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Press

Brahms’ Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony

From his first straightforward passage, the pianist played with a declarative directness. The statement and development of the opening movement’s themes were suave, even self-effacing, before turning clamorous and ferocious.

“With Garrick Ohlsson as soloist, Brahms’ Concerto occupied the second half of the program. From his first straightforward passage, the pianist played with a declarative directness. The statement and development of the opening movement’s themes were suave, even self-effacing, before turning clamorous and ferocious. His double-octave forays up and down the keyboard hit their mark.…

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Cleveland Orchestra: Ohlsson bring solace amidst smoky skies

Ohlsson made a deft, light-fingered case for the piece, which wastes no time getting into some dense pianistic material.

“Ohlsson made a deft, light-fingered case for the piece, which wastes no time getting into some dense pianistic material. The second movement came across as especially comforting: Ohlsson opened delicately with an extended solo before being gently joined by bassoonist Catherine Van Handel. The outer movements emphasized the pianist’s agility while retaining his elegant economy of…

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Szymanowski Symphony No. 4 “Concerto” in Warsaw

His stoicism and lack of theatrical glitter, even in the most emotional fragments, allow him to focus exclusively on the music he creates.

“Garrick Ohlsson has always been an intellectual pianist for me, a continuator of the great school of the last century. His stoicism and lack of theatrical glitter, even in the most emotional fragments, allow him to focus exclusively on the music he creates. Karol Szymanowski’s “Concert Symphony” was performed in a very classical way, with a beautiful cantilena of the…

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Schubert Club Recital

The pianist also showed that his ability to summon thunder hasn’t diminished at age 77, as evidenced by a torrential cascade of crashing chords in the second movement and a finale that built to an exhilarating climax.

“…there was a welcome calmness from the evening’s opening notes, when Ohlsson emerged alone to perform the first of Schubert’s Impromptus and made it an intriguing dialogue between the bright optimism of his right hand and the gripping gravitas of his left. […] O’Neill and Ohlsson then delivered a particularly playful take on Schubert’s Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in…

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Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the National Symphony Orchestra

Ohlsson... gave this lengthy solo all its virtuosic edge, rolling through the many diminished seventh chords with dramatic flair and ending with florid trills.

“Ohlsson brought out the intimate characteristics of the piano writing, playing the many runs with distinct clarity in his still-agile fingers. In the development, where the keyboard mostly accompanies important lines in the orchestra, Ohlsson tended to move ahead, rather than yielding to what was happening around him. For the cadenza near the end of the first movement, Ohlsson played the…

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