“After intermission, the acclaimed American pianist Garrick Ohlsson took the stage to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Ohlsson is known for his fine technique and huge hands, which allow him to tackle passages that challenge other pianists. He could make the piano thunder in passages such as the grandiose openings of the first and third movements. He made it sparkle in…

“Ohlsson treated this early Beethoven work expressively, with sinuous rubato, keeping his rhythms precise, his touch light, and his rhetoric clear. Nothing, not even Beethoven’s many technical snares, seemed to faze him. And the pianist rarely pulled rank: every phrase seemed agreed upon rather than dictated to the Orchestra. Ohlsson’s many dialogues with individual players —…

“[Garrick Ohlsson] is a force of nature and an exceptional artist: his playing of Rachmaninov in his last visit to Manchester remains in the memory as an exhibition of mastery.” The Arts Desk

“The well-deserved standing ovation elicited one encore, Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2, another much-beloved staple of recitals. Once again, when Ohlsson chose to speak simply and affectingly to the heart, the results made the deepest impression: his exquisite dynamic control, beautiful variety of tone, and bel canto “singing” of the melody combined to form a…

“Jako zrównoważenie dla jednej z ostatnich sonat Beethovena ze środkowego okresu (ostatniej według niektórych badaczy – niekoniecznie: e-moll op. 90 jest za mało medytacyjna i zbyt witalna jak na późne sonaty) Ohlsson wybrał fantazję Wanderer Schuberta. Bardzo dobry wybór – ten utwór doskonale da się połączyć zarówno z innymi dużymi formami klasycznymi, romantycznymi,…