| Critical Acclaim
Selected Concerto Reviews:
"The soloist of the afternoon
concert, the highly acclaimed Michael Lewin, is known to Triangle
audiences through his appearances with the North Carolina Symphony,
most recently in the summer pops series with Curry conducting. There
is an obvious bond of respect and admiration between these two.
Lewin appeared as part of a reconstructed turn-of-the-century pit
band in two of Scott Joplin's exuberant rags, "The Easy Winners
Rag" and "The
Cascades Rag." The music quickly had members of the audience
tapping their toes or bobbing their heads in time with the infectious
rhythm of ragtime. - Ken Hoover, Classical Noice North Carolina, Oct. 2009 Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (with the Miami Symphony under Eduardo Martuert) "The virtuoso pianist confirmed his gifts with this stellar appearance. He gave us a precise and solid interpretation of the famous work. Lewin's execution was truly impressive in its style, accuracy and rhythm, which is key in the playing of this difficult concerto." - Diario Las Americas, Oct 16, 2006 (translated from the Spanish) "The second part of the evening was brought on with the well-known Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, in which the piano protagonist leading the charge was the prestigious Michael Lewin. This work is one of the favorites of the public for its passionate cadenzas and its vibrant passages, introducing jazz into the concert hall. The performace was extremely well received by the audience." - Miami, El Nuevo Herald, Oct 18, 2006 (translated from Spanish) Reinecke Piano Concerto No.1
(with Ronald Feldman and the Berkshire Symphony "If Williams College paid soloists by the note, pianist Michael Lewin would be a rich man today. Lewin, the winner of such important piano competitions as the William Kapell, performed Carl Reinecke's Concerto No.1 with the Berkshire Symphony at Williams College on Friday night. The notes flew through Chapin Hall like sparks from a bonfire. . . . Like Schumann, Reinecke alternates virtuosic with lyrical passages, and dreamy with ardent states. Chords thunder, runs ripple. . . . Lewin had the power and panache that the work demands." - Berkshire Eagle, Andrew Pincus, March 4, 2006 Chopin Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, with the Boston Civic Orchestra; Max Hobart, conductor "Lewin too frequently gets overlooked when lists of great Boston-based pianists get compiled. Pity. The chair of the Boston Conservatory piano faculty 'suffers' from an international reputation that exceeds his local one. Hearing his bravura interpretation of Chopin's second concerto in the gorgeous acoustic of Jordan Hall was a regular concertgoer's true reward. The F minor concerto forms a test for the compleat musician: bold, finger-challenging runs in the outer two movements; introspective, emotional writing in the middle slow movement. Working listeners into a frenzy by the end of the work, Lewin graciously calmed unsettled nerves with a contemplative Chopin Etude as an encore." - Boston Herald, Keith Powers, Nov, 2004 Gottschalk & Gershwin with the North Carolina Symphony; William Curry, conductor "In Gottschalk's toe-tapping Grande Tarantelle, Lewin quickly established his mastery of crystal-clear articulation and confident precision, reaching appropriate abandon in the energetic climax. In Gershwin's Second Rhapsody, Lewin supplied peppy percussiveness to Gershwin's evocation of New York City streets and an appealing pulse to the blues portion. It all had a wonderful swing and syncopation." - Classical Voice North Carolina, Roy C. Dicks, July, 2004 Liszt Totentantz - with Ian Hobson, conducting the Sinfonia da Camera "Michael Lewin played this series of variations on the medieval hymn "Dies Irae" ("Day of Wrath") with electric excitement. This was one of the most highly charged piano performances I have ever seen. It was a tumultuous performance, like a tonic to me." - The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, 2004 Tchaikovsky No.1 (with Hugh Wolff and the Maryland Festival Orchestra) "Tchaikovsky's rhapsodic phrases surged in and out with ease, the melodic and harmonic sweep assured. There was remarkable clarity of detail combined with massive sonorities- no mean trick in the same piece." - Washington Post Menotti (with Ron Daniels and the Reno Philharmonic) "Lewin was brilliant. He gave vent to the theatricality of the Menotti with a flair for the dramatic that never got out of hand. Lewin's performance was high drama mixed with superb taste. One of the orchestra's most exciting concerto performances ever!" - Reno Gazette-Journal Menotti Concerto- with Carmon DeLeone, conductor and the Illinois Philharmonic "Piano soloist Michael Lewin played authoritatively and successfully captured the bravura evidently intended by Menotti's dramatic music. He was commanding. . . the difficult runs, varied dynamics and frequent exchanges with the orchestra were executed smoothly, while the sheer power of his sound filled the hall." - The Star, Chicago, May 23, 2002 Grieg (with Thomas Conlin and the West Virginia Symphony) "The Grieg was truly the highlight of the evening, as the pianist drew a standing ovation from the audience. Lewin's radiant tone rang to the rafters..." - Charleston Gazette Liszt No.1 (with Virko Baley and the Nevada Philharmonic) "Lewin, considered to be one of the world's top interpreters of Liszt, was splendid, treating the audience to a dazzling afternoon not likely to be soon forgotten. He challenged the orchestra to rise up and play beyond their mortal capabilities." - Las Vegas Sun Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (with Dimitri Toufexis and the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra) "Here, the noted American pianist Michael Lewin set the tone, handling this well-known piece with clarity, lucidity and architectural order. . . . It all worked with renewed immediacy, gaining the whole-hearted cheers of the standing audience." - Elefterotypia, Athens Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (with William Henry Curry and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra) "We had almost forgotten how much of a solo work Rhapsody in Blue really is. It's literally a series of cadenzas linked by light orchestral scoring. The pianist played them excitingly, reaching the highest pitch in the music's brilliant climax. . . . Lewin was given a warm ovation after his scintillating performance." - The Indianapolis Star Gershwin's Second Rhapsody (with Paul Phillips and the Pioneer Valley Symphony) "This was the audience's favorite of the evening. The crowd loved Lewin's showy Gershwin. . . . He brought a very affirmative attitude with him, and his assurance and spirit lifted the listeners into delight. The orchestra swept along with the sassy flow of the piece and Lewin's easy lead." - The Recorder, Greenfield MA Gershwin's Second Rhapsody (with William Henry Curry and the Indianapolis Symphony) "Lewin played with spirit, style and accuracy and with insight into Gershwin's own peculiar nostalgia." - The Indianapolis News Gershwin Concerto in F (with Carmon DeLeone and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra) "Substituting pianist Michael Lewin had just a week to prepare a piece he had played only once before. His playing was incredibly accurate and emotionally charged, getting the IPO season off to a rousing start. He delivered the depth without losing the playfulness of this composition's hot and jazzy, uniquely American rhythms." - The Star, Park Forest Illinois Mozart Concerto in D Minor, K.466 (with Thomas Conlin and the West Virginia Symphony) "Lewin is a technical marvel. He plays with what looks like a feather-light touch, but the notes explode from the piano. He marshaled all the seething drama of the music without sacrificing the clarity of Mozart's intricate inner part-writing." - Charleston Gazette, West Virginia. Mozart Concerto in D Minor, K.466 (with James Rawie and the Orquestra de Camara de Puerto Rico) "His almost Beethovenian approach, executed with supreme precision, generated an electricity that had us breathless in our seats" - El Vocero, San Juan, Puerto Rico Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos (with the Flagstaff Festival Orchestra, Irwin Hoffman, conductor and Constantin Orbelian, pianist "Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos was a piece of sprightly joy. The two virtuosi demonstrated an almost uncanny ability to achieve ensemble unity on rather short notice. They were particularly good in the finale, playing the famously difficult cadenza with almost note-perfect precision." - The Sun, Flagstaff, Arizona Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals (with The Boston Pops, Robert Bernhardt, conductor, Art Buchwald, narrator, Paul Szep, cartoonist, and Janice Weber, pianist. "Most of all, there was some beautiful and vivid playing by Weber and Lewin." - Boston Herald Selected
Recital Reviews Headline: "Dazzling Lewin makes impression" ...a demanding and elevating recital that included the complete Book 2 of the Debussy Preludes as well as his mind-boggling "L'isle Joyeuse," along with major works from Schumann and Liszt. - Boston Herald, Keith Powers, March 2005 Headline: "Michael Lewin displays the keys to piano mastery." "Boston can boast of many fine pianists. Michael Lewin stated his case to be included in their ranks Tuesday evening, with an engaging program that included music by Prokofiev, Beethoven, Scriabin and Ginastera. Lewin plays intensely, in a fury of concentration. His fingering is immaculate and fleet, and he infuses each work with a sense of drama....glittering reading of Ginastera's Opus 22 Sonata...Lewin doesn't play often in Boston, so be advised not to miss your next chance to hear him." - Keith Powers, The Boston Herald, Nov. 21, 2002 Headline: "Lewin offers edgy, explosive performance in piano series." "The International Piano Series at the College of Charleston offered one of the most substantive programs in recent memory Tuesday at Sottile Theatre. American keyboard artist Michael Lewin, chairman of the piano faculty at Boston Conservatory, respected world recitalist and noted recording virtuoso, was preceded by his credentials. Nevertheless, he proved as explosive and edgy as a young challenger in this demanding program, which, remarkably, included nothing in the way of concert "fillers... Lewin dug into an exuberant Russian sampler of Prokofiev and Scriabin...Despite the presence on the program of material possessed of more gravitas and colossal scoring, it must be said that at least one emotive apex of the evening was Lewin's performance of the Brahms Intermezzo in B-Minor, Op.119 No.1. The tender intensity of its slowly descending arpeggios, and the Scriabin-like tentativeness of its harmonic resolutions made a memorable impression....Ginastera's piano sonata No.1 offered a stunning conclusion." - The Charleston, S.C. Post and Courier, Jack Dressler, Nov. 13, 2002 Charleston, South Carolina "Menotti sometimes writes as though pianists had more than 10 fingers on each hand. Lewin was more than equal to the task and brought chuckles from the audience with the unexpectedly sweet, sentimental ending to a very difficult piece. . . . Lewin played [the Mephisto Waltz] as Liszt must have - explosively and with much color and expression. . . . He not only has extraordinary talent, but charm, poise, wit, and good looks as well." - The News & Courier New York "His technique and ability qualify him eminently for success." - The New York Times "Among Boston's resident pianists and musical treasures is the ever-imaginative Michael Lewin...." - American Record Guide, July, 1999 Washington, D.C. "A most sensitive and brooding performer, with a controlled, awesomely intense style. He roared passionately yet precisely through the Chopin. His Prokofiev wove a web of childhood dreams and nightmares. - The Washington Post Boston "For me, one disapointment of the Blizzard of 2003 was that it meant the cancellation of a concert, long marked on my calendar, featuring pianist extraordinaire Michael Lewin, chairman of the Boston Conservatory's piano program. One of the best musical nights out I've had this season came in November, hearing Lewin's performance of Beethoven's Waldstein, plus sonatas by Alexander Scriabin and Serge Prokofiev. To hear this internationally acclaimed virtuoso play is to realize how much world-class talent calls Boston home." - Boston Globe, Scot Lehigh, Feb. 2003 "What an intelligent program, and what a satisfying pianist. It will be good to hear him again." - The Boston Globe "Make room for Michael Lewin. Boston's music schools all boast great pianists on their faculty...... Boston Conservatory's Michael Lewin is the equal of any of them. He proved it with a dangerously difficult and extraordinarily musical program Thursday evening of Scarlatti, Bach, Prokofiev's Sonata No. 6, the Franck Prelude, Chorale and Fugue and two Liszt Waltzes." - Boston Herald, Keith Powers, January, 2001 Moscow "Michael Lewin played his program with inspiration and genuine artistic enthusiasm which won over the sympathy of the audience. A touchingly pure and sincere approach to music was combined with highest-class skill, a perfect sense of style, and profound understanding." - Sovyetskaya Rossia "...a musician who possesses a refined poetic nature and a deeply heartfelt voice. Tchaikovsky's Autumn Song sounded, in his hands, as a musical sonnet, a sad confession of love." - Komsomolskya Pravda Pasadena "As a great actor transforms himself into the character created by the author, Michael Lewin's extraordinary interpretative gifts seem to enable him to merge his musical mind with the composer's. Lewin's presence is indeed powerful, however, he is also capable of disapearing in favor of putting the music first.... In Prokofiev's Sixth Sonata we heard the piano become an instrument of war, recreating sounds of machine gun fire, soldiers marching, sirens, shrieking, moaning and the painfully aching sound of silence.... His masterful balancing of Franck's fluid forms {Prelude, Chorale & Fugue} coaxed a heavenly organ-like sound out of the same piano that was being used moments before as an instrument of terror.... The audience wouldn't let him go before hearing Gershwin's snappy Prelude No. 1. Who could ask for anything more?" - David Spear, Shumei Concert Review, 2001 Detroit, Michigan "He was undeniably exciting. He produces a big assertive, confident sound, the kind that wows audiences and made him a lot of friends last night." - Detroit News Toulouse, France "Michael Lewin, an interpreter of international quality, charmed a public of connoisseurs, as they applauded his great integrity, virtuosity and sincerity." - La Depeche Phoenix, Arizona "Lewin performed [the Schubert Wanderer Fantasy] with classy panache and stylish abandon, winning over the crowd with the maturity and depth of his interpretation. He gave a thunderous reading of Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, laying out the work's contrapuntal structure with clear and assertive phrasing, and, in the latter portions of the fugue, thrilled his listeners with the most eloquent and penetrating crescendo heard in years." - The Republic Waterloo, Canada "The clarity and color of this performance were quite revelatory, being brilliant, evocative, and tender by turns. A totally satisfying and exhilarating concert, this one - hats off!" - Waterloo Gazette "At KWCM's Music Room, Michael Lewin, piano, got right into high gear at the start with the blistering Prokofiev Sonata No.3, and made a brilliant job of it too. . . Lewin's account of Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata consisted of two ultra-high tension, digitally impressive outer movements and a quite extraordinarily soulful, lovely performance of its beautiful slow movement. An outstanding performance. . . Brahms, admirably shaped and paced, fine sensitivity. Ginastera's Sonata. . . this too was a stunning performance. There were two delicious encores - the most popular of all Scarlatti Sonatas, L.23, in a performance of magical charm, and Gian-Carlo Menotti's Toccata, a perfect finisher, dazzlingly performed." - Waterloo Gazette, Jan Narveson, 2002 Knoxville, Tennessee "Lewin projected the narrative qualities of the Chopin with ultimate musical freedom, thus revealing his ability as a musical poet. Throughout the Ballade, his prodigious technique made the difficult passages seem easy." - The Knoxville News-Sentinel Las Vegas, Nevada "If I cannot say enough good of him, it is because he is a pianist after my heart with technique to burn, power to spare, passionate excitement, subtlety, beautiful tone quality, and the rare gift of being able to project his love and understanding throughout the audience. I have had the good fortune of hearing all the great pianists of our age, but I cannot recall any performance more gripping than this one." - Las Vegas Review-Journal Chicago, Illinois Menotti Concerto, with Carmon DeLeone, conductor and the Illinois Philharmonic: "Piano soloist Michael Lewin played authoritatively and successfully captured the bravura evidently intended by Menotti's dramatic music. He was commanding... the difficult runs, varied dynamics and frequent exchanges with the orchestra were executed smoothly, while the sheer power of his sound filled the hall." - The Star, Chicago, May 23, 2002 Indianapolis "Lewin's Beethoven had real power and thrust. His playing was energized but not frenetic, and his concept was spacious yet taut." - The Indianapolis News San Juan, Puerto Rico "Four encores did not satisfy the standing-room-only public at the Island recital debut of the spectacular pianist Michael Lewin. His Schumann Fantasy unfolded with passion, poetry and architectural inevitability, with a seemingly endless dynamic and tonal range. The virile Mozart had a pointillistic clarity allowing great attention to detail to emerge. The Four Liszt Etudes were tossed off with magnificent bravura, marvelously contrasting power and delicacy." - El Nuevo Dia "Michael Lewin, in the Ginastera Sonata, gave free rein to his imagination and virtuosity, validating before the Puerto Rican public yet again his international competition victories and great popularity." - El Nuevo Dia, August 28, 2002 Selected Chamber Music Reviews "The Amy Beach Piano Quintet provided rich opportunities for a pianist to lean into the thing and breathe fire, which Michael Lewin and his colleagues manifestly did with great conviction and palpable enjoyment. Received with thanks" - The Boston Globe, Feb. 1998 "The performance of the Harbison Piano Quintet by pianist Michael Lewin and his Boston Convervatory Chamber Ensemble colleagues was poised, sonorous, direct, and satisfying." - The Boston Globe, Feb. 1997 "Before intermission, pianist Michael Lewin, violinist Joseph Genualdi, violist Amadi Hummings and cellist Peter Rejto performed Faure's First Piano Quartet. The performance was splendid in every way, with the ensemble capturing the work's unbridled passions with playing of refined expression and taste. The musicians were also attentive to the playful qualitites of the Scherzo, and they summoned a hauntingly beautiful lyricism in the Adagio." -
from ArtsIgnite! Festival, Winston-Salem Journal, 2002 Romanul-Lewin collaboration a hit
of Berkshire summer scene -
The HellenicChronicle, Aug.1997 "The finesse of the duo was evident in thousands of details: precisely gauged crescendos and decrescendos, perfectly coordinated pauses, the matching of piano staccato to violin spiccato, flexible tempi and clearly articulated rhythms. I marveled at the balance between lightness and propulsion in the scherzo of Beethoven's Seventh Sonata, the ethereal harmonics and stratospheric violin extension in the Debussy, the passionate conviction in the Grieg, the seamless legato and floating cantabile in the Rachmaninov. It is easy to lose control in Romantic music- to let go, pour it on and neglect details. The Lewin brothers had the special merit of capturing a world of refinement in a torrent of impassioned sound, and were as convincing in the subtle delicacy of Debussy as in the lyricism of Grieg and the grandeur of Beethoven." -
Las Vegas Review-Journal, Feb. 1991 "Pianist Lewin's piano work [Schubert Trout Quintet] was a model of musicality and clarity. His every note was clear, yet he blended into the whole with unusual sensitivity." - The News & Courier, Charleston, SC "Much of the excellence in this performance [Mozart G Minor Piano Quartet] came from Michael Lewin at the piano, whose sense of Mozartian rhythm and willingness to play amongst the strings rather than apart from them gave this version a good deal of its appeal. His clear enthusiasms and musical conceptions were stylistically apt and propelled the quartet through a solidly integrated performance." -
The Evening Post, Charleston, SC "This Shostakovich Piano Trio was a stunning performance by pianist Michael Lewin, violinist Debra Fong and cellist Christoper Costanza, capturing the eerie wistfulness and subsequent grotesqueries of the opening, the driving sardonic spikes of the scherzo with its gleefully sarcastic trio and the poignant tread of the pasacaglia, said to be a death march tribute to slaughtered victims of the war. Finally, there was the macabre dance of the finale, chilling in its skeletal smile, dissolving to arpeggiated ether, a recall of the death march and a little major-key coda of hope." - The Buffalo
News, April, 1996 "The great Mendelssohn D Minor Trio was played with appropriate passion, sensitivity and fire. Lynn Chang played with sweetness, Michael Lewin spun out the piano lines with a compelling level of warmth and strong character, and Andrés Diaz's cello was sometimes reflective, sometimes almost searing in expressiveness. They leapt into the Finale with headlong intensity and a breathtaking speed that brought the audience to its feet at the conclusion." - The Patriot-Ledger, June, 1993
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