Cédric Tiberghien – Press

“just as captivating was the atmosphere of calm he could create, taking extreme care with something as simple as the final broken chord that ends a phrase. Uniting it all were his near-flawless execution and an interpretation that accounted for every detail”

“Tiberghien presents all of them as perfectly conceived miniatures that often pose more questions than they answer.”

“In Tiberghien’s hands the cycle sounded like one episodic unity, the Frenchman expertly pacing the mercurial episodes.”

“Tiberghien’s light and sensitive touch was most brilliantly in evidence in Debussy’s ‘Etudes’, each emerging fresh and original”

“Modern, yes, in great sound, and played with all the passion needed to fully present the music in its most authentic manner, if you don’t have these in your collection, now is the time to start!”

“…the spell was Tiberghien’s art, roaming from a silky sibilance to the syrupy schmaltz of full-on romantic Rachmaninov — the stuff that inspires dodgy pop songs and sadly unforgettable movie scores — he held the audience entranced.”

“Tiberghien is typically clean and limpid, his phrasing at once subtle and straightforward.”

“The concert book ended Bernstein with Britten in music composed under the shadow of war, matching the rather flat-footed melodrama of Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem against Bernstein’s febrile, haunted Age of Anxiety, its solo piano part played here with headstrong virtuosity by Cédric Tiberghien.”

“Tiberghien… …completely matched her mastery, his touch particularly notable in the crepuscular Scherzo; again, in the finale, his handling of the chords of the chorale-like theme was brilliantly balanced.”

“Debussy radically reinvents music elsewhere; in the Fantasy he is not quite radical enough. It’s best enjoyed as a delicious indulgence in sound, as the London Symphony Orchestra did here, with the pianist Cédric Tiberghien splendid at the piano; nimble yet robust, dreamy yet forthright.”

“As his Preludes abundantly demonstrate, he’s a Chopin player of real class… …listen to the quietude he finds in No 4, with its subtle gradations of pianissimo, or the way the music fades to nothing in the mesmerising closing moments of the Sixth. Even in the more full-throated Preludes, there’s a very French-style fingeriness to Tiberghien’s articulation that means textures never become heavy or stifling…. …in the final prelude he swaps straightforward assertive virtuosity for something altogether more compelling – a private sense of desperation, setting the seal on a refreshingly thoughtful set of Preludes.”

“A composer with an eye on the orient in more ways than one, Saint-Saëns subtitled his Fifth Piano Concerto the “Egyptian”. A Nubian love song and the croaking of Nile frogs can be heard, the result of the work being partly composed at Luxor. But playing a dusky turn-of-the-century piano Cédric Tiberghien also supplied Mozartian clarity and dazzling syncopations, matched with finesse by the orchestra. Let’s hope they record this fascinating work.

Tiberghien followed this with an Alhambra-inspired Debussy prelude and rejoined the orchestra after interval for Franck’s Les Djinns — evoking diabolical Persian genies. But his Saint-Saëns will remain an outstanding highlight of the 2017 Proms.”

“Tiberghien’s first entry was magisterial and soon became bittersweet. Outbursts from him, and from the orchestra, were generated from within, and if Tiberghien missed the odd note, his inborn connection with the music was irresistible…”

“French pianist Cédric Tiberghien has an expressive way with Bartók. Even in music that often uses the piano as a percussive instrument, his attack is never angular or dry; instead, it’s warm, personal and spacious, with a flux to the rhythms that sounds totally organic.”

“You know a pianist has more than enough technique to ignite the keys when he begins a program with Ravel’s ‘Gaspard de la nuit,’ one of the most cruelly demanding virtuoso pieces in the entire repertory. The tall, lanky Frenchman (who turned 40 on Tuesday) conveyed the music’s eerie nocturnal mystery and diabolical ferocity with power, elegance and controlled intensity. What’s more, Tiberghien was scrupulous in observing tempo and dynamic markings, also the haunting fantasy that lies beyond the notes on the page.”

“Tiberghien’s technique is formidable, but it’s his intensity and poetic impulsiveness that catch the ear.”

“With an electrifying performance of Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2, the up-and-coming artist easily moved listeners on a chilly evening to drop their blankets and spring to their feet… To the work’s playful skittishness, the pianist brought a fantastically light, spidery touch, and where the music turned dark and thunderous, Tiberghien too morphed into a brooding, rapturous poet.”

“On Wednesday night, for the second program, the conductor Christoph Eschenbach took over. The highlight was a fresh and dazzling account of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, with the brilliant French pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who played with rich, rounded tone in the lyrical stretches and fleet, crisp articulation in the spiraling, jazzy, virtuosic passages.”