Reviews of Ivan Ilic, pianist

First and foremost is my website

My schedule is here

I also have a squidoo page on my current projects

Read a recent press release about my collaboration with the composer John L King

Here's a recent interview which in turn led to this review

Here's another recent article

Download free MP3s on download.com

If you like them you can buy my Debussy CD on iTunes or Napster

Listen to excerpts from my personal archive, including live recordings

See my page on CD Baby

The beginning of a Wikipedia entry is here

I recently began working on the complete piano music of Lucien Durosoir

I'll tour the music in 2007 which will in turn lead to a recording on Alpha

I also recently commissioned new piano music from Reynold Tharp, Fernando Benadon, Keeril Makan, Brian Current, Dmitri Tymoczko and Mei-Fang Lin

A rising star in Paris, 28 year old American pianist Ivan Ilić is gaining international recognition for his “unique blend of a Gallic touch, a Slavic soul and a mathematician’s precision.”

A disciple of the legendary François-René Duchâble, Ivan took degrees in music and mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley before leaving for Paris with a Hertz Traveling Fellowship from the University. A few months later Ivan was admitted to the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, where he took a Premier Prix in piano performance. At age 20 he launched a solo recital career that has taken him to Belgium, Ireland, Serbia, the Czech Republic, America, and throughout France and the United Kingdom.

Over 55 solo engagements for 2007 include the Phillips Collection (Washington DC), St George’s Bristol, the John Field Room (Dublin), the Great Hall of the University of Aberystwyth, the Wales Millenium Centre (Cardiff), and festivals throughout Europe. Ivan will give his Carnegie Hall recital début in 2008.

Ivan's playing is often broadcast on television and radio in America, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Serbia. In 2006-07 he was a laureate of the Nadia Boulanger Foundation in Paris; the city of Paris sponsored his last recording.

"The concert demonstrated artistic potential of the highest order...the harmonic richness of eight Debussy preludes from the second livre was palpable, and Ilić brought out the subtle shades of colour with a poet's ear. Ondine was particularly compelling, the elusive spirit of the water nymph captured exquisitely. Following the intermission, Ilic gave one of Chopin's most satisfying works, the Polonaise-Fantasy. He brought out Chopin's complex lineage of Bach and Schubert, and the playing was restrained and elegant throughout, the silences speaking volumes."

- John Morgan Western Mail [Wales] September 25th 2007 [Review here]

"Once in a while you experience something quite extraordinary at a concert, and this was one of those occasions. Ivan Ilić is an extremely talented American pianist with a wonderful technique, a relaxed style and an easy manner with his audience...Ilić has the ability to get under the skin of his music...he gave a dazzling performance of music by Händel, Debussy, Chopin and Liszt. Nothing interrupted the glorious flow of music and the depth of feeling in every note, making this a very special concert."

- Malcolm Rees South Wales Evening Post [Wales] September 22nd 2007 [Review here]

"This evening was an exceptional occasion...because it allowed us to listen to two virtuosos, Ivan Ilić and Noël Lee. Each has his own sensibility; their musical color (subtely shaded) and their joint talent served Debussy's Prélude to the Afternoon of a Faun tremendously, for a magnificent four-hand performance. The first half, played solo by Ivan Ilić, showed the entire pallet of this talented young artist, who mixed the works of Lucien Durosoir with those of Brahms to great effect."

- Jean-François Lepetit Lexnews [Paris] July 5th 2007 [Review here]

"...an astounding dynamic range...supremely technically gifted. From the elegaic Feuilles mortes to the sparkling conclusion of Feux d'artifice he held me spellbound...Ilić gave a triumphant performance....the treat of a lifetime."

- John Jones Coleraine Chronicle [Northern Ireland] June 20th 2007 [Review here]

"Flying fingers at pianist's concert...a great chance to hear such a brave choice of live music from a very accomplished pianist...refreshing and innovative."

- Michael Holohan Drogheda Independent [Ireland] April 4th 2007

"...remarkable...a pianist of high stylistic assurance...[he] impressed [with] the integrity, vividness and rhythmic control of his playing, notably in La Puerta del Vino and the final, pyrotechnic Feux d'Artifice. It's such a joy to come upon a pianist with an abundant armoury but who refuses to sacrifice intelligence to prodigal display."

- Nigel Jarrett South Wales Argus [Wales] March 30th 2007 [Review here]

"Clearly something of a maverick, Ivan gave his own slant to works by Händel and Liszt...the pieces were full of light and shade, a perfect balance...his recital was full of emotion, rich textures, and the confidence that only comes from a master at work."

- Ronnie Kerswell Carmarthen Journal [Wales] March 8th 2007 [Review here]

"...perfect clarity and a ringing brilliance...Ivan seemed perfectly at home with the fiendish work [Liszt's Variations], conveying both drama and tenderness and setting pulses racing with an electrifying performance."

- Ellie Hoare, Western Mail, Cardiff [Wales] February 16th 2007 [Review here]

"Unforgettable in 2006...Ivan Ilić played an unusual programme including Liszt's Variations on a theme by Bach, 'Weinen, Klagen'...[he] offered a clear interpretation fusing Liszt's luxurious, virtuosic pianism with Bach's Baroque polyphony."

- Gordana Krajačić, Naša Borba, Belgrade [Serbia] December 30th 2006

"Ivan Ilić, the talented pianist..."

- Guy Étienne, Le Progrès, Lyon [France] November 15th 2006

"...rich colours and sheer depth and luxuriance of sound."

- Kenny Mathieson, Inverness Courier [Scotland] October 27th 2006 [Review here]

"Americans may not always be welcome in Paris, but this one is. The young pianist's interpretations of Debussy and his sort show a comfort with the high romance that's a French favorite. Ilić's smooth dynamic range also fits well in his more contemporary recordings."

- Editor's Pick, Chicago Tribune/Download.com [USA] August 2006 [Link here]

"Throughout Händel’s Suite in F Major [Ivan Ilić] showed a stylistic knack for bringing out the polyphonic lines and respecting the slow tempi...he navigated the Adagio from Mozart’s Sonata in E-flat Major completely differently, highlighting the supernatural, subtle tenderness with tasteful doses of pedaling and wonderfully beautiful singing melodic lines."

- Gordana Krajačić, Naša Borba, Belgrade [Serbia] June 9th 2006

"...Ivan had the sagacity and élan to make fresh what we’d assumed would be familiar territory. The aural colouring of the Liszt and Brahms was handled particularly well, with a broad range of rich, warm and woody hues, setting those works firmly in their period, yet sounding – on this occasion – alive and new. And then came the explosion of prismatic, fugitive tones of the Debussy."

- Mark Smith, Lyth Arts [Scotland] April 28th 2006