Press Comments

"Young pianist Konrad Maria Engel has achieved a remarkable start to the new season. (In Debussy's "Feux d'artifice) he demonstrated enormous power and breadth, taking arpeggios in a veritable musical fireworks, which the audience sought to repeat in their unrestrained applause"
Kölner Stadtanzeiger

"A sophisticated, vital, dramatic and characteristically modelled performance of the Kreisleriana by Schumann confirm one's original impression of this extraordinary talent (....). Konrad Maria Engel's future development will undoubtedly be worth waiting for."
Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinsky/Wiesbadener Tageblatt

"Just as the colours of Claude Monet glow in the gardens of Argenteuil, so do the tones produced by Engel (... in Debussy's "Bruyères" ) shine in a musical impression."
Weser Kurier

"Engel's interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight sonata, opus 27/2, was enthusiastic. [...] His rendering of Schumann's Humoresque, opus 20, again confirmed him as an excellent musical storyteller."
Achimer Kreiszeitung

"Perhaps the breathless quiet in the hall after the last note was the greatest sign of the wonder and respect for this extraordinarily gifted instrumentalist"
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"Incredible! The way Konrad Maria Engel caused his piano (...) to glow during his Festspiel soiree was sensational. (...) Konrad Maria Engel has set a new benchmark with this concert in the Villa Wahnfried"
Nordbayrischer Kurier

"I was fortunate to attend one of the season's highlights on 7 August 2005, a recital by a remarkable young virtuoso Konrad Maria Engel, whose inventively structured programme, unfolding chronologically, featured composers who influenced or were themselves influenced by Wagner. [...] There is clearly a reciprocal influence between Liszt and Wagner so it was a special treat to hear three Etudes d'execution transcendante, nos 9-11, played in this context, and with fiery leonine dexterity. In 'Ricordanza' the gentle Italianate melody flowed with delicate tracery in contrast to the effortless passagework which Engel intensified to a powerful climax, decorated with buoyant and effervescent filigree. The third piece, 'Harmonies du Soir', was breathtaking, a tour de force in which Liszt's chromaticism and vivid pianistic colours came alive with highly charged vitality and dynamism as well as awe-inspiring silences. [...] One hopes for Engel's début in the UK in the near future."
Malcolm Miller / www.mvdaily.com