Worth Press, Fort Worth, Texas

The Denver Post, Denver, Colorado

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Reyes cannot be said to take second place to anyone. His formidably balanced performance shows a front rank pianist -- The Denver Post, Denver, Colorado

Music and Musicians, U.K.

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

A born keyboard aristocrat
-- Music and Musicians, U.K.

Novosty Agency, Moscow, U.S.S.R

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- Novosty Agency, Moscow, U.S.S.R

Diario de Noticias, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Alberto Reyes triumph was due to his attributes of virtuosity and musicianship. His Brahms Concerto No. 1 was full of bravura and sentiment.
-- Diario de Noticias, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Scherzo, Madrid, Spain

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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.
-- Scherzo, Madrid, Spain

El Pa

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

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
-- El Pa

El D

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Su Sonata No. 3 de Chopin fue la más impresionante comprobación del estilo esencial y recreador de Reyes como intérprete de verdad. La partitura surgió con necesidad de evolución autogenerada y completa autonomía estética, con un romanticismo de excepcional gusto musical y sana emoción, que revelaron a un pianista auténticamente vocacional y radicalmente acertado en sus intuiciones. -- El D