"…Virtuosity and technical perfection are never his aim but a means to put into sound his poetical dreams, knight's adventures and musical imagination. For Tiempo, the piano is a natural extension of his inner world, a voice, rather than a mechanical instrument that may be conquered through iron discipline and elastic fingers. Because of that, Tiempo's far from conventional interpretations are not only extraordinarily captivating but also whimsical and, from time to time, elusive." NRC Handelsblad
Washington Performing Arts Center / Haydn, Chopin, Ravel, Liszt
“Sergio Tiempo, the immensely talented Venezuelan-born pianist, uses his colossal technique to produce a spectrum of colors and dynamic nuance from the piano. His program at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Saturday afternoon included Haydn's delightful Sonata in D, Hob. XVI: 37; Chopin's Sonata No. 3 in B Minor; Ravel's suite "Gaspard de la Nuit"; and the "Consolation" No. 3 and "Mephisto" Waltz No. 1 of Liszt. Still in his mid-30s, Tiempo is nonetheless a seasoned veteran, having made his debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw at 14.
Not surprisingly, he is an authoritative Ravel player. In the "Gaspard" pieces, the glissandi in "Ondine" fairly shimmered, while the famously difficult "Scarbo" was imaginatively realized with crystalline clarity. Tiempo also possesses a golden singing sound, ravishingly displayed in the Chopin and Liszt pieces. The same lyrical impulse pervaded the Haydn sonata, in an interpretation perhaps more operatic than symphonic.
Tiempo's great strength is his white-hot intensity. When combined with his cultivated musical intelligence, it achieves strikingly original results…"
Washington Post, April 2008
Salzburg Festival / Mozart Concerto No.10 for two pianos with Karin Lecnher and Ivor Bolton
“While the beautiful and the rich are busily celebrating themselves outside the festival hall, the audience in the grand hall of the Mozarteum are witness to musical milestones. In the Concerto for Two Pianos in E Flat Caracas-born pianist Sergio Tiempo delighted the listeners with his smooth sound while his Buenos Aires-born sister Karin Lechner was in charge of the melodious highlights. Brother and sister, an internationally renowned piano duo, played together and with the orchestra on the highest levels of tonal perfection and musical interchange. Although this charming, brilliant concerto does not really lend itself to double showmanship, its performance impressed with particular subtlety and magnificence in the piano part. It is a thrill to experience how two quite different temperaments and ideas about sound merge that way.”
Der Standard, August 2007
“The piano concerto was entrusted to Sergio Tiempo and his sister Karin Lechner. The young, delightful Argentineans demonstrated controlled temperament and the cadences allowed them to display their artistic unanimity to the hilt.”
Salzburger Nachrichten, August 2007
EMI Classics / Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, Ravel Gaspard de la nuit, Chopin Three Nocturnes, Op.9
"Fantastic! That is the word which springs to mind on listening to this passionate recording. I haven't heard a performance of Pictures at an Exhibition as personal, imaginative and exciting as this since Moiseiwitch, Horowitz, Richter, Engerer and Pogorelich… Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit is also worth its weight in gold. The playing is absolutely finessed… Tiempo brings a sensuality and extraordinary force to the three movements inspired by Aloysius Bertrand poetry. And the colours! And the perfumes! Many versions will now seem bland by comparison.’"
Le Monde de la Musique, July 2006
"‘…the Argentine, Venezuelan-born virtuoso presents a stunning calling-card on EMI… Tiempo certainly likes to live dangerously and challenge conventional wisdom. From the first bars of Pictures, one’s eyebrows might be raised at the unusually fast pace of the visitor to the gallery – but allegro giusto is what Mussorgsky asks for and what Mussorgsky gets… if you like character, conviction and imagination in a pianist, then Tiempo’s tour of the exhibition is an enthralling and often exhilarating experience. The three Nocturnes could almost pass as improvisations. Tiempo is a colourist in love with the infinite variety a piano can produce. As an illustration of discriminating tone and touch they could hardly be bettered. These are qualities that serve Tiempo well in Gaspard, one of the most compelling and dramatic accounts since that of his mentor Martha Argerich."
Gramophone, July 2006
EMI Classics / Martha Argerich and Friends Live from the Lugano Festival 2007
“Argerich doesn’t know how to be anodyne, a rarity in a world of countless executants but few musicians. Her “friends”, younger than she, mostly blossom under her influence, notably Sertio Tiempo and karin Lechner, two pianists excellently endowed both technically and artistically to unravel Ravel’s Daphis et Chloé.”
Gramophone, June 2008
“Space constraints make it difficult to do justice to the quantity and diversity of chamber music presented on this splendid recording of live performances from last year’s Lugano Festival… Ravel is well represented in marvellous performances of the second Daphnis et Chloé suite (Sergio Tiempo and Karin Lechner in Lucien Garban’s transcription) …”
International Record Review, April 2008
"Another box of treats from the Lugano Festival’s Martha Argerich project. The latest instalment contains the usual joyfully arbitrary selection of repertoire. Predictably, the array of pianists is particularly rich: Karin Lechner and Sergio Tiempo conjure wonderful atmospheres in a two-piano version of the second of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé suites …”
Sunday Times, March 2008
Deutsche Grammophon with Mischa Maisky / Rachmaninov
“What a joy: a whole programme of Rachmaninov from this most romantic of Russian cellists, recorded live in recital with a sumptuous, dazzling performance of the composer’s Cello Sonata at its core. If Tolstoy had written a cello sonata it might have sounded like Rachmaninov’s, and Maisky and Tiempo offer perhaps its ideal incarnation – virile, noble, thoughtful, passionate and immensely dramatic. The short pieces and transcribed songs are just as eloquent. The two partners complement each other in both virtuosity and sensitivity – and Tiempo deserves a medal of his own as Rachmaninov’s piano writing in the Cello Sonata is as demanding as in his concertos.”
Classic FM, 5 Stars, March 2008
“Recorded live at the Progetto Martha Argerich Festival in Lugano during 2005 and 2006, the ensemble captures a rare propinquity and joie de vivre, always colourful and polished, avoiding the superficial slickness that can undermine such souldul writing. The sound is always rounded and pleasing.
The Sonata’s Lento-Allegro moderato has all the youthful vigour required, connections with the Second Piano Concerto (which just preceded it) always palpable. This is tremendous playing, actually, the Allegro scherzando never losing its grip either and the sonorities of the Andante especially well suffused. Maisky displays a particular rapport with Tiempo in this most Russian of repertoire, and the listened certainly gets the benefit of the duo’s common approach… Although there is much to admire in the Alezander Kniazev / Nikolai Lugansky recording of the Sonata… my preference is for Maisky’s generous tone and the duo’s transcendental teamwork and sheer resilience.
The ‘Danse orientale’ was given its inaugural performance by the composed and Branukob in 1892, and the Maisky-Tiempo partnetship honours the work, from its opening austere gestures through to the more impassioned moments. This CD has ample dynamism and energy tempered with long-term vision…”
International Record Review, March 2008