Live reviews of Simon Tedeschi‘s performance of Grieg piano concerto in Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s 2019 Season Opening Gala, conducted by Benjamin Northey (02.02.2019):
- “Standout moments during the evening undoubtedly included the Adagio middle movement of the Greig Concerto with Tedeschi and the ASO in top form producing beautifully contoured, finessed lines.”. – Adelaide Advertister (February 2019)
- “Simon Tedeschi tosses off the Grieg piano concerto almost with abandon, as if it is his play thing, and it very nearly is. His treatment of the closing cadenza in the first movement elicits a spontaneous outpouring of appreciation from the sell-out audience – yes, a sell-out, and that’s nearly 2000 people – and Tedeschi flashes a smile by way of acknowledgement and thanks, and perhaps recognising that he has done well, very well. His pedal work in the beautiful middle adagio movement is just perfect, and he coaxes the most exquisite tones from the Steinway grand. Northey clearly enjoys what he is hearing and the two glint and smile at each other throughout. No sooner has the last crashing chord sounded at the concerto’s conclusion and the audience is wolf whistling and cheering. It is rock star stuff, and to cap it off Tedeschi gives an encore that is a jazz-inflected mash up of themes from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite finished off with a nod at the A minor Concerto’s opening theme. He cheekily gives every impression that he is improvising at the start but this is bravura performance with brazen leaps in the left hand played at dizzying speed and with mind numbing accuracy. It is sassy, it is brilliant, and the crowd lap it up” – The Barefoot Review (February 2019)
- “The widely-respected and effervescent Simon Tedeschi at the Steinway concert grand piano for Edvard Grieg’s best-known composition, “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16”. From the first rumbling of drums, he made this his own, dexterously interweaving complex and often delicate phrases with familiar and dramatic ones. His variations in timing and dynamics gave beautiful expression to the work.” – IN Daily, Adelaide’s Independent News (February 2019)