As a tremendous bonus, Denis Matsuev, the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition winner (1998), was along for the ride and torched the hall with an absolutely stunning Prokofiev Piano Concerto no. 2 in G Minor, but more on that later. Gergiev’s conducting and Matsuev’s playing comprised the main story Friday night. But it was Matsuev who, for a time, stole the show right out from under Gergiev. ...

Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto sneaks up on an audience. Matsuev made it dance gracefully over the opening music-box phrases, perfectly setting up the ferociously complex, dissonant and rhythmically obsessive gestures that later pepper the score. He managed to get a robust tone out of the Steinway, stopping short of clanging on these hammering phrases. The result carried the audience along, anticipating the next climax instead of dreading it. Both conductor and pianist relished Prokofiev’s prankster-like wit, quite different from Shostakovich’s barely concealed snarl. ...

The Second Piano Concerto, which on Sunday benefited from the iron-man keyboard prowess of pianist Denis Matsuev, comes tearing out of the gate as if on steroids and doesn’t take a breath until its three movements are complete. It covers a lot of ground, too — stentorian twelve-tone writing in the first movement, a sudden burst of bebop piano that crops up (uninvited but hardly unwelcome) in the finale, and in between, more ferocious passagework than most composers would pack into three concertos and an encore. ...

Prokoviev’s youthful Piano Concerto No. 2 was a place for more biting heroism. Matsuev produced the tone of a powerful gong, and the beautiful opening tune rang like a great summons. It was a summons for a spectacular bruising as he later dominated the piano with astonishing force. For his encore, Liadov’s “The Music Box,” Matsuev released yet another Russian secret weapon, the ability to electrify upper registers of the piano with mere finger power. ...

Though born a generation apart, conductor Valery Gergiev and pianist Denis Matsuev are longtime collaborators. The general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Gergiev returns with the Mariinsky Orchestra for an SCP Orchestra Series concert Nov. 8, featuring Matsuev as soloist in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also on the program are Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 and Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben. ...

When watching world-class performances the mind tends to do one of two things. It either observes avidly in awe and wonder at the virtuosity on display or, at the optimum level, the consciousness switches off altogether and leaves the imagination to animate the musical pictures. This concert by the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev prompted both reactions. ...

Manchmal genügt eine einzige Geste: Denis Matsuev, Capell-Virtuos 2017/18 bei der Sächsischen Staatskapelle, nimmt die wenigen Meter zwischen Vorhang und Flügel derart entschlossen, dass man sich in den ersten Minuten in der Semperoper bei einem bilateralen Unterzeichnungsakt – Völkerfreundschaft, Atomausstieg oder ähnliches – wähnt, anstelle in einem Klavierkonzert. Doch das ist verflogen, als der 42-jährige die Tasten berührt und aus dem Steinway den wunderbaren „Jahreszeiten“-Zyklus von Peter Tschaikowsky strömen läßt. ...

Holder of People’s Artist of Russia title in TASS special project Top Officials ...

Il entre en scène. De haute stature, pour ceux qui encore ne le connaîtraient pas. Une présence impériale, un naturel confondant. Les spectateurs n’ont pas le temps de le contempler qu’il attaque La Tempête, les obligeant à se concentrer subito presto, alors qu’ils s’ébrouaient encore comme des collégiens au retour d’une récréation. Denis n’en a cure, son jeu suffit à imposer le calme. ...

Avec la fin de l’été, les premiers récitals solistes dans les salles parisiennes. La saison pianistique de l’avenue Montaigne s’ouvre en compagnie de Denis Matsuev. Avec une première partie entièrement consacrée à Beethoven, l’artiste russe inscrit son programme dans la modernité, celle du romantisme bousculant les conforts classiques. ...

A recital by the Russian piano titan with outstanding technical prowess is not to be missed and Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata should be a firework display. However, this worthy heir to Emil Gilels is also a poet at the classical keyboard. He performs Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood – Schumann inspired the slow movement of Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata – and for the first time in Paris he takes us into the heart of Beethoven at his purest and most intimate with The Tempest and Opus 110. ...

On 1 and 2 July in the concert hall "Dzintari" in the framework of the "music of the Baltic seasons" will feature the outstanding Russian pianist Denis Matsuev. In Jurmala it will introduce two programs. During the first concert accompanied by a Symphony orchestra under the baton of principal conductor of the State Symphony orchestra of Tatarstan Alexander Sladkovsky will hear the 1st Concerto of Tchaikovsky for a piano with an orchestra and "Rhapsody in Blues" by George Gershwin. ...

Richtig schlecht wird das Klavierkonzert Nr. 1 von Peter Tschaikowsky nie gespielt. Dafür ist es zu schwer. Viele Pianisten kommen mit diesem Werk technisch klar. Aber darin erschöpfen sich die meisten Aufführungen auch schon. ...

Quand prit fin la guerre de 40, le monde se retrouva d’un seul coup de baguette hébété, à se reconstruire. L’insouciance des années trente, poursuivie malgré la crise de 1929, avait expiré son hédonisme néo-classique au moment des hostilités. Une révolution esthétique s’imposait : elle s’imposa, soucieuse de table-rase avec un art austère et rigoriste. Mort tout récemment, en 1943, Rachmaninov semblait appartenir à une autre civilisation définitivement périmée, avec ses oripeaux rococo. Relégué au grenier du temps jadis, on l’extrayait parfois de sa malle, au milieu des éventails de grand-mère, des plumes Sergent-Major, des soldats de plomb, des baisemains langoureux, des tasses et des poupées de porcelaine, des toupies, des torpédos, des tambours et des concertos, avec irrévérence et désinvolture. Il restait lové dans ses arpèges en rivières de diamants, dans ses octaves à décorner des bœufs, des effluves d’un romantisme évanoui, trop orné, trop kitsch, et qui n’était plus de bon ton quand le travail reprit son bail, l’industrie son tri, quand le formica se répliqua. ...

Entrons maintenant dans le vif du sujet : le concert du 21 novembre 2016. Trois concertos de Prokofiev. Le numéro un fut exécuté par George Li, américain de 21 ans, dans une interprétation délicate et aboutie suivie d’un bis bien mérité, parfaitement choisi pour mettre en valeur toute la musicalité d’un interprète devant qui s’ouvre une glorieuse carrière. Le numéro trois échut à Alexander Malofeev, russe de 15 ans, qui fit preuve d’une grande maturité, de brio et de belles subtilités. Il nous offrit un bis qui permit à ses qualités d’élégance et fluidité de s’épanouir plus particulièrement. Un garçon de cet âge, qui peut en remontrer à des pianistes plus âgés, plus aguerris, voilà qui s’appelle un prodige. Il a été récompensé cette année au nouveau concours international Grand Piano de Moscou. Nul doute que toutes les capitales des divers continents lui fassent des offres de plus en plus alléchantes. ...

It’s doubtful anyone could have wanted more from Denis Matsuev, who played to a full house in Jordan Hall on Saturday Night. A few might have, in rare moments, wanted less. But that’s quibbling. Matsuev’s near superhuman piano playing allows him to do as he wishes at the keyboard, and almost all that he wishes to do is in greater service of great music, making this music fresh and exciting. ...

Prokofiev does not go easy on the soloist in his Piano Sonata No. 7. Turning on a dime from brooding introspection to full-frontal assault, the piece demands a pianist who can forge a cogent path through the wild swings of emotion. Denis Matsuev, at his Strathmore recital Sunday, showed just the right temperament to honor the sonata’s bipolar moods, offering a cool, tension-filled beauty in the lyrical pages, and pounding home the relentlessly percussive final movement to thrilling effect. ...

After winning the 11th Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in 1998, Denis Matsuev has been sought out for many high-profile concerts featuring the Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev concertos where his sheer power and bravura can be brilliantly exhibited. Nonetheless, many of us have been patiently waiting to hear his artistry put to work in more varied repertoire.  This recital fully answered the call: it featured three major piano works, ranging from Beethoven and Schumann to Prokofiev, alongside smaller pieces. Overall, it turned out to be a tremendous success, revealing more clearly the artist’s cogent sense of line and contrast, his subtle perception of beauty, and the range of his delicate playing – to set alongside his well-known strength and tonal charisma. Perhaps expectedly, his Prokofiev Seventh Sonata was formidable, one of the best performances I have heard in recent years. ...