Photos by Matthew Sussman
Matei Varga, Pianist
All Music Guide wrote about Matei Varga's recent CD released by Naxos and produced by Max Wilcox, with piano music by George Enescu, that it shows "a pianist fully on top of the rather punishing and never showy virtuosity required by Enescu's music" and declared the recording a "standout". "I love the music of Enescu" Matei confesses, "not only because it allows me to ‘speak my language’ but also because I believe him to be one of the greatest composers of the modern period, yet to be discovered by the regular concert-goer."
A recent concert marking this release took place on February 6th, 2011 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City, and enjoyed critical success - "Frankly, I had never seen such an interesting concordance of music," says Harry Rolnick of the ConcertoNet. "The meaning of his music was ear-boggling, for he is a fearless performer."
The WQXR online streaming of the Poisson Rouge performance is available on WQXR website. Enjoy!
BREAKING NEWS
August 2011: Matei just returned from Paris where he recorded with cellist Laura Buruiana a new album for Coviello Classics. The CD will be released in early 2012 and will include the two cello and piano sonatas by Johannes Brahms. Stay tuned for more details.
Recent reviews of the Naxos CD with piano music by George Enescu
"Matei Varga (...) makes a vivid impression on this new Enescu recording. What’s perhaps most notable is his acute sense of vertical balance, invaluable in music with such textural complexity; inner lines emerge gracefully, and there’s a refreshing transparency to even the densest passages. Varga has a fine sense of the music’s range of character as well, whether it be the post-Scriabinesque yearnings of the first movement of the sonata (reminiscent, in spots, of the Berg), the rather jazzy drive of the second movement, the almost Fauréen sweetness of the Second Suite’s Sarabande, or the calm mystery of the Choral from the Third Suite. Colors are evocative throughout, too, especially in the quieter end of the spectrum (try the sotto voce mystery at the beginning of the sonata). - Peter J. Rabinowitz, Fanfare Magazine, July/August issue 2011
"Matei Varga tears into the sinew of this music with great bite and forcefulness. (…) A very well accomplished recording." – Alan Becker, American Record Guide, March 2011
"For its repertory and performance, this Enescu CD is a must." – RITMO, Spain, February 2011
"Matei Varga offers nuanced and refined interpretations of [Enescu's] works. The recorded sound is immaculate." - Earl Arthur Love, ConcertoNet, February 2011
"Enescu’s music requires the descent into introspection and an exuberance leveaned by nostalgia, as well as an immensely clever game of colors and shades. Matei Varga shows maturity and flair in presenting Enescu’s universality, while keeping his spirit profoundly Romanian.Varga filters all these attributes through his own distinctive personality and artistic sensibility." - Oltea Serban Parau, Adevarul literar & artistic, December 29, 2010
"I profoundly enjoyed the marvelous playing, so sensitive to the last detail, so powerful and impressive throughout. These are really poetic interpretations which, I feel sure, will not fail to move every music-lover. This is an extremely important contributio nto propagating successfully Enescu’s piano music." - Lory Wallfisch, President of the "George Enescu" Society of the United States, Inc.
Follow Matei on this website to be updated on the latest news about his concerts and projects.
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