Till Fellner – Press

“…his pure, unfussy music making an ideal match for Haitink. “

“To start, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 22, played with natural ease, eloquence and impeccable artistry by Till Fellner. Everything felt right; it was as if we were immersed in a novel so well-written that we could happily forget the very act of reading.”

“[Till] was more than a match for the surrounding forces and for Mozart’s intricate writing. There were passages, especially in the finale, when the entire orchestra seemed to float up from Fellner’s fingers right along with the rippling lines and arpeggiated waves of piano.”

“…His sound was always present, always well supported by the orchestra, notably in those pages where the piano and solo woodwinds engage in quasi-operatic song. The unhurried finale wore a Viennese smile to complement its tasteful classical manners. I found much to enjoy here, and so, evidently, did the audience, which called the pianist back for bow after bow.”

“Mazzola and the Philharmonia then provided an excellent accompaniment for K466, surreptitious and stylish in the first movement, a perfect foil for Till Fellner, a Brendel protégée, who was subtle and refined, yet also carried an electric charge, with crisp phrasing embracing lyrical tenderness, somehow both rarefied and earthy, fortissimos unforced; and using Beethoven’s cadenza confirmed a meeting of great minds, true to the later composer and also integral to music he very much admired.”

“There are pianists who don’t quite know what to do with Mozart’s piano music.  And then there are interpreters such as the Viennese Till Fellner, musicians whose sound and interpretive sensibility seem tailormade for Mozart. His touch creates a precise and airy impression; his cantabile is obviously luminous. A former private student of Alfred Brendel, he does not use Mozart’s  Piano Concerto K. 503 in C Major to push himself into the foreground. Quite the contrary, in his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic the 43-year old Fellner’s approach had chamber music sensibility. He eschews virtuosity in favor of timeless, effective sound.”

 

 

“Fellner’s performance was long on dreamy textures and exquisitely voiced lines… A melting rubato allowed Fellner to stretch and twist the tempo, giving just the right improvisatory quality to the interpretation of this exceedingly difficult piece (Schumann‘s Kreisleriana).”

“… These are bravura and virtuosic pieces that build to an irresistibly majestic conclusion and, in the end, even Fellner seemed happy to let them off the leash, to great effect.“

 

“The evening’s refined soloist was the young yet well-traveled Austrian pianist Till Fellner in his BSO debut. His playing was all Apollonian grace, with a sensitively spun Andante and a third movement cadenza that was remarkable in its clarity, musicality, and feline virtuosity. Haitink was a responsive partner, meeting him at every turn.”

“Fellner’s beautifully weighted tone, capable of infinite dynamic nuance, was all his own, as was the immaculate finish of his pianism in the outer movements and the expressive gravity he brought to the central largo. With Fellner, every interpretive gesture took on a convincing motivation that stemmed directly from the score.”

 

“At Zankel Hall on Tuesday Mr. Fellner was as thoughtful and surprising as ever, but he has reconsidered the emotional core of his performing style. Where the interpretive variety in his work was once a matter of different shades of Apollonian exaltedness, Mr. Fellner has added a Dionysian current.”