“Solzhenitsyn is a musician’s musician and a pianist’s pianist […] The Mozart was breathtaking […] The performance was immaculately detailed, with beautiful tone, utterly transparent in voicing. It was some of the most beautiful and intelligent Mozart this listener has ever heard.”
— Michael Manning, The Boston Globe
“A pleasingly direct approach marked by utter seriousness of purpose.”
— Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe
“He reminds one of Gilels: an imposing power in the outer Allegri and, in great contrast, profound emotion and great delicacy in the central Adagio.”
— Claude Gingras, La Presse [Montreal]
“Solzhenitsyn is a pianist one would like to hear again and again.”
— Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times
“The “very solemn”, slow second movement was made majestic by Ignat Solzhenitsyn. Conducting without score, the entire Bruckner Sixth in his head, he gave subtle indications to inspire the Nordwestdeutsche to outstanding playing. There was tremendous applause and cheers of “bravo” for the fine winds and strings, and for the great conductor. ”
— Gunther Gensch, Neue Westfälische [Bielefeld]
“Solzhenitsyn’s identification with the immobilised gleam of this music sounded so complete that it seemed miraculous that he could also give a thoroughly convincing account of an early Schubert sonata.”
— Roger Covell, Sydney Morning Herald
“[…] Has successfully established himself on the world stage as a conductor as well as a pianist […] Solzhenitsyn has become an artist to reckon with—with something important to say and the ability to say it.”
— Jim Lowe, Times Argus
“In these two works Solzhenitsyn showed what an incredible talent he is. He performed this music with a profound depth of understanding that made these works come alive.”
— Edward Reichel, Deseret News [Salt Lake City]
“[The Walton Viola Concerto] was followed by Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony, one of the more challenging works for orchestras and conductors in the whole of symphonic literature. Solzhenitsyn brought the four movements to life and inspired the Philharmonic to a remarkably focused and uplifting performance.”
“One doesn’t like to make pronouncements after a single hearing, but after hearing Solzhenitsyn for the first time Saturday we feel confident that he is certain to become a giant.”
— James D. Watts Jr., Tulsa World
“A […] pianist who can think his way so comprehensively into one of music’s masterpieces is clearly destined for great things.”
— Bernard Jacobson, Philadelphia Forum
“ Solzhenitsyn played the concerto’s solos with simple sincerity and a comfortable command of some monstrously difficult piano writing: never a false gesture, no theatrics. An apt and often-asked question goes: Does music need another young pianist? I think it can make use of this one.”
— Bernard Holland, New York Times
“Solzhenitsyn proved himself an interpreter of probing intellect as well as an avid risk-taker. ”
— Thomas May, Washington Post
“Under Ignat Solzhenitsyn, the group has been a revitalizing force with Beethoven, but more now than ever.”
— David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Mostly this technically daunting sonata is wild and raucous, with arm-blurring octaves and steely bursts of thick, dissonant chords, culminating in what could be a perpetual-motion toccata. Mr. Solzhenitsyn played with fearlessness and command.”
— Anthony Tommasini, New York Times
“A fluid technique, imaginative and intelligent ideas about phrasing, and a solid-gold sound.”
— Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Ignat Solzhenitsyn landed on his feet after blazing through the Fugue, the final movement of the “Hammerklavier,” which Beethoven described as “a sonata that would give pianists something to do.” The wild, clashing sonorities and raw energy of the Fugue still startle, especially after the mystical Adagio Sostenuto, which Mr. Solzhenitsyn played with searching poise.”
— Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times
“The “international” facet of the program was enhanced by the considerable presence of guest conductor-pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn […] at the helm […] A thrilling evening at the concert hall, it all came together with a rare blend of polish and passion, with classical gleam and some much-appreciated intellectual engagement in the middle […] All told, Monday’s [Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra] concert proved to be a model of balance and energy, with a liberating dose of modernity and tightly-machined playing from all involved. ”
— Josef Woodard, Santa Barbara News-Press
“There was a minimum of star-soloist grandstanding; Solzhenitsyn seemed more interested in serving the music than in having the music serve him.”
— Tim Page, Washington Post
“His technical prowess is astonishing—especially in the fiendish variations designed for two harpsichord keyboards which on a single piano entail a dizzying amount of hand-crossing […] Most haunting of all, in a way, was the final return of the Aria, now infused with a bittersweet air of nostalgia for the entire journey we had just traversed. The notes were the same, but the difference in spirit was extraordinarily moving.”
— Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
“This was a reading that reveled in the attractive transparency of Schubert’s textures and the songlike sparkle of his melodies. Perhaps its most striking aspect was how far removed it was from the oversize, weighty pianism that typifies so many players of the Russian school.”
— Allan Kozinn, New York Times
“It was as if Solzhenitsyn had discovered in the Schumann some kind of an immovable constant—an infinite stream of lyricism, a poetic self-emptying of the soul. In theDavidsbündlertänze he de-emphasized the sharp Romantic contrasts and, in the Kreisleriana, its paroxysms and extreme emotions. Amazingly, Solzhenitsyn used other qualities to hypnotize the audience—a lucid, clean musical texture, a beautiful even sound without extremes of dynamics or tempi, and a certain kind of fresh clarity that suddenly opened for us in a new way the convoluted inner world of Schumann’s music.”
