
from the Knoxville
News-Sentinel (March 21, 2005):
"The dynamic way [Le] took on Earl Wild's rambunctious 'Fantasy on
Gershwin's Porgy and Bess' showed
that he has a foot in the door of jazz as solidly as his technical
abilities give him access to the demands of the classical
repertoire...there were plenty of rich, energized jazz rumblings and
riffs."
"One had the sense that if Wild had called for the performer to dance
on the keyboard, Le would have gladly done so. It was certainly
with much enthusiasm that he pounded the keys with the entire length of
his forearm on a couple of occasions."
"Debussy's Cloches A Travers Les
Fueilles...rang like bells...Poissons
d'or...captured the essence of gold fish sparkling and flashing
in a crystal-clear pond. Poissons
isn't a description of fish so much as it is a delightful
capturing of the little flashes of light the fishes' reflections make
on the surface of the water. That's the true magic of the piece,
and Le conveyed it effectively."
**********
from Harris Goldsmith of the New York Concert
Review (Winter 2005):
"An elegant recital...Le opened his program with a poignantly
introverted account of
Chopin's Polonaise Fantasy,
Op.61. He infused the masterpiece with a plenitude of
poetic nuance; a structural cohesiveness that nevertheless allowed
flexibility within an ongoing narrative; and a necessary dramatic
buildup at the end. I found it a masterly interpretation -
individualistic without a trace of contrivance or eccentricity."
"Then came a complete performance of Debussy's Douze Etudes...it would be hard to
imagine a more successful version of these cryptic, fearsomely
difficult studies...Mr. Le not only made light of them insolently; he
infused each vignette with exquisite balance and humor...Le's version
[of pour les huit
doigts] whisked past us with Concorde-like virtuosity. And
his octaves...repeated notes, and treacherously skipping chords
likewise left nothing to be desired. Le, I
hope, will someday make a new recording of these Etudes: He
has this writer thinking of Daniel Ericourt's distinguished early 1960s
version: which is high praise indeed."
"Mr. Le's perceptive interpretation of Scriabin's spooky Sonata No.9, Op.68 (Black
Mass)...superbly stressed the work's architectonic facts of life, and
triumphantly made complete sense..."
"An impressive tour-de-force...Le performed triumphantly."
**********
"Andrew...injected a refreshing
youthful exuberance into Rachmaninov's 'Piano Concerto no.3 in D
minor.'"
- The South Bend Tribune
**********
"Pianist Andrew Le wowed
the
Abravanel Hall audience, and that was only the beginning...Le,
a Vietnam-born graduate student at the Juilliard School...sailed
through
the Bach-Busoni Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645. He
followed
this with a fierce attack on Copland’s El Salon Mexico as
arranged
by Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein’s version of this somewhat cliched work
is infused with genuine passion and fire, and Le played it brilliantly."
"Consummate piano
virtuosity..."
- The Goleta Valley Voice
**********
"Le sat down at the
piano
and played...and it became clear why we have to keep plugging
along.
Beauty and joy do exist in the world. There was no doubt in my
mind...that
Le, a mere human being on this little planet, had indeed made a worthy
contribution to the universe."
"Le...has some
impressive tools. His passage work [in Strauss' Burleske] was
sturdy and reliable. He attacked passages lustily when needed
but, often, it was the ends of phrases and his releases that were most
notable...Le kept raising the bar, playing bigger and bigger until the
really big ending...it isn't every day that a local boy comes home and
shows he's made good."
- The Grand Rapids Press
**********
"That Sunday afternoon
in Flat Rock, an intimate audience sat suspended as Le sensually
interpreted the elusive melodies of Debussy Etudes, feet pedaling his
small frame backward, fingers striking keys with pistonlike precision;
then BAM - his bench collided with the wall. Sustaining posture
without missing a beat, Le's fingers swept over the keys like
ballerinas, and then resumed a frenetic tempo."
- Mountain Traditions