08.

Press

Garrick Ohlsson’s Definitive Brahms Recital at The Conrad

Garrick Ohlsson returned to The Conrad in downtown La Jolla Saturday, November 9, to play another all-Brahms piano recital. With his evident affection for the repertory, his superlative technique, and his insight into what makes Brahms’ piano music distinctive, his recital also turned into a graduate level master class for anyone who plays piano or has ever studied the instrument.

“From Brahms’ early Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5, and the Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35, Book II, to the mature Op. 79 Rhapsodies and the Op. 116 Fantasies, Ohlsson’s every phrase illuminated important aspects of this rich body of piano music, amplifying the sheer joy of experiencing Brahms played with such command and panache.” San Diego Story

Read article

Washington Post: Beethoven with the Melbourne Orchestra at the Kennedy Center

Ohlsson used his pianistic soft power — a commanding technical arsenal deployed with judicious restraint — in the service of Beethoven’s penchant for insistence, pushing the first movement’s boil of trills and passagework to the foreground, making the slow movement’s pleas hushed and voluble by turn.

“Ohlsson used his pianistic soft power — a commanding technical arsenal deployed with judicious restraint — in the service of Beethoven’s penchant for insistence, pushing the first movement’s boil of trills and passagework to the foreground, making the slow movement’s pleas hushed and voluble by turn. By the rambunctious finale, ensemble and soloist were on the same quirky page,…

Read article

Seattle Times: Pianist Garrick Ohlsson, a local favorite, is back in Seattle to open the President’s Piano Series

The opening of the President’s Piano Series is always a big event for keyboard fans — particularly when local favorite Garrick Ohlsson is back in town. An international star, the San Francisco-based Ohlsson has enjoyed playing the former Meany Theater (now renamed the Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater) ever since he arrived there in 1982 for a recital with violinist Miriam Fried. “I walked…

Read article

Elgar and Beach with the Takács Quartet

... the distinguished pianist Garrick Ohlsson joined the Takacs Quartet for a concert of works by Elgar and the little-known American Amy Beach, 10 years his junior.

“ … the distinguished pianist Garrick Ohlsson joined the Takács Quartet for a concert of works by Elgar and the little-known American Amy Beach, 10 years his junior. Her Five Improvisations for piano proved skilful inventions, but her F sharp minor Piano Quintet (1907) came as a magnificent surprise: a superbly crafted three movements, whose adagio espressivo went beyond craft into real…

Read article

Rachmaninoff in Pittsburgh

Mr. Ohlsson’s playing is supremely polished, and he’s able to coax one of the largest sounds I’ve yet heard from a piano.

“Rounding out the first half of the performance, Pianist Garrick Ohlsson returned to Heinz Hall to complete this season’s cycle of Rachmaninoff concertos with the Concerto No. 4 in G minor. Soloist and orchestra handed off melodies and gestures flawlessly, their interplay a pleasure to experience. Mr. Ohlsson’s playing is supremely polished, and he’s able to coax one of the largest…

Read article