(…) The artist transformed into a gifted interpreter as the Robert Schumann piano concerto began. As though he had been dealing with this kind of music for ages, he played so vigorously, clearly and in such an obvious way that one just can’t imagine it could have been performed otherwise. Confident, yet not overemphatic great accords of the piano opening, subtly conducted melody accompanied by gentle violin, tender and transparent dialogue with clarinet in adante espressivo: Blechacz doesn’t seem to be hiding anything, his music sounds so clear, carried on the wings of feelings and comprehension alike. The fact that this A-minor concerto reaches the stars is due to his incredible skill of conducting a dialogue between Daniel Harding and his Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO). First of all, in this metric cooperative performance of the final part, the soloist and the orchestra listen to each other carefully leading the concerto to a triumphant ending (…).
/Cologne, Philharmony 01.06.2013 General Anzeiger – Gunild Lohmann/