China Tour 2007 - Recital in Kunming
"…Boris Guiltburg, an exciting and versatile piano performer from Israel mesmerized his audience with his flair at a concert in Kunming. Having a finger dance on black and white keys of piano, Boris displayed fine technique in pieces of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 111, Chopin's Ballade No. 1 and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 8 Op. 84…which received enthusiastic applause and tremendous response from the audience.
Kmon On-Line, November 2007
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Grieg
"[Boris Giltburg] produced a compelling performance of the A minor concerto, full of thundering but seemingly effortless passages and dramatic flourishes."
Liverpool Echo, September 2007
Malmö Symphony Orchestra / Rachmaninov
"The Israeli pianist, who is barely 23 years old, gave a phenomenal performance of Rachmaninov's second piano concerto. ... the fineness of detail in his playing was quite simply brilliant."
Kvälls Posten Expressen , September 2007
Cheltenham Festival / Schubert, Chopin and Payne
"Giltburg was fully in command, supple and agile, tasteful and wise to the organic nature of the piano's decorative writing."
The Telegraph, July 2007
In recital for VAI DVD
"From Giltburg, we get calm, assured attention to the music at hand. The results are very special. Giltburg plays like a young Richter... His program seems designed to show his interpretive range… Giltburg has a fearsome technique that gives extraordinary strength and clarity of line to Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue. He displays excellent taste in everything he plays here. The Liszt Sonata in B minor is breathtaking in its full-throated power and poetic interludes."
American Record Guide , May-June 2007
Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Scriabin on EMI
"A brilliant performance of this striking yet technically challenging cycle from one of today's most exciting young pianists."
BBC Music Magazine , August 2007
"Giltburg captures the mood of the work with extraordinary authority for one so young, evidently relishing the intensity of the music, as well as its brilliance in the finale…his is a reading which is thoroughly persuasive, notable for its tonal variety and intelligent pacing as well as its startling virtuosity. Altogether a very fine début recital."
International Record Review , July-August 2006
"Giltburg captures [Scriabin's Second Sonata]'s post-Chopinesque candour here to perfection. In Prokofiev's towering Eighth Sonata, as in the Musorgsky, he faces inevitable comparisons with the very greatest, Sviatoslav Richter, turning in an equally valid reading….He's surely more convincing than any other interpreter."
BBC Music Magazine , June 2006
Miami International Piano Festival / Bach, Schubert, Scriabin and Liszt
"Giltburg opened the Festival on May 11 with an exciting display of interpretive freedom. Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue had stunning exhilaration. The clarity of Bach's inner voicings was but one example of Giltburg's technical mastery. He brought tremendous extremes of volume and dynamics to Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy. Giltburg's subtle, imaginatively lyrical flights were often beguiling. With big boned virtuosity to burn, he sailed through Scriabin's Sonata-Fantasy No.2 in G-sharp minor with marvelous freedom and inflected the Chopinesque filigree with rippling beauty. In Liszt's huge Sonata in B Minor, Giltburg's penchant for adventurous, unconventional phrasing took center stage. His was a fascinating traversal in the true Liszt mold - delicate, flaming, and exciting. As encores, Giltburg brought romantic languor to Rachmaninoff's witty take on Fritz Kreisler's Liebesfreud and jazzy power to Gershwin's Rialto Rhythms.
The Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg, who made his American debut at the 2004 Miami International Piano Festival, returned to offer some fiery pianism. His wildly improvisatory performance of Beethoven's Concerto No.3 in C Minor was in the Russian tradition. Giltburg's brilliant, free wheeling cadenza in the first movement was spellbinding. He played the Largo twice as slowly as most pianists. Giltburg sailed into the Rondo finale at lightning speed with a vivid demonstration of impressive technical facility. This pianist is certainly individualistic."
Entertainment News & Views, May 2006
"In 2004 Giltburg demonstrated a hugely impressive technique, and it was clear that the 22-year old pianist has honed his prodigious arsenal to an even finer point. In a challenging program, Giltburg blazed through the most demanding passages flawlessly and with a textural clarity and digital power that were even more commanding than in his last appearance.
The tortuous difficulties of Liszt's epic Sonata in B minor seemed to vanish in Giltburg's hands. Rarely will one hear this music tackled with such extraordinary strengh and security. The pianist skillfully held the vast single-movement structure together, the fusillade of notes and myriad complexities thrown off with remarkable finish."
Sun Sentinel, May 2006
Jovellanos Theatre, Gijón / Schubert and Liszt
"..Boris will have a place amongst the great pianists of the 21st century ... a lively Fantasia, moving, marvellously accented in the first part, contained and stately in the second section, and tense in the final part, calm and transparently contrapuntal in the Fugue. Undoubtedly, Boris has technical ability, but he has musicality as well, colour and structural understanding of the work. "
El Comercio , January 2006
Herkulessaal, Munich / Beethoven, Scriabin and Prokofiev
"[His performance of Scriabin's 2nd sonata] was free in execution and bereft of any superficial mannerisms, in his attempt to express it as one long breath. The same went (with minor exceptions) for Prokofiev's 8th Sonata."
Sueddeutsche Zeitung , December 2006
Concierto de la Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Buenos Aires / Prokofiev
"a virtuosity founded on notable technical ability … as well as a brilliant and nuanced touch - such as distinguishes the great pianists"
La Nacion , September 2005
Recital in Montevideo, Uruguay
"From his round and ample sound, to his subtle and delicate touch, from his virtuoso playing to his dramatic vehemence, from his martial execution to his cantabile phrasing, everything was present in Giltburg's performance, who upon finishing …was deservedly met with a standing ovation… Nuances, colours, moods and emotions were exposed with interpretational maturity, making this performance the evening's most brilliant, a performance with special intellectual and emotional insight."
Klasicaa Magazine, September 2005
Recital at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples
"When referring to a twenty-one year old pianist, one normally talks about the future: how good he might be, how famous he might be… In the case of Boris Giltburg, who made his debut last Monday at the San Carlo theatre, having taken first prize at the Vendome competition, there is no need for risky predictions: his style, which is in equal measures virtuosic and refined, already merits considerable attention."
Il Mattino , May 2005
"Busoni's virtuosic arrangement of the Bach did not present the slightest difficulty to Giltburg, who at some points, such as in the storm of fast scales, repeated notes and chords, moreover displayed an assurance and calm reminiscent of the great concert performers. In the Beethoven sonata, which requires wisdom, sensitivity, intelligence and extraordinary energy, the young pianist interpreted the immortal and colossal score with resolute control and expressiveness in equal measures. ... It is only right and proper to say, that a new genius of the keyboard has been born"
Napoliú , May 2005
"[H]e boasts a pianistic talent that, for technical temperament and above all stylistic elegance, outstrips many of the young athletes of the keyboard who have been distinguished, as he was at the 2003 Vendome Prize in Lisbon, in leading international competitions. ... At twenty one years old, Boris Giltburg has the pianistic elegance of the masters"
Corriere del Mezzogiorno , May 2005
KZN Philharmonic / Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1
"Giltburg infused the music with playfulness and humour, and the right degree of tranquility where necessary. The final movement gallops along with great excitement and is full of beautiful melodies. There is lovely dialogue between soloist and orchestra, especially the flute and winds, culminating in the exhilarating finale in which Giltburg's virtuosity was so evident. A remarkable performer, he confirmed this with beautifully executed encores by Kreisler and Rachmaninov."
Kwana Newspaper, February 2005
"[The] 20 year-old Boris Giltburg, who was born in Moscow and now lives in Israel, gave a performance of exceptional brilliance and clarity. He is a handsome young man who sits so far from the keyboard that I thought he might have some difficulty in reaching the notes. Never fear, he was in total control throughout this difficult and demanding work, with no hint of a false note or wrong accent. He has big hands, and they became a blur of speed in the rapid octave passages. His style of playing is flamboyant but unaffected, and his extreme technical prowess extended to a beautiful singing tone in the concerto's expressive passages, especially in the slow movement."
Artsmart , February 2005
Recital / Bach, Schumann and Mussorgsky
"In contrast to other compatriots of the same generation who rely upon their technical bravura, Giltburg's interpretation uncovered hidden depths of meaning."
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 2004
Recital / Beethoven, Scriabin, Albéniz and Schumann
"One would not expect a pianist aged 20 to have the emotional depth and wisdom of the great maestros; however, with his technical assurance, clarity of sound, and overwhelming musicality Giltburg is destined to go far."
El País Madrid , June 2004
Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid / Rachmaninov Piano Concert no. 3
"His interpretation of Rachmaninov's third piano concerto is that of a great musician. We shall remember it as a jewel with three facets; the first facet was the elegant perfection of his sound, right from the opening phrase. The second was his skill and discipline at mastering the work's technical difficulties: the octaves and repeated notes did not sound like a well-performed technical exercise rather an attractive musical gesture. Thirdly, he impressed with his precocious maturity as a creator. "
Diario la Razón, April 2004
Recital / Beethoven, Franck and Scriabin
"The young pianist Boris Giltburg … possesses a maturity of interpretation that amazes one after hearing his impressive concert, a colossal avalanche of sound…"
El Correo de Vitoria, March 2003
"Giltburg plays with freshness and imagination, he approaches the works from a global perspective and with careful stylistic sensibility. He possesses a special ability to bring out with independence and clarity the polyphonic lines in the keys. It is as though each of his fingers has its own mind and its own heart."
El Comercio, Gijón, March 2003
London Symphony Orchestra/Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos / Bartok Piano Concerto no. 3
"So hat der Wettbewerb doch wieder erbracht, was man schon immer von Wettbewerben forderte: Ein Musiker wurde entdeckt, auf den man in Zukunft hören wird, ja hören muss. Er ist noch sehr jung, aber er besitzt Wachheit wie unbedingte, konzentrierte Emphase. Nichts, so ist zu vermuten, dürfte ihn von seinem künstlerischen Weg ablenken."
NMZ, October 2002