Polina Leschenko - piano
The Australian, 15 February 2012
Murray Black
When Russian pianist Polina Leschenko first toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2006, she impressed with her blend of delicacy and strength. The same qualities are evident this time. In her account of Chopin's Piano Concerto No 1, dusky tone colours and elegant phrasing captured a mood of rhapsodic dreaminess. Astute tempo and dynamic changes – sometimes sudden, sometimes subtle – avoided the self-indulgence that can mar inferior Chopin interpretations. She executed the concerto’s myriad intricacies with a light touch and the bravura passages with muscular precision. ….Polish composer Henryk Gorecki is best-known for his sombre Symphony No 3; his relentless Piano Concerto (1980) is a total contrast. Here, Leschenko's timbre was clear and penetrating. Supported by the ACO’s focused accompaniment, her powerful percussive passagework and incisive rhythms were exhilarating.
Pamina Magazin, 14 October 2011
Monika Kursawe
Nach der Pause stehen dann Frédéric Chopin und Robert Schumann auf dem Programm. Hier beeindruckt Polina Leschenko noch einmal durch das brennende, poetische Engagement in ihrem Spiel. Sie nimmt die Übertitelung in Chopins „Andante Spianato & Grand Polonaise Brillante op. 22“ wörtlich: „spianato“ (also einebnend, glättend) gestaltet sie das flächige Andante, zeigt aber auch hier erstaunlich viele hervorragend ausdifferenzierte Schattierungen auf - und lässt schließlich in der anschließenden Polonaise die pure Lust am virtuosen Musikantentum aufblitzen.
The Herald, 14 February 2010
Michael Tumelty
Then on came Polina Leschenko with some of the most poetic and devastatingly beautiful piano playing I have heard in an account of Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto that had ‘masterpiece’ stamped all over it. The playing by pianist and orchestra in the gorgeous slow movement stopped time; and my heart. What a night.
(Chopin Piano Concerto No2, Joseph Swensen, Scottish Chamber Orchestra)
The Scotsman, 15 February 2010
Susan Nickalls
From the opening bars, Leschenko immediately tuned into the composer’s idiosyncratic and dreamlike pulse that defies conventional timekeeping. She managed to bring a poetic quality to the music, particularly in the Larghetto, when everything seemed to move in slow motion as delicate flurries of notes appeared to hover in mid-air. This was a mesmerising yet controlled performance by Leschenko, whose understated approach made the quicksilver finale, with its lively mixture of styles, even more thrilling.
(Chopin Piano Concerto No2, Joseph Swensen, Scottish Chamber Orchestra)
The Journal, 30 November 2009
Thomas Hall
… the wonderfully ostentatious bravura playing of soloist Polina Leschenko against the darkly ominous orchestral statements in the Piano Concerto No1 made for thrilling listening. But it was the rhapsodic and poetic elements that made Leschenko’s performance so charismatic, her eloquence echoed by the Hallé’s woodwind principals.
Manchester Evening News, 11 December 2008
Robert Beale
…it was Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto, and Polina Leschenko’s playing of it, that was the real reward.
This was the first time I’ve heard her play it, and the individuality she has shown in the Grieg and Liszt concertos on previous visits soon came to the fore.
She has no trouble at all in the virtuosity stakes – rattling off the double octaves like machine-gun fire and giving an amazing first-movement cadenza – but the best qualities were the freshness and vitality she brought, rarely heard in this piece.
In the middle movement the fast section was as fast as I imagine it could ever be played, and simultaneously charming and delightful. And her special ability to make every phrase speak to the listener made you hear the music as if new-minted, almost from the start.
Manchester Evening News, 18 September 2008
Robert Beale
Polina Leschenko can make the most hackneyed music sound magical, and though I wouldn't put the Liszt in that category it does require more than just cannonfire technique.
She combines power and lyrical fluency, and with Sir Mark's help the piece became a series of ever more vivid episodes held together by its melodic transformations as well as its keyboard histrionics. The Chopin, too, was dazzling and charming at the same time.
(Liszt Piano Concerto No1, Sir Mark Elder, Hallé Orchestra)
Diario Ambito Financiero, 15 September 2008
Al director y la Orquesta se sumó la deslumbrante solista Polina Leschenko de una calidez expresiva y una perfección técnica, que dejan con ganas de escucharla en un recital complete. Todos fueran justicieramente ovacionados por el publico…
Joining the conductor and the orchestra was the dazzling soloist, Polina Leschenko, who played with a highly expressive quality and technical perfection, and who left us wanting to hear her in a full solo recital. The performances received much applause from the audience, deservedly so…
[Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder, Grieg Piano Concerto]
Buenos Aires Herald, 19 September 2008
Pablo Bardin
An admirable version of Liszt´s Concerto, adroitly accompanied and played by Leschenko, who showed not only a masterful technique but an approach both subtle, elegant and full of strength, almost like a young Argerich (who has promoted her). The encore was quite unusual: music lovers know well Chopin´s "Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise", but as a piano piece; here we were offered the piano and orchestra version! The orchestra hasn´t much to do, however, so we marvelled again at Leschenko´s delicacy in the "Andante" and strong rhythm coupled with the effortless solving of the many intricate passages of one of Chopin´s great showpieces, this particularly scintillating Polonaise.
[Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder, Liszt Piano Concerto No1]
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 8 July 2008
Reinhard Palmer
The final concert of the festival ‘Piano Non Solo’ was probably the most extraordinary ever presented to the audience at the bosco in Gauting, not so much because its main focus was music of the twentieth-century as because on the platform were two exceptionally talented people, youthful yet mature, who were capable of rising above many conventions. ….In the Sonata in E minor, op. 82 by Edward Elgar, the father of the modern English musical style, this contrastive performance reached new heights, and those, in particular, of emotional expression. In the introductory Allegro Mitchell intensified the dramatic passages almost till they hurt; Leschenko subtly partnered her in a most compelling narrative Romance; then together in the final phase they unleashed daring sequences that, both in violent outbursts and in tender lyricism, erupted powerfully from passages of an elegaic spaciousness.
(recital with Priya Mitchell)
The Times, 1 February 2008
Richard Morrison
Some evoked Hallé himself. At that 1858 concert, for instance, he played Weber's Konzertstück - though I doubt whether he played it with as much quixotic verve as the young Russian pianist Polina Leschenko did here.
The Telegraph, 1 February 2008
David Fanning
Equally breathtaking, though in a polar opposite way, was the young Russian pianist Polina Leschenko, who produced a dazzling firework display in the Weber Konzertstück.
Manchester Evening News, 31 January 2008
Robert Beale
‘Polina Leschenko helps the Hallé to celebrate its 150th anniversary, and brings the house down! Robert Beale wrote in the Manchester Evening News, ‘And then came what must have been for many the highlight of the whole evening: the young, brilliant and vivacious Russian pianist Polina Leschenko as soloist in Weber’s Konzertstuck in F minor. What a cracker that was…’
Hifi News, January 2008
Christopher Breunig
Agerich protégée Polina Leschenko gives us a challengingly individual Liszt Sonata, evoking memories of Horowitz’s prewar dexterity and wider in colour range than any other I know… A ‘must have’ for pianophiles.
Amadeus, November 2007
Lisa Gallotta
A soli ventisei anni la promettente Polina Leschenko si addentra, con lucidità e abilità tecnica, tra complesse e monumentali architetture per pianoforte in questo recital lisztiano.
[At only 26 years old, the promising Polina Leschenko leads us through the complex and monumental piano architecture of this Liszt recital, with ability and lucidity.]
Musica, November 2007
Adolfo del Brezo
Polina Leschenko… es una pianista que destaca por sus poderosos medios y una firme mecánica en extreme brillante. Este recital, una espléndida grabación en formato SACD con obras y transcripciones de Franz Liszt, constituye un buen medio de lucimiento de la intérprete.
[Polina Leschenko is a pianist who stands out because of her strong, powerful technique which goes to brilliant extremes. This recital, a very good SACD recording of Liszt works and transcriptions, illuminates the playing of this artist.]
Resmusica, 11 July 2007
Jacques Schmitt
Quelle musicalité, quelle souveraineté, quel ascendant sur un orchestre transformé. La Musique reprend enfin ses droits. Peut-être pourra-t-on regretter que la pianist n’ait pas ouvert les festivités, car l’électricité qu’elle émet aurait change l’esprit de ce concert.
[What musicality, what mastery, what a transformation of the orchestra. The music finally became what it should be. One was left regretting that she hadn’t opened the festivities, because the electricity which she generated changed the whole concert.]
(Progetto Martha Argerich, Lugano, July 2007 – Grieg Piano Concerto)
Irish Times, 9 July 2007
Michael Dervan
Friday was Polina Leschenko day at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. …She has an exceptionally thorough command of piano sonority. There’s not a moment in her playing that sounds idle or humdrum. There’s a high emotional charge, too, which is as apparent in her creation and moulding of moments of cushioned softness as in her flights of incisive virtuosity.
La Libre Belgique, 4 July 2007
Martine Dumont-Mergeay
Mûrie sans avoir rien perdu de sa liberté, toujours plus inspirée, Leschenko met ses moyens fabuleux au service d'une lecture magistrale, et comme improvisée, du répertoire lisztien. Rendant finement leur dû à Bach, à Busoni et à Gounod dans les transcriptions de la première partie, elle offre ensuite de la Sonate une version à son image : en apesanteur, limpide et visionnaire.
(Polina Leschenko, Liszt Recital, 2007 pure music sprl)
[Polina Leschenko has matured without having lost any of her freedom. Now even more inspired, she turns her wonderful talents to a brilliant, almost improvisatory reading of the Liszt repertoire. Beautifully acknowledging Bach, Busoni and Gounod’s Liszt transcriptions in the first half of the disc, she then offers a unique and personal version of the Sonata: a visionary reading full of lucidity.]
El Correo Español, 13 May 2007
Karmelo Errekatxo
Con sensibilidad para destacar parte del lirismo que contiene la obra de Grieg, se oyó con interés a la joven pianista rusa, P. Leschenko. También se apreció acierto en secuenzias de mayor tension. Aceptable el rubato discreto expuesto en el adagio, Segundo movimiento. El tempo llevado en el allegro moderato, movimiento final, restó character a una version que, por lo démas, resultó convincente. En la
propina, Introducción y Polonesa brillante de Chopin, la pianista cedió protagonismo al solista de chelo de la orquesta.
(Palacio Euskalduna Bilbao / Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi / Cristian Mandeal)
[With a sensitivity that brought out the lyricism of Grieg’s Concerto, we listened with interest to the young Russian pianist, Polina Leschenko. The way she built up the tensions in the music was well-judged. She displayed appropriate, discreet rubato in the adagio. The driving tempo in the final movement was convincing. And for an encore – Chopin’s Introduction et Polonaise for Piano and Cello – Polina Leschenko gave the front seat to the Principal Cellist of the orchestra.]
Fanfare magazine (USA), 11 May 2007
Peter J. Rabinowitz
Even in a period of technical inflation, where a generation of hypervirtuosos have made Godowsky’s metamorphoses on Strauss almost familiar fare, her sheer fingerwork stands out: everything remains clearly in focus at all dynamic levels; and she knocks off the finale in under three minutes without strain and without blurring a gesture [Prokofiev Piano Sonata No7]. But beyond that, she actually has a distinctive angle on the piece. It’s a high contrast performance, with wide dynamics, generous rubato, broad mood swings (especially in the second movement), and a striking range of articulation. More significant, though, she uses her exceptional control of vertical balances to pierce us with unexpected details and to play up the rhythmic cross currents (especially in the finale) in ways that make the music’s surface sound far more complex and forbidding than usual. Given the number of recordings of this piece that I’ve covered for Fanfare , I can’t say that I’m ever particularly excited when another crosses my desk; this one, though, seized my attention from first note to last.
(Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Avanticlassic 1021)
El Diario Vasco, 4 May 2007
Aitor Alvarez
Si algo dejó claro Polina Leschenko desde su majestuosa entrada del Concierto de Grieg fue la gran personalidad y fuerte carácter que atesora delante del piano, tan necesarios para esta obra. Pero esta pianista es mucho más. Respaldada por una destacada técnica y un profundo sentido musical, regaló momentos de un lirismo y musicalidad realmente encomiables. Pero como en cualquier viaje no todo puede estar controlado, los imprevistos surgen y éste saltó a lo largo del Adagio, en el que el bloqueo de un pedal del piano obligó a detener el concierto. Cosas que pasan. Tras el descanso se culminó la obra, con una solista que volvió a demostrar el indiscutible talento que atesora.
(San Sebastian / Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi / Cristian Mandeal)
[It was extremely clear, right from her majestic entry, that Polina Leschenko was to be the great personality and strong character behind the keyboard, which is so necessary in this Concerto. But this pianist is so much more than that. Supported by an astonishing technique and profound musical sensibility, she gave us truly admirable moments of lyricism and musicality. But as with any journey, the unexpected can strike: in the Adagio, a broken pedal put a half to the concert. These things happen. After a delay, the concert restarted, with a soloist who clearly displayed her indisputable talent.]
Manchester Evening News, 20 April 2007
Robert Beale
The highlight of the evening was the return of Polina Leschenko, the brilliant young Russian pianist who made such an impression with the Liszt No1 on her debut here a year ago. ….There is something exceptional and compelling about her combination of delicacy, fluency and well-timed bursts of fireworks.’ (Grieg Piano Concerto, Hallé Orchestra and Cristian Mandeal)
De Telegraaf, 16 March 2007
Eddie Vetter
Zij greep diep in de toetsen voor Busoni’s beruchte bewerking van de Chaconne van Bach en joeg een paar duizend volt door de Kleine Zaal met een overweldigende en monumentale vertolking.
(Bach/Busoni Chaconne, Het Concertgebouw)
[In Busoni’s notorious transcription of Bach’s Chaconne, she filled the room with a few thousand volts, with her overwhelming and monumental playing.]
The Australian, 6 November 2006
Murray Black
Her tone was refined and she displayed considerable dexterity in the myriad rapidfire passages littered throughout the concerto. Leschenko had an exquisite delicacy of touch but was able to summon up substantial reserves of power and strength when necessary.
(Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti, Mendelssohn Concerto for Violin and Piano)
Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 10 October 2006
Christine Gehringer
Danach war ihm die junge Pianistin Polina Leschenko eine wunderbar feinfühlige und impulsegebende Partnerin. Die beiden begeisterten durch rasche Stimmungswechsel.. Gleich zu Beginn der D-Dur Sonate von Mendelssohn stürmte das Duo unge wöhnlich energisch nach vorn, und die lyrische Passage klang danachso zart, als müssten beide hier erst einmal die ganze Spannung ausatmen. Weltvergessen began Polina Leschenko den Choral des dritten Satzes; Christian Poltéra öffnete ihn rasch nach oben, und der Gesang wurde zur puren Dramatik, die das Klavier in berückender Weise abfing und besänftigte. Polina Leschenko spürte den Gedanken ihres Partners nach, noch bevor sie ausgesprochen wurden.
(Recital with Christian Poltéra, Baden Baden Festspielhaus)
[… the young pianist, Polina Leschenko, was a highly sensitive and inspiring partner to Christian Poltéra. They both created rapid changes in mood. Right at the beginning of the Mendelssohn’s D major Sonata, the duo burst forward with unusual energy, and the lyric passage afterwards sounded as subtle as they had both literally breathed out all the tension. Polina Leschenko created an out-of-this-world opening to the third movement chorale; Christian Poltéra quickly opened it up and it turned into pure dramatic art, which the piano absorbed and appeased enchantingly. Polina Leschenko seemed to understand her partner’s intentions even before he played.]
International Record Review, August 2006
Julian Haylock
No orchestra could possibly compete with the micro-fine gestural reactions and textural clarity exhibited by Martha Argerich and Polina Leschenko in Rikuya Terashima's stunning transcription for two pianos... [Prokofiev, Symphony No1 Classical] …the surrealistically distorted goose-stepping of the opening movement hits home with mind-numbing potency …her nerve-jangoing assult on the finale’s frantic moto perpetuo patternings rises to the occasion magnificently. [Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No7] …a very special disc indeed.
(Prokofiev/Rachmaninov/Tchaikovsky recording, AvantiClassic 2005)
Hifi News, June 2006
Christopher Breunig
Leschenko has plenty to say in a boldly conceived Sonata 7 [Prokofiev Piano Sonata No7], with some electrifying bravura playing in balance with the reposeful and poetic.
(Prokofiev/Rachmaninov/Tchaikovsky recording, AvantiClassic 2005)
24 heures, 1 March 2006
Jean Cosseto
Polina Leschenko a déclenché les vivats de la salle par Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante de Chopin.
(Villars Festival, France)
[Polina Leschenko provoked cries of bravo and cheers from the audience after her performance of Chopin’s Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante.]
Manchester Evening News, 24 February 2006
Robert Beale
But the greatest delight I heard on Wednesday was the Hallé debut of pianist Polina Leschenko. Her technique seems equal to anything. Liszt’s Concerto No1 came with springing rhythms and a rubato which lent sassy charm to lyrical passages. A collaborator of Martha Argerich she has similar apparently effortless brilliance.
(Hallé Orchestral, Cristian Mandeal, Bridgewater Hall, Liszt Piano Concerto No1)
Il Messaggero, 28 July 2005
Caterina Luchetti
Una bellissima pagina di Haydn proposta con tocco raffinato per passare poi al romanticismo di Schumann dove tecnica perfetta ed espressività si mescolano alla squisita sensibilità dell’interprete.
(solo recital, Ancona, Italy)
[It was a beautiful performance of Haydn, performed with a refined touch which suited the romanticism of Schumann: perfect technique and expressivity combined with an exquisitely sensitive interpretation.]
Wiesbadener Tagblatt, 28 February 2006
Abschliessend fasst sie ihr gesamtes Repertoire im Carneval op9 von Robert Schumann zusammen. Ihr gelingt dabei eine akkurate Aufarbeitung der vielen kleinen Charaktere mit einer bewundernswerten Souveränität und einem persönlichen Anspruch, der keine Zweifel in der Präsentation duldet und doch manchmal richtig zerbrechlich wirkt.
(solo recital, Rheingau-Winter in Eltville)
[For the finale, she sums up her entire repertoire by playing Carnaval Op. 9 by Robert Schumann. She manages to give an accurate rendition of the many small character figures with an enviable mastership and a personal demand that brooks no doubts in the presentation, and yet still makes her appear almost vulnerable at times.]
Gramophone, November 2004
Nalen Anthoni
There is enough virtuosity here from the latest young pianist championed by the redoubtable Martha Argerich to keep you on the edge of your seat. But behind Polina Leschenko’s effortless dexterity is a high degree of sensibility, and she commands good reserves of power without bashing the keyboard. … her playing of Liszt’s Rapsodie espagnole is remarkably dignified while the Paganini Etude is equally remarkable in its combination of both steely precision and delicacy. …this one has the makings of a major artist.
(Bach/Brahms/Chopin/Liszt recording, EMI 2004)
BBC Music Magazine, October 2004
Martin Cotton
The insouciant way she dispatches the arpeggios at the beginning of the scherzo is a delight, and there’s also power in her playing in the outer movements.
(Martha Argerich and friends live from the Lugano Festival 2003)
Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 2003
Under Polina Leschenko's hands, Prokofiev's seventh sonata, finally, came treacherously close to a devilish imagination. What's more, as a second encore, Polina Leschenko offered us an effortlessly and brilliantly played Scarlatti sonata, full of whirling scales, swift trills and adventurously fast tone repetitions. She could have been an heir to Horowitz.
