[ Harmonia Mundi SACD / Hybrid SACD ]
Release Date: Friday 12 February 2016
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2013 Cliburn Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodenko became the first-ever 'Artist in Partnership' with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra beginning in 2014-15. Under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya he opens his complete cycle of Prokofiev piano concertos with the 'dark-hued but dazzling' No. 2 in G minor, coupled with the less familiar No.5 in G major.
"a very fine pianist; there is doubt about his virtuosity and his affinity with Prokofiev … there's a lot of potential in this young pianist … Kholodenko is great in showing the drive of this music, the power of it, and also the different colours … he has fingers of steel." CD Review, 20th February 2016
"The luxurious and exquisitely dimensional sound reproduction, combined with hand-in-glove ensemble and scrupulous attention to detail, makes this a remarkable release, one whose disclosures multiply with repeated listening" Gramophone Magazine, March 2016
"Kholodenko seems more at home with [concerto] No 5, in a straightforward, brilliant interpretation with plenty of drive … The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra accompanies nicely throughout in a spacious acoustic" International Piano, March 2016
"Kholodenko's technique and phrasing bring a great clarity. He is not afraid to slow down and find a mystery and poetry often ridden roughshod over by others. His approach reveals much that is often lost in more overtly virtuosic performances. He ensures that the bolder, more dynamic passages receive due weight bringing a restrained virtuosity of his own" The Classical Reviewer, 28/02/2016
"This 2013 Cliburn alumnus, on adopted home ground, finds more light and shade than most in the second concerto, and the epic first movement cadenza impresses hugely … Orchestral playing is first, rate, and Harth-Bedoya accompanies with zest and power." Classical Music, April 2016
"[Kholodenko] surmounts the Second Concerto's formidable challenges impressively, with only a hint of a rallentando at the cadenza's steepest hurdles. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra matches his qualities with faultless and clearly articulated playing" BBC Music Magazine
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major, Op. 55