20 May 2023
"He enchants the audience with his magical tone," writes the "Cincinnati Enquirer," and the renowned British "Gramophone Magazine" attests to his "exuberant virtuosity." When it comes to the American pianist Reed Tetzloff from Minneapolis, the professional critics are full of praise. Ever since the now 31-year-old artist reached the semi-finals of the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015 and was celebrated by the Russian media as the "lyrical hero of the competition" and compared to the young Van Cliburn, he is considered one of the most interesting young piano talents in the USA.
Tetzloff is a long way from the type of virtuoso who delights his audience with impressive showpieces. During his studies with the busy Bulgarian pianist and piano teacher Pavlina Dokovska, who teaches at the Mannes School of Music in New York City, he also studied the Schenker method of music analysis, which the renowned music theorist Carl Schachter taught him. He also draws inspiration for his interpretations from literature and the visual arts: "I often read a line and come back to the piano because I know how to play a phrase," he says. He also writes the texts for his CD booklets himself.
An important theme for him is transcendence, and his debut album is also called "Sounds Of Transcendence" and offers an interesting collection of works. In addition to pieces by Alexander Scriabin, whom Tetzloff appreciates for his "wild mysticism", it also contains a sonata and the piece "The Pleasure Dome Of Kubla Khan" by the American impressionist Charles T. Griffes, who is almost unknown in Germany, as well as César Franck's romantic long-running "Prelude, Chorale and Fugue". "I am always amazed at how music expresses all possible aspects of human existence," he writes in the booklet text. "I hope that with the music in this program I can hint at some of the encounters with transcendence that we will all have at some point," says Tetzloff. These comments make it clear that for the American pianist, music also has a very strong spiritual side. Reed Tetzloff has already given a whole series of concerts in the USA, Europe and Asia. In May he is coming to Germany for a number of recitals, for which he has put together an interesting program. The musical Art Nouveau style of Alban Berg's piano sonata meets Charles Ives' satirical examination of traditional conventions in his "Three-Page Sonata" and the concertante brilliance of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Waldstein Sonata" meets the piano symphony of Johannes Brahms' third sonata. Piano music lovers can therefore expect a lot. And they are unlikely to be disappointed.
Mario-Felix Vogt, 20.05.2023, RONDO Ausgabe 3 / 2023