Critical Acclaim

What the Critics Say:

"Pianist Eric Le Van provides in this disc a perfect mirror for the composer's development... His performances are direct, unforced... with a spontaneity [and] miscroscopic gradations of color and timing reminiscient of Josef HOFFMAN at his Chopin best." CLAVIER MAGAZINE, April 2005

David Mulbury in THE AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, March/April 2004, on the Scriabin Mazurkas CD released under the Music and Arts label:

" Each year I review two or three releases that might be models for producers of CDs to emulate. This is one. Only positive criticism can be applied here.
LeVan's pianism is quite mesmerizing. It has everything: sensitive, expressive tone, shading, superb finish, and faultless taste and style. He projects very well the elusive spell of these 21 Mazurkas (Collected in three opus numbers).
The recording itself has everything, too - clarity, resonance, balance - and the notes by the artist are as interesting and informative as one could wish.
The listener should not expect Polish mazurkas in the style of Chopin or even Szymanowski. These pieces have an exoticism and eroticism all their own, and those characteristics become more pronounced as the series progresses."

Critic Jerry Dubins writes in the edition of May/June 2004 of FANFARE, The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors:

Recently returned to the US..., Los Angeles-born pianist Eric Le Van was profiled in a feature article by Bernard Jacobson in Fanfare 25:3. Two years earlier, Jacobson reviewed Le Van's Gallo recording of the Brahms First and Third Sonatas, stating that Le Van displays not only "a keen enthusiasm for the music but a profound understanding of it." It was the absence of that profound understanding that left me feeling so disappointed in my review of Evgeny Kissin's recent Brahms recital (Fanfare 27:3).

... Since Bernard Jacobson already weighed in on the Brahms, I am not going to re-review it, other than say that I have listened to it and that I concur fully with Jacobson's very positive conclusions. If you are in the market for a recording of the First and Third Brahms Sonatas, I can recommend Eric Le Van's on the Gallo label (946) without reservations.

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) is one of those historical oddities-the proverbial round peg in the square hole-that eludes attempts to explain that which ought not to be but is. Eric Le Van, who wrote the extremely articulate booklet note himself, gets right to the heart of it in his opening paragraph, when he says Scriabin's "vision was unique, a way of apprehending the world very much estranged from commonplace notions of reality, where angels, dark imaginings, intense nostalgia, and intimations of unseen realms were the norm. Refracted through the prism of an extraordinary sensibility, his mazurkas would become essentially mazurka-fantasies."

... Eric Le Van has steadily made a name for himself, concertizing widely, both as a soloist and chamber musician in Paris, London, Berlin, and Munich, and here in the States in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Recent appearances have included performances at the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center in Wahington DC. He is also well known to radio and television audiences here and abroad. Le Van's playing on this disc is uncannily sensitive to Scriabin's nuances of phrase and harmonic subtleties. This is artistry of the highest order. Moreover, the Music & Arts recording provides a warm and rich acoustic for Le Van's piano. A really fine and welcome release, Strongly recommended."

You will certainly hear again of Eric Le Van ... this young man is a discovery ...

Both sonatas are played with massive conviction matched where appropriate by lyrical fancy, and they are realized in a sonority of enormous range and thrilling ring. ... Profound understanding ... a sovereign technical facility ... excitement and momentum are irresistible. ... In direct comparison, good as Biret (Naxos) is, I find Le Van even better ... And Le Van's own highly intelligent booklet notes add the final touch of quality to a production that is admirable in every respect.

Bernard Jacobson, FANFARE (Nov/Dec 1998)

Mr. Le Van is a major Brahms interpreter ... he sounds like Horowitz.

... he plays one of the most affecting, subtly inflected readings of the andante espressivo on record ... The brief biography that introduces us to him says nothing about international piano competitions; evidently this is not the route he took to pursue his career. And yet he plays circles around most contest winners ... he does precisely what Cliburn Competition winner Jon Nakamatsu could not in his debut recording ... not since Walter Lkien have I heard a more convincing reading.

John Bell Young, THE AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE (Nov/Dec 1998)

... and the pianist here is better than on any chamber music of these pieces. So is the sound. (...) Miklos Perenyi is a fine cellist, but La lugubre gondola is much better here. If you love the cello you may want these 51 minutes...

Review of Lizst complete; Donald Vroon in The American Record Guide, USA (Nov. 2000)

These transcriptions yield so much pleasure--no less in the effusive Petrarch Sonnet 123 than in the second version of the oracular La Lugubre gondola (...). Indeed, the recitativo declamation with which the latter begins and ends, taken by the cello with almost vocal eloquence, strikes just the right de profundis tone too often missed by pianists (...). The nostalgia of the Elégies and the Romance oubliée, too, are more richly rife, suavely edged in the cello's mellifluous croon. And the Consolations (...), swarm with riper rapture. Without the consummate artistry and hand-in-glove collaboration heard here, of course, these transcriptions would be merely another interesting novelty dredged from Liszt's sprawling, labyrinthine catalog--Schiefen and Le Van have give us performances to live with and thereby made a significant contribution to the Liszt discography. And the use of the unique, mellow, 1873 Bayreuth Steingraeber piano, said to have been played by Liszt himself, confects a final elegance. Transparently immediate sound. Fine annotations by Le Van. Superbly realized. And enthusiastically recommended.

Adrian Corleonis' review of Lizst Complete Works

His generous lyricism and sincerity of expression render all the wealth of youthful vigour to Brahms' universe.

LE MONDE DE LA MUSIQUE (Paris, Dec 1998)

Rarely have I heard such varied and lively Brahms sonatas ... Richter does no better, Katchen is too harsh ... Biret is too nervous.

REPERTOIRE (Paris, Oct 1998)

...superb virtuoso playing, eloquent warmth, beautiful tone, masterly elan and lyricism ... and artist of the greatest distinction.

LA REVUE MUSICALE DE SUISSE ROMANDE (Switzerland, Dec 1998)

A very personal interpretation ... I am in admiration before his inspiration, his persuasive force, his interpretative depth. Sheer emotion!

PIZZICATO (Luxembourg, Oct 1998)

Extraordinary technique and touch. A Brahms not at all on the beaten path ... recorded from within.

MUSICA E DISCHI (Italy, Nov 1998)

... masterfully played ... a rare treat .. (Le Van) showed what virtuosity is all about ... A standing ovation followed .. a singularly memorable musical afternoon.

THE FLINT JOURNAL, "Pianist Le Van impresses St. Paul's audience"

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