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"...pyrotechnics came from Russian pianist Yakov Kasman, who illuminated his
performance of Beethoven’s "Emperor" Concerto with electrifying energy and
sparkling tonal colors and followed the piece with a brittle, crackling march
from "Love for Three Oranges," by Prokofiev.
Los Angeles Times
"Yakov Kasman seems a veteran knighted by Richter...One understands why at the
listening of Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2, all together volcanic, virtuoso and
inspired."
Le Monde de la Musique
"...an artist of enormous technical capacity and high artistic vision, which
expresses itself through dense introspection and the feathery touch of a
keyboard poet."
Kansas City Star
"Kasman, playing with ferocious finger work that
begs the question 'is this humanly possible?', is a bundle of energy
whose blazing octaves and broken-octave passages overwhelmed the
audience - sending them to their feet at the conclusion of the work
with laud shouts of approval."
Syracuse Post-Standard
"Kasman’s style glimmers with the best of Russian schooling: the unabashed
caressing of a line, the tempo liberties that dance around a solid beat, the
virile technique and voluptuous sound....[He] communicated a trance-like focus
and assertive poetic lyricism that played with - and played off-- conductor Carl
St. Clair’s stricter adherence to classical proportions."
Los Angeles Times
"Russian-born Yakov Kasman... did not simply pound at the keys as so many
pianists do with this difficult concerto with many moods. He found the yearning
heart of it, which is so much a part of the unabashedly emotional
Tchaikovsky...it was in the elegant longing of the first and second movements
that his artistry left the audience breathless."
The Ledger
"Kasman’s dynamic, powerful pianism transcends his slight stature, and his
spectacular technical abilities place him in the great tradition of Josef
Lhevinne. The Haydn "Sonata in G Major, " Hob. XVI/40, a seeming bagatelle,
became the jewel of the program for me. Kasman played it to perfection. He never
strained but effortlessly produced a compelling vignette of the Classical era.
His attacks and releases emerged as clear as Glenn Gould’s yet the overall
structure of the short sonata was never deformed. What’s more, he played the
work with the rarest of gifts, humor. Haydn definitely implies the humor,
beginning with the tempo indication of "allegretto innocente," yet musical humor
is a quality all too often overlooked by serious young medal winners."
The San Juan Star
"A real master of performance showmanship."
Le Figaro
"Mr. Kasman’s clarity made inner details easy to hear. It was coupled with
subtlety of expression and a huge dynamic range that moved from barely audible
pianissimos to gigantic outbursts of sound. And the best of the best was the
"Minuet" from Romeo, because it gave Mr. Kasman a chance to show an aspect of
his personality not otherwise apparent. He has an impish sense of humor, and it
flashed here as it had during the Cliburn Competition with a wonderful Haydn
sonata."
The Dallas Morning News
"Piano playing of unusually dramatic force...Kasman showed great sensitivity to
the music. Prokofiev's Sonata No. 8...was a real tour de force, with a driving
rhythm that produced a tremendously dramatic impact. The kinetically charged
ending, with its forceful dissonant chords, followed by a short, last outburst,
was clearly one of the supreme moments of the current Bray series."
Flint Journal
"He grabbed attention immediately... and sustained his hold through breathless
pace and sheer elan. In a well-considered account of the D-minor Sonata, Kasman
demonstrated the effectiveness of some original ideas about the workings of
inner voices, as well as the requisite turbulence. In the slow movement
--Rachmaninoff’s portrait of Faust’s Marguerite-- Kasman produced a murmurous,
Debussyan flow of color and point every bit as amazing as the torrents of
fiercely articulated notes in the outer movements."
Los Angeles Times
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 Petrouchka
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Yakov Kasman, piano
A round-the-clock race to rescue the Rach
The Oregonian
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
David Stabler
At 6 p.m. Sunday the phone rang with the news every
symphony manager dreads....
At noon Monday, Yakov Kasman's phone rang in Birmingham, Ala. Calmer was
on the line, asking if the 37-year-old Russian could play the Rachmaninoff
concerto in Portland that night. Kasman, who won the silver medal in the
1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, was just about to begin
a day of teaching at the University of Alabama. He'd never been to
Portland, had never met Kalmar and had never played a concerto without a
rehearsal. And this was Rach 3. He hadn't played a note of it since March.
One seat remained on a plane to Portland. It left in 90 minutes...
Kasman didn't hesitate. He would take the risk.
Within minutes of hearing that Kasman had agreed, the Oregon Symphony's
communications department began sending e-mail messages to 10,000 symphony
friends, started calling 1,000 Monday ticket holders and began preparing
press releases for five radio stations, four TV stations and local
newspapers.
Eight hours before the concert, Kasman's wife drove him to the airport. He
wolfed down chicken and pasta in the car -- the last food he'd have for 10
hours.
During the long hours in the air, Kasman went over the Rachmaninoff score
in his mind. He had trouble remembering even which octave the main theme
started in. He gave up in frustration.
Kasman's plane touched down in Portland at 7 p.m. Curtain was an hour
away.
Calmer drove him straight to Schnitzer Hall. Immediately, Kasman went to
the piano, sitting in the dark backstage. He seemed utterly focused. He
talked to no one. He avoided eye contact.
He played for seven minutes, then huddled with Kalmar to go over tempos
and transitions.
At 8 p.m., [Mr.] Welch, one of 2,354 expectant listeners, sat in row L of
the balcony, mopping his brow. His friend had called him at work that
afternoon, saying the symphony had found a soloist. Welch was skeptical.
He'd never heard of Kasman, and he knew the Rach. Nonetheless, he dashed
home, showered and changed.
It was crunch time. The stage manager gave the cue. Kalmar patted Kasman
on the back and gave him a hug. Kasman, a small, compact man with a neatly
trimmed beard, walked toward the Steinway concert grand piano. The
audience, aware that the pianist had just landed in Portland, greeted him
with a surge of applause.
Kalmar raised his baton and the orchestra entered. Kasman, keeping his
eyes fixed on the conductor, lowered his hands to the keys.
What followed defies explanation.
From the first notes, Kasman sailed through the music, playing the massive
chords with voluptuous tone and even inserting a playful quip now and
then. He missed a few notes at the top of some breakneck leaps, but
nothing that disturbed the music's texture. Most extraordinary, his
playing transcended the notes, difficult as they were, and took on the
natural, assured quality of a storyteller enjoying his tale.
The final, thundering chords had him standing straight up off the bench.
Welch rocketed out of his seat, shouting with joy. Around him, the
audience erupted with cheers.
"Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 1 has become a
sort of signature piece for Kasman. He has almost single-handedly
resurrected a work that everyone else ignored; for now, it belongs to
him as long as he cares to play it. For the French Calliope label,
Kasman has recorded a boxed set of the complete Prokofiev sonatas; a
disc with six Haydn sonatas; another set of five of Scriabin’s ten
sonatas; a pairing of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with
Stravinsky’s Petrouchka; and a rare release of both of Rachmaninoff’s
piano sonatas on a single disc."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"Kasman played delicately and powerfully as
needed, with uncanny attention to detail, and with panache and flair.
He opened with Nikolay Medtner’s "Four Fairy Tales" followed by
Mussorgsky’s "Pictures at an Exhibition." The latter was a real event,
inspiring a standing ovation midconcert---a rarity even for Fresno’s
generous audiences. Rachmaninoff’s "Variations on a Theme by Chopin"
(the latter the same C-minor prelude popularized by Barry Manilow) set
the stage for another tour de force, Stravinsky’s "Three Movements
from ‘Petrouchka,’" where Kasman became one with the ballet’s
diminutive but triumphant hero."
Fresno Bee
"...he gave an electrifying performance, filled
with spirit, unpredictable outbursts, sudden depressions, sudden
depressions, and thrusts to the outer limits: what a musician!"
Corriere della Sera
"The true climax of the afternoon came during
the program's second half, when world-renowned pianist Yakov Kasman
took the stage for Tchaikovsky's concerto Kasman does not so much play
as live the music, and his generosity to the rest of the orchestra
produced a truly memorable and balanced performance of lushly
passionate work."
The Sun News
"...his scope, vision and virtuosity were all
simply astounding (Rachmaninov Piano Concerto #3). In the lyrical,
melodic passages his playing was subtle, tender, and highly musical.
Where angst and despair were called for, he poured out heart and soul.
And where power and virtuosity were needed, Kasman had them as well."
The Saginaw News
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