|
"Piano soloist Michael Lewin
played authoritatively and successfully captured the bravura evidently
intended by Menotti's dramatic music.
Chicago Star
"The pianist played them excitingly, reaching
the highest pitch in the music's brilliant climax.... Lewin was given
a warm ovation after his scintillating performance."
The Indianapolis Star
"Lewin, considered to be one of the world's top
interpreters of Liszt, was splendid, treating the audience to a
dazzling afternoon not likely to be soon forgotten. He challenged the
orchestra to rise up and play beyond their mortal capabilities."
Las Vegas Sun
"Lewin was brilliant. He gave vent to the
theatricality of the Menotti with a flair for the dramatic that never
got out of hand. Lewin's performance was high drama mixed with superb
taste. Even more impressvie were the pianist's moments with all those
more intimate notes he so impeccably played with such dazzling
virtuosity."
Reno Gazette-Journal
"He plays with what looks like a feather-light
touch, but the notes explode from the piano... He demonstrated an
intellect to drive the technique. His playing in the opening movement
mashalled all the seething drama of the music without sacrificing the
clarity of Mozart's intricate inner part-writing... he played with
stunning brilliance."
The Charleston Gazette
|
Concert Biography
MICHAEL LEWIN - Pianist
Michael Lewin enjoys a distinguished international reputation as one
of America’s most gifted concert pianists and musicians. He performs
worldwide as orchestral soloist, in solo recital and as a chamber
musician. His career was launched with victories in the Franz Liszt
International Piano Competition in the Netherlands (1986), the
American Pianists Association Beethoven Award (1983) and the
University of Maryland’s William Kapell International Competition
(1982). Both the Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation and the National
Endowment for the Arts have awarded him significant career grants.
Mr. Lewin made a notable New York recital debut in Lincoln Center in
1984, on which occasion the New York Times wrote that "his immense
technique and ability qualify him eminently for success". His solo
performances since then have taken him to such venues as New York’s
Alice Tully Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, Pasadena's Ambassador
Auditorium, the Library of Congress, the Great Hall in Moscow, Hong
Kong's City Hall Theater, Taipei's National Concert Hall, Beijing’s
Forbidden City Concert Hall, Wilmington's Grand Opera House, the
American College of Greece, the Opera House of Cairo, the
Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Holland and the Spoleto Festival. Recent
orchestral engagements include the Netherlands Philharmonic, Cairo
Symphony, Bucharest Philharmonic, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the
Symphonies of Phoenix, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Colorado, Nevada,
West Virginia, Puerto Rico, Guadalajara and the Jupiter Symphony. He
performs over 35 different piano concertos. In 2000 he gave the world
premiere of the David Kocsis Concerto for the New Millenium. His
popular PBS Television recital hosted by Victor Borge has been aired
often throughout the United States. Last year he was the featured
interview in Clavier Magazine and led the 150th Anniversary Steinway
Artists Gala Concert in Boston’s Symphony Hall.
Michael Lewin’s recordings on Naxos, Marco Polo and Centaur have won
extraordinary critical praise, and reflect the great breadth of his
musical passions. His newest release is Bamboula! Piano Music by Louis
Moreau Gottschalk. Bamboula! was chosen as a "2002 Top 10 Pick" by the
Boston Herald; the Boston Globe enthused that "Lewin has the chops and
the charm for these pieces." Recent releases on Naxos include a
collection of 19 Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti and the
first-ever-complete recordings of the piano music of American composer
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (in two volumes). Mr. Lewin's earlier
recordings, Michael Lewin plays Liszt and A Russian Piano Recital
featuring music of Scriabin, Glazunov and Balakirev, are available on
Centaur.
A native of New York, Michael Lewin is Chairman of the Boston
Conservatory Piano Faculty and Artistic Director of the Boston
Conservatory Chamber Players. He studied at the Juilliard School of
Music, earning Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. His teachers have
included Leon Fleisher, Irwin and Lillian Freundlich, Adele Marcus,
and Yvonne Lefébure.
Mr. Lewin’s 2003-04 orchestral engagements include the Rhapsody in
Blue with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops, Liszt’s Totentantz with
the Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara and the Liszt Festival Orchestra
under Ian Hobson, and Haydn Concertos with the Boston Virtuosi and the
Orquesta da Cámara of Puerto Rico. He will play recitals in the U.S.,
Canada and in the Czech Republic. He will also appear often in recital
with violinist Irina Muresanu in the new Lewin-Muresanu Duo. For more
information visit his website at
http://www.michaellewin.com.
Mr. Lewin is a Steinway Artist
September 2003
Please destroy all prior concert biographies. |
