Siberian-born pianist Denis Matsuev holds much respect for composers from Mother Russia such as Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich. ...

Aujourd’hui, le nombre de grands virtuoses a augmenté, mais Denis Matsuev est un phénomène à part en matière de maîtrise de tous les paramètres avec cette solidité d’airain. Vivre une telle Sonate en si mineur en vrai, c’est un peu comme se trouver le jour d’une éclipse du soleil avec un ciel totalement dégagé à l’endroit précis de la planète où le phénomène est total. ...

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. ...

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. ...

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor is indeed the non plus ultra of the Romantic repertoire, famously difficult and never failing to impress. It begins unassumingly, however, with a theme in the piano likely of Russian monastic origin, to which Temirkanov’s batonless conducting provided a supple, keenly judged accompaniment. The piano writing gets very difficult very quickly, but under Matsuev’s big-boned playing, even the most severe challenges were brushed off with ease and aplomb. Projection was never an issue for him either, as he effortlessly overpowered the orchestra – there was really no contest. ...

Chicago Tribune ...

Russian virtuoso pianist Denis Matsuev will give on Wednesday his jubilee tenth solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He disclosed the details of the upcoming concert in an interview with TASS. "For me the American tours have been one of my favorite performances over the past 15 years, especially on such a significant stage as Carnegie Hall," Matsuev said. "Today’s performance is special. This is my tenth solo recital on this stage. In all, I’ve performed at Carnegie Hall more than 20 times, including my concerts with orchestras." According to Matsuev, every performance in this musical theater is a special honor for him. "It was opened in 1891 with a concert of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of [Pyotr] Tchaikovsky. [Sergey] Rachmaninoff and [Igor] Stravinsky also performed there," he said. "Carnegie Hall has its own special aura, special atmosphere. ...

A substantial portion of the Russian musical community attended the spectacular piano recital by Denis Matsuev at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Sunday, January 24, given under the auspices of The Cherry Orchard Foundation. Mr. Matsuev (b. 1975), winner of the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1998, offered three works on his original program, of alternately salon and virtuosic character: Tchaikovsky’s 1876 suite “The Months” (also known as “The Seasons”); Schumann’s suite after E.T.A. Hoffmann, Kreisleriana, Op. 16; and Stravinsky’s arrangement (for Artur Rubinstein) of Three Scenes from the 1911 ballet Petrouchka.  ...

Enjoy a Night of Live Classical Piano Music Featuring Denis Matsuev ...

Mr. Matsuev boasts a prodigious technique and interpretive flair. ...

To get the geopolitical controversy out of the way first: Acclaimed Russian pianist Denis Matsuev says he does not regret signing a document that voiced support for President Vladimir Putin’s position on Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The document, which was published in mid-March on the Web site of Russia’s Ministry of Culture, and which also endorsed Putin’s stance on Ukraine in general, attracted signatures from world-famous conductor Valery Gergiev, Bolshoi Theatre general director Vladimir Urin and other members of Russia’s artistic elite, prompting some dismay within and outside the country. ...