Bruce Levingston Reviews & Press
Concert Reviews
Philip Glass's Complete Piano Etudes at BAM 2015
Practice, practice, practice: Philip Glass's Complete Piano Etudes at BAM
"Bruce Levingston was the most "piano-soloist"" of all and he performed with Lisztian elan. #12 was a majestic, shimmering piece that he managed to play with both energy and tenderness."
- I Care if You Listen
Premiere Commission at Boston Ballet 2014
Boston Ballet's challenging 'Close to Chuck'
"The music is Philip Glass's "A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close" (given a commanding live onstage performance by Bruce Levingston)..."
- The Boston Globe
All Hail 'Chuck' - Boston Ballet Puts All The Pieces Together
"Levingston plays this piece beautifully."
- ARTery - WBUR/PBS
Beauty, speed and surprises in world premiere presented by Boston Ballet
"By the end, with the brilliant, triumphant coloring of a new backdrop, and Levingston's soul-stirring performance on the piano, the entire piece combined with triumphant effect."
- The Patriot Ledger
Boston Ballet gets Close to cutting Edge
"pianist Bruce Levingston essays Glass's elegiac score with consummate artistry"
- The Hub Review
Premiere Commission Tenth Anniversary Concert at Le Poisson Rouge 2012
Works New or Newly Configured: Bruce Levingston With Brooklyn Rider at Le Poisson Rouge
"Mr. Levingston was the agile soloist in Ms. Bielawa's "Rondolette"
- The New York Times
Premiere Commission Celebrates 10 Years of New Music at (Le) Poisson Rouge
"...warm and sinuous piano lines...Levingston and Brooklyn Rider played perfectly in sync."
- Bachtrack
Premiere Commission 10th anniversary concert at Le Poisson Rouge
"expertly performed by Premiere Commission series mainstay Bruce Levingston"
- I Care If You Listen
Impressions & Influences 2011
A Little Offbeat Humor in Cyclical Exploration
"driven by ideas and filled with music old, new and well worth hearing"
- The New York Times
Jacobsen and Levingston at Library of Congress
"transparency and timeless reverie, which Levingston projected beautifully"
- The Washington Post
Points of Departure 2008
Creating a Comfortable Context for the New Pieces That Can Challenge Audiences
"A recital by the pianist Bruce Levingston is not your average concert."
- The New York Times
A Boldface Crowd at Zankel Hall
"a remarkable radiance and calm... the Premiere Commission series should go on forever."
- The New York Observer
Premiere Commission at American Ballet Theatre 2007 Choreographer of moment struts multidisciplinary stuff Masterworks and Edgy Ventures at American Ballet Theatre Satie Concert at the Alliance Francaise / New York 2007 Through Erik Satie's Music, a Trip Back in Time to the Soundless and the Surreal Premiere Commission Fifth Anniversary at Lincoln Center 2006 Premiere Commission Holds Gala, With a Premiere by Lisa Bielawa Philip Glass / Chuck Close World Premiere at Lincoln Center 2005 A Pianist Turns the Tables on a Portrait Painter World Premiere of Curtis-Smith's Etudes at Lincoln Center 2005 Sprinting Across All 88 Keys Reviews of Recordings Still Sound Audiophile Audition Lucid Culture Buffalo News Neo Antennae Classical TV The Whole Note Gramophone MusicWeb International Recording of the Month Nightbreak American Record Guide Buffalo News Lucid Culture Audiophile Audition Gramophone Fanfare MusicWeb International Heart Shadow WQXR Album of the Week Cleveland Plain Dealer Lucid Culture American Record Guide New Jersey Star Ledger Baker and Taylor CD Hotlist Fanfare Portraits Textura Classics Today All Music Guide Klassic Magazin (Germany) American Record Guide Features and Interviews Meeting of artistic minds draws Boston Ballet close to Chuck (The Boston Globe) He Knew He Was Right (Newsweek) No Boundaries (The New York Sun) Portrait of the Artist (Playbill) Portrait of the Artist (W Magazine) New York Social Diary April 2007 A Portraitist Whose Canvas Is a Piano (The New York Times) Bruce Levingston awarded Governor's Arts Award
"vital and thoughtful"
- The San Francisco Chronicle
The Village Voice
"The intensity Mr. Levingston clearly felt was transmitted in his introspective, dreamy performance."
- The New York Times
"a hauntingly serene performance by Mr. Levingston and Mr. Jacobsen"
- The New York Times
"Mr. Levingston played with a delicate touch and painted in subtle hues.... a graceful account."
- The New York Times
"good taste...intrepid playing...sensuous sound"
- The New York Times
"Bruce Levingston is a gifted pianist... these performances compete with any other I have heard... the performances are wonderful!"
"Pianist Bruce Levingston's new Still Sound is a gorgeously conceptual album... a knockout... a quietly powerful reminder of why Levingston has become the go-to pianist for many of this era's most intriguing composers."
"beautiful minimal pieces"
"His playing is seamless and enticing."
"The recordings are a deep traversal of Levingston's taste as a musician, putting together masterpieces from Schumann, Brahms and Liszt (and Chopin) with new music from Part and Rihm and premieres and commissioned works from Philip Glass and Lisa Bielawa. These are poetic works for a poetic musician, as they and Levingston explore the inner and outer regions of emotional intelligence and expression... his playing of the Schubert Impromptu Op. 90, No. 4 is exceptionally sublime."
"Exquisite colours and haunting cadences highlight the remarkable solo performances of American pianist Bruce Levingston in Still Sound."
"...as if by magic, Levingston locates the pulse of each new track so unerringly... luminous... deeply poetic... unabashedly gorgeous lyricism."
"...extraordinary gifts as a colorist and as a performer who can hold attention rapt with the softest of playing."
"Levingston is a pianist's pianist... stunning and highly illuminating performances"
"an exceptional young pianist of Romantic and modern repertoire - a poet and intellectual who it seems, thus far, doesn't have a vulgar or excessive bone in his body."
"an excellent new album...particularly vivid, impressively dynamic works"
"a thoughtful, imaginative program well played and beautifully recorded... audiophile audition... four stars"
"arrestingly contrasting dynamics and colour shadings... masterly textural control... rapt introspection"
"impressive color changes and attention to articulation...colorful, sparkling, and sensitive...Rihm's Brahmsliebewalter is a somewhat jazzy and nostalgic take on a Brahms waltz. It is probably no coincidence that the artist programs this composition immediately after the small Brahms D-Minor Waltz; that was a stroke of genius. The textures and the feeling of the piece are Brahmsian. The two pieces work well with each other. Their juxtaposition relays the concept of this album well: It is almost as though the breaking of night has been painted in sounds."
"pianism on a grand scale...Levingston saved best for last: a suite from Philip Glass's Dracula. Bruce Levingston's nocturnal tone finally meets its perfect match...pure excellence."
"an enviable touch at the keyboard and an equally commendable ear when it comes to programming... Levingston's interpretation of Kreisleriana is a must."
"On its own, Levingston's account of Schumann's "Kreisleriana" easily justifies this collection of works inspired by literature. Vivid and richly expressive, it's a notable reading and a worthy addition to any library.... a gripping, dynamic performance. Grade: A"
"emotionally intuitive, dynamically charged... Levingston caresses the keys""
"clarity and panache"
"Bruce Levingston links 19th century Romanticism to the present."
"Levingston's playing is exemplary throughout."
"one of the most colorful pianistic palettes I have ever heard... simply astounding... a reading of great power."
"Pianist Bruce Levingston brings his graceful touch to a diptych 'portrait' by Philip Glass that pays tribute to American painter Chuck Close"
transcendent virtuosity and a huge arsenal of tone color"
"The Satie pieces are also calmly and gently formed... a feeling of quiet stillness and fragility."
"intimate, meditative and richly colored"
"Levingston plays it beautifully and authoritatively... enthralling... His poise makes these classics sound amazingly fresh."