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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
Press Kit
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Concerto Repertoire
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 Petrouchka
Schumann Forest Scenes
Prokofiev Romeo & Juliet
Video:
Medtner Sonata in G Minor
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Yakov Kasman, piano
Power, eloquence, a virile technique and a
compelling artistic vision mark the playing of pianist Yakov Kasman, Silver Medalist at the Tenth
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. This event - Mr. Kasman's American debut - was the culmination
of several piano competition triumphs and tours in Europe and the
Middle East, including a top prize at the Arthur Rubinstein
Competition in Tel Aviv and second prize at the International
Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg.
Yakov Kasman has performed hundreds of concerts throughout the United States, Russia, France, and Asia, including recitals in
Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and at the Tonhalle in Zurich.
He has appeared as soloist with dozens of symphony orchestras, among
them the Buffalo, Oregon, Pacific, Syracuse, Memphis, Miami, Ft. Worth,
Nashville and Alabama symphonies, the Moscow Philharmonia Orchestra, the Athens
State Orchestra, Orchestre de Lille, Singapore Symphony, National Symphony
Orchestra of Taiwan, Orquestra Simfonica de Baleares in Spain, and the Daejeon
Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea).
In praise of Kasman's performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto, the Los Angeles Times
wrote: "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 ..."
Mr. Kasman has a growing discography including twelve CDs on the Calliope
label, among them Rachmaninov's two piano sonatas, and the complete
Prokofiev Sonatas, which received the Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Academie du
Disque. Other recordings include solo works by Haydn, Scriabin,
Mussorgsky, and Stravinsky. and his award-winning Cliburn competition live performances
on Harmonia
Mundi, about which Fanfare Magazine wrote: "...it is Yakov Kasman's jaw-dropping virtuosity, interpretive insight, and
sheer stylistic panache in Rachmaninov's rarely heard Piano Sonata
No.1 that really grabs the listener by the collar... Fully attuned to
this moody, atmospheric music, the keen architectural sense, idiomatic
flair, and bravura the Russian musician brings to this music compels
respect, and the multitude of notes at the first movements climax is
astonishing in its power and articulative clarity."
Born in the town of Orel, near Moscow, Mr. Kasman began his piano
studies at the age of four. A graduate of the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory
(followed by a professorship of piano at the Music College of the Conservatory),
he is now Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence at the University of
Alabama, Birmingham.
"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
BIOGRAPHY
Mr. Kasman’s debut in America in 1997 as Silver Medalist in the Tenth Van
Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth was the culmination of
several competition triumphs and tours in Europe and the Middle East, including
prizes at the 1991 Valentino Bucchi Competition in Rome, the 1991 London World
Piano Competition, the 1992 Artur Rubinstein International Competition in Tel
Aviv, and the 1995 International Prokofiev Competition at St. Petersburg.
Since his American debut, he has given concerts in the United States, South
America, Europe, Russia and Asia, including recitals in New York City, Boston,
Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Paul, Atlanta,
Birmingham and Washington, DC. He has appeared as soloist with more than fifty
orchestras including the Buffalo, Oregon, Pacific, Syracuse, Memphis, Miami, Ft.
Worth, Nashville and Alabama symphonies, Athens State Orchestra, the Orchestre
de Lille and Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier in France, the Singapore
Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Orquestra Simfonica de
Baleares (Spain), Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea) and the Moscow
Philharmonia Orchestra.
Yakov Kasman’s discography includes twelve studio CD recordings on the Calliope
label. His two CD set of the recordings of the complete sonatas of Prokofiev was
awarded the “Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Academie du Disque” in France in 1996.
Other CDs include solo works by Haydn, Scriabin, Stravinsky, and Rachmaninov.
The International Piano Quarterly magazine recommended his CD of Moussorgsky’s
“Pictures at an Exhibition” as one of 14 equally ranked best in a survey of
recordings over the past 75 years. His recording of Shostakovich’s Concerto No.
1, and Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings, released in 2000, received
the “Choc du monde de la musique” award in France, is rated highest for artistry
and sound quality by Classics Today.com, and referred to as “superlative” in the
American Record Guide. He has also recorded two CDs with Harmonia Mundi, the
most recent one with the Pacific Symphony includes Piano Concerto No. 2 by Lukas
Foss, released in 2001. In 2003 he completed recording of all Scriabin piano
sonatas and in 2004 recorded an All-Tchaikovsky CD featuring “The Seasons” and
Grand Sonata in G-Major (Rated 10/10 by ClassicsTodayFrance.com in December
2005)
Born in the city of Orel, near Moscow, Mr. Kasman began his piano studies at the
age of five. A graduate and postgraduate of the Moscow Conservatory and
previously a professor of piano at the Music College of the Conservatory, he is
now Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Alabama,
Birmingham. His students are winners of regional and national competitions. For
more information visit the website: www.yakovkasman.com
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