Benjamin Grosvenor : Reviews

PIANO

BBC Proms, Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4

“Grosvenor’s ever-gracious virtuosity was muscular, capitalising fully on the sensitivity of touch of a modern grand piano.”

Flora Wilson, The Guardian, September 2021 (****)

“[Grosvenor’s] account of the Piano Concerto No 4 went straight to its heart: notably, he and Elder made the slow movement into an almost operatic musing on the nature of loneliness … Grosvenor’s unflappable virtuoso encore, Liszt’s concert étude “Gnomenreigen”, was the evening’s most memorable moment.”

Jessica Duchen, The i paper, September 2021

“Benjamin Grosvenor’s performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto was a revelation, a performance of maturity beyond his years. The idea of linking it to the second half symphony by utilising Saint-Saëns’s cadenzas was inspired … Saint-Saëns via Grosvenor’s superbly articulated playing took us to another world … This was pianistic control of the very first order … What with Grosvenor breathing fresh magic into his every gesture and line, plus the novelty of those cadenzas, this was like hearing the music anew.”

Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard, September 2021

“a recital of extraordinary musical coherence …  Franz Liszt’s immense B minor Sonata has effect of an extraordinary artist who takes the audience wherever he wants. Under Grosvenor’s fingers this sonata is a veritable theatre, from the very first dry, vertical notes to the almost nauseating swirls on the return of the main theme in the last movement… But purely instrumental virtuosity is never an end in itself, and is anchored in a vision and a continuous flow that always leaves room for song and melody … Grosvenor fascinates as much by the ease with which he frees himself from Lisztian overtones as he does by his acute sense of narrative.”

Augustin Javel, Bachtrack, July 2021 (*****)