Browse: Nelson Freire (piano)

Freire's sound has always been a thing of wonder: even at full volume and full tilt there's no hint of percussiveness in his tone...Highlights are many - the regret-filled duet of the middle... — Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2017 More…

This is immensely distinguished Liszt-playing...Freire seems utterly at one with the music, not only in terms of its innate poetry but also its astonishing diversity of texture and touch...Freire... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2011, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Freire's kind of artistry raises [the repertoire] to an entirely different level. There's plenty of flair and soul, yet the playing is always crystalline and precise, perfectly pedalled, the... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2012, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Nelson Freire, the legendary Brazilian pianist and longtime musical partner of Martha Argerich, turns to Debussy. In the accompanying notes he confesses to a special empathy for Debussy and you... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

‘Hommage’, in which he is joined by the six most significant musicians in his life, is a triumph on at least two levels: the performances themselves, and the kind of mixed-genre programme I wish... — Gramophone Magazine, November 2023 More…

What is most notable about this collection is the way Freire finds exactly the right idiom for each composer: a perfumed suggestion in the theatre for Tchaikovsky's First, elfin charm for the... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2015, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Freire's sheer love of music, and of this music, is positively incandescent...This is playing of exceptional virility, entirely untainted by machismo posturing or narcissistic display. Chopin... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2015, 5 out of 5 stars More…

In his selection of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, Freire, like Gilels before him, explores a whole world of intimate feeling and a melancholy at the heart of Grieg’s indelibly northern nature (‘At your... — International Piano, January 2020 More…