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Press

Tanglewood Festival

Friday night's program was distinguished by Garrick Ohlsson's crystalline touch in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, K.271, generally regarded as his first mature piano concerto. Ohlsson is a big man and can turn on the power if needed, but here he offered lightness and grace in the fast outer movements of the 21-year-old Mozart's charmer.

“The slow movement, by contrast, had the hushed mystery that crops up (like pathos) elsewhere in Mozart. After the plunge into that darker world, Ohlsson’s joking finale seemed all but giddy. The BSO accompanied faithfully, and Ohlsson played Chopin’s Nocturne in F-sharp, Opus 15, No. 2, as a solo encore.” The Berkshire Eagle “The program took on a deeper, weightier…

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Inon Barnatan and Garrick Ohlsson deliver masterful performances of late Schubert music

Ohlsson’s conception and execution of the A Major Piano Sonata was revelatory

It’s hard to go wrong constructing a program of late Schubert works. The challenge lies in finding a complementary mix of performers. Barnatan invited Garrick Ohlsson to play the Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959 and the two collaborated in a poignant account of the Fantasie in F Minor for Piano Four-Hands. For the radiant Piano Trio in B-flat Major, D. 898, violinist Erin Keefe made her La…

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The Score – Playlist: The Gentle Beethoven

Garrick Ohlsson's Beethoven Favorites

On my February 27 recital at Alice Tully Hall, I feature Beethoven’s most popular “name” sonatas: Appassionata, Moonlight, Pathétique, and Waldstein. These four works reinforce some of our views of the Great Composer—Beethoven seizing fate by the throat, the Promethean bringer of fire, the creator who repeatedly journeys from dark to light, the man who overcame deafness to pen some of…

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Your Essential Listening Guide to American Pianist Garrick Ohlsson

You don’t play at the piano, you make the piano your collaborator

“You don’t play at the piano, you make the piano your collaborator,” says celebrated American pianist Garrick Ohlsson. But he could just as easily be describing how many musicians feel about performing the music of Beethoven. While the Classical/Romantic composer was very detailed in his score markings, there are myriad ways to interpret their execution. Da Camera presents Garrick Ohlsson…

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Interview: Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival

I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I was just crazy about playing the piano and making music.

While waiting for his fight at La Guardia airport, renowned pianist, Garrick Ohlsson, called for the pre-arranged interview. The topic of his non-stop global travel came up and Mr. Ohlsson said, “Any place I am is fine, but the traveling (to get there) is wretched these days.” Mr. Ohlsson is affable and has a rich laugh. Inextricably linked to Chopin as a result of winning first prize at the…

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