"Poetic,
lyrical, romantic" Weiler Zeitung
"Heroic"
Geoff Brown, The Times
"A
superlative communicator", Eastbourne
Gazette
"...played by Andrews with mastery" Watford Observer
Marcus Andrews Recital for Radlett Music Club ****
"It is not every pianoforte recital that includes the first performance of a new work in the presence of its British composer. This was achieved by the Radlett Music Club on this occasion. Modus operandi, a short piece by Michael Summers, only completed in January 2010, therefore deserved our special attention. The piece begins by expanding a single note into a simple theme, to which, after much elaboration and interplay with other themes, it eventually returns. As we listened to its subtle and complex rhythms and its impressionist language, we could not fail to think of Debussy (a specimen of whose work was to be played next) and Bartok, whose idiom has become the lingua franca of modern pianism. It was a privilege to be at the premiere of this exciting, if brief, work, played with enthusiasm by Marcus Andrews.
The recital had begun with the Partita No. 1 in B flat, by JS Bach. This was a well controlled performance, avoiding many of the pitfalls that may beset works of this period when they are played on the piano - which was not what Bach had in mind. It was followed by Haydn's Sonata in C minor, Hoboken number XVI :20. Whether this too, being written in 1778, was intended for the piano rather than the harpsichord is debatable. Haydn's earlier sonatas, though pleasant to listen to, do not have the power of the last dozen or so; but this sonata was written at a turning point, and Andrews brought out the more forceful character that came with Haydn's increasing maturity as a composer.
Debussy's style is the essence of impressionism on the piano. Of other works in a long programme, four Preludes from his second set of Preludes were the most challenging. Such pieces as these no longer have a clear harmonic structure, nor themes in the usual sense; musical pictures are conjured up by series of chords or pianistic fireworks. This wonderful music was played by Andrews with mastery."
Graham Mordue, Watford Observer, February 2010
"This
brilliant young musician... is a superlative communicator
on his instrument. Throughout the recital his rapt involvement
and superb technique entranced the audience."
Eastbourne Gazette, June 2000
"Marcus
Andrews is a pianist who appeared at the Arts Centre in
February and played a programme of music to appeal to
all tastes. He is a musician of talent and expertise...
gave a rich and mature performance."
Eastbourne
Gazette, February 1999
The anguished notes of Boustany’s flute hovered over the heavy beat of the raw funeral march struck on the bare bass piano strings by Andrews’ white-gloved hand as he bent beneath the lid of the open grand piano. The audience was stunned into absolute silence. I was frozen in my seat at the front of the hall.
Michael Jansen, Jordan Times, February 2007
"The
first (solo), played by Marcus Andrews, was the Prelude
in C minor, Op. 23 no. 7 by Rachmaninov. This was a good,
fluid performance with the performer well in control of
every note he played; his control even extended to the
audience at the end when we were all held by his last
chord until he chose to relax and indicate that his performance
was over."
- Catherine
Whitnell, Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London, UK, June 1994
"Thursday
night's concert was a cracker - a most enjoyable programme
- and I thought you gave excellent performances!
Thank you so much for including the pieces
- you played them with such sensitivity, a delight
to hear."
Cecilia
McDowall - composer
"The carefully chosen pieces of music, played by Marcus Andrews, helped evoke a period of innocence, a time and place 'for to forget/ The lies, and truths and pain' of everyday life."
The Royal Gazette, Bermuda ('If I should die", memoire of Rupert Brooke, English Chamber Theatre Production, Bermuda Festival, 2002)
"Talented
and most memorable"
- Arthur Boyd reviews Coda recital
"Coda's 131st
recital on Saturday at Kent College, Pembury, proved to
be a most memorable evening of talented music-making by
two prize-winners at the 2000 Tunbridge Wells International
Young Concert Artists Competition. These were Susan FitzGerald,
a flautist who was a finalist in the Wind Section and
pianist Marcus Andrews, the Accompanist Prize winner.
Both combined to present a varied programme which avoided
some of the programming pitfalls sometimes encountered.
Their programme commenced with a four-movement sonata
by Telemann, a prodigeous composer of unbounded talent.
Silver tone from the flute and gentle support from the
piano made this an appropriate programme opener. Marcus
Andrews then treated us to an elegant performance of Beethoven's
Opus 27/1 piano sonata (quasi una fantasia) a work in
some contrast to its companion piece in the same opus
number, the so called Moonlight sonata. Then we heard
a work composed in 1960, the flute and piano sonata by
Robert Muczynski, an American born in 1929.
Its beautiful slow Andante movement was surrounded by
three others of fast and sometimes frantic speed, demonstrating
not only the physical dexterity of the artists but also
their technical adroitness in successfully surmounting
the difficulties presented to them.
After a short rest, Susan and Marcus found no problems
with Theodore Boehm's agile Grande Polonaise and were
able to beguile in three movements from a Suite Antique
by John Rutter. Here the absolute charm of this work caught
the audience's fancy and a finale in the tortuous form
of a flute and piano twisting of themes from Bizet's Carmen
by Fernande Borne proved no difficulty to both these artists
(even in an arrangement by James Galway), displaying technique
and musicality worthy of musicians many years their senior.
This recital was attended and enjoyed by the Mayor of
Tunbridge Wells, Cllr Melvyn Howell."
Tunbridge Wells Courier,
15th March 2002
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