Review Excerpts
Reviews for Aus Meinem Taugebuch
Nosikova offers a major addition to the (recording) catalogue. It is a spell-binding performance. The standard here is of the highest. The many faces of Max Reger (there are more than one might think) are all here. One could potentially think of this as a long sequence of Preludes; or a string of concentrated hits of purest Reger. I simply cannot recommend this set highly enough. I would encourage anyone to lose themselves in this subtle, touching music.: the first disc tends towards 80 minutes, the second a shorter 52. It is clear Nosikova loves this music. Wants List folder, for sure. Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke, July-August 2022
Aus Meinem Taugebuch or From My Diary, Op. 82 from 1905, may well be the lightest, cheeriest instrumental music he (Reger) ever wrote. In addition to being comprised of sprightly themes, the music is also surprisingly light in terms of density, harmony and structure. Reger managed to curb his enthusiasm for complex chorales and fugues here; even in the slower pieces, there is a lyrical quality which, although not mushy or Chopin-like, is quite attractive. Yes, there are some unusual harmonic touches, but touches only, not heavy-handed complexity, and it works splendidly. This is a fine album in its own right and a triumph for Nosikova. …She plays with tensile strength and emotional commitment, but it cannot be denied that the lightness and glitter she brings to this music are a large part of its success. The Art Music Lounge, Lynn René Bayley
Nosikova plays with arresting technical finesse, and a rich, beautiful tone, both most welcome in these late-Romantic works. The cumulative product is highly rewarding, again providing another and most attractive side of Max Reger’s approach to music. The recorded sound is first-rate as well. Recommended both to Reger admirers and skeptics. 5 Stars: Another side of Max Reger, lovingly performed Fanfare Magazine, Ken Meltzer, July-August 2022
Ksenia Nosikova plays the music with affection, lightness of touch, and a smile. It makes all the difference. These small character pieces were Reger’s response to those he called “ignoramuses” for criticizing the complexity of so much of his music. This lovely collection makes for very pleasant listening, whether in short snippets or even over a longer span. Virtually every one of the 35 miniatures would be an attractive addition to the piano repertoire. A warm, natural piano sound and informative notes by Marian Wilson Kimber round out this fine set. Nosikova’s ability to depict a wide range of moods and colors in this music makes this a happy recommendation. Fanfare Magazine, Henry Fogel, July-August 2022
Reviews for 24 Preludes and Oskolki by Lera Auerbach
Phenomenal instrumentalists in the service of music that is clearly of huge consequence. Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine, May-June, 2022
… an absorbing recording. Dramatic performances of compelling works for violin and piano. Henry Fogel, Fanfare Magazine, May-June, 2022
… fresh, committed playing, always powerful and concentrated, and superbly recorded. Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine, May-June, 2022
Reviews for Music for Piano and Chamber Music
"The Malèdiction is excellent and one of the best recordings ever made of this piece; the performance succeeds in maintaining a dramatic argument for the whole 15 minute movement with admirable cooperation between the soloist and accompaniment, rather than a piece that maintains only for certain sections, as is common to recordings of the work",
All Music Guide
"an interesting and worthwhile recording...leaves me wanting to hear more",
Fanfare Magazine, Burton Rothleder, March-April 2010
"A collector would be hard pressed to obtain a tripling of more convincing performances of such rarities on one CD, and all played with a twinkle in the eye, a simultaneously wistly penetration (especially the Mendelssohn), and a self-effacing validity that carries these musical "Footnotes" into the realm of the absolutely listenable- and perhaps memorable, as well".
Amazon.com, Melvyn M. Sobel
Reviews for Flight and Fire
"Entitled, "Flight and Fire", this disc offers a stimulating
fare of the piano music of the Russian composer, Lera Aurebach…Nosikova
plays with fingers of steel; yet she can turn her tone inwards at a moments'
notice, as in the quieter passages of the second movement. The elusive
nature of the fourth movement is particularly spellbinding, while the
concentration of the final Adagio religioso belies the studio conditions…
Fascinating listening. It is hard to imagine a disc that does greater
service to Auerbach's piano music."
Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke, February 2008
"The really first-rate pianist Ksenia Nosikova enters into a competition
with Lera Auerbach as an interpreter…It is not by chance that the
composer dedicated the first sonata to her. From the "Fantasia"
of the year 1986 to the "Il Segno" of 2006, the interpreter
crafts a focused insight into the piano creations of 1973-born Auerbach.
She clearly exemplifies the game with old forms of Russian precursors
(like toccata or sonata) by cutting to the character. She elucidates the
contrasts of introspect and "barbaro" expressions with large
dynamic broadness."
Fono Forum (Germany), Michael Stenger, October 2007
Reviews for The Years of Pilgrimage
"Nosikova's final installment of The Years of Pilgrimage is a worthy
companion to her favorably reviewed Premiere Année (Mar/Apr 2005)
and Deuxieme Année (Nov/Dec 2001). Nosikova's expansive approach
(her total time for the set is 17 minutes longer than Leslie Howard's)
works well in these essentially elegiac late Liszt pieces. Jeux d'eau
a la Villa d'Este is the mystical center point, and Nosikova's reading
has all the muted shimmerings of the fountains as well as the big splashes
of water. She builds some huge climaxes in the bigger pieces, but there
is never any harshness or overplaying.. . .she has the full measure of
this work (Polonaise) as well as the entire Troisieme Année".
American Record Guide, Harrington, Nov/Dec 2006
"Nosikova's interpretations are instinctively straightforward, exuding
musical intelligence, honest integrity and a rock-solid technique. Her
sonority is full-bodied . . . Nosikova is at her best in a glowing account
of the Dante sonata, richly colourful and full of dramatic intensity.
Rounded off by a fine account of Venezia e Napoli, this is a super
disc.
From the recordings of the 'Italie' book of Années de pélerinage discussed above, there are six that are recommendable: Brendel (1972),
Berman, Bolet, Hatto, Nosikova and Hitzlberger.
International Piano, Tim Parry, London (UK), July/August, 2006
"In the third and least-performed book of Liszt's Années
de Pèlerinage, pianist Ksenia Nosikova upholds the excellent
standards she brought to the cycle's first two volumes …she keeps
sparse, austere selections like the two Thrénodies and the Marche funèbre aloft and fluid. She also is attuned to Liszt's
harmonic inventiveness: notice how tellingly she shades the odd major-to-minor
shifts in Angelus! Prière aux anges gardiens… no arpeggio
or tremolo is simply rattled off (Les jeux d'eau à la Villa
d'Este); every note is carefully voiced and well considered. I admire
the energy and sweep Nosikova brings to the E major Polonaise."
ClassicsToday, August, 2006
"Her (Ksenia Nosikova's) tone in Vallèe d'Obermann,
the keystone of this collection (Switzerland) is sensuous and singing.
Moreover, superb pacing and two marvelously constructed climaxes turn
this diffuse and difficult tone-poem into a tour de force. Les Cloches
de Genêve glows with luminous tonal shading and has real charm
and emotional power. Her Polonaise Melancolique is indeed revelatory.
Here she achieves extraordinary elasticity of rhythm, tasteful rubato,
and above all, spellbinding atmosphere. I don’t expect this unusual
work so remarkably played any time soon."
American Record Guide, March, 2004
"Pianist Ksenia Nosikova proves as idiomatic and convincing a Lisztian
in the first volume of the composer's (Liszt) Années de Pèlerinage as in her previous release to the second, Italian volume and its supplementary Venezia e Napoli triptych…Nosikova's perceptive and vibrant
performance makes a better case for the music (Polonaise Melancolique)
that Leslie Howard's relatively sober reading on Hyperion. I look forward
to this cycle's conclusion."
ClassicsToday, November, 2003
"Ms. Nosikova has recorded Liszt's work extensively in recent years,
and her evident absorption in her playing showed a truly personal appreciation
of his mysterious, imaginative quality… She communicated the tension
between frustration and delicacy in Liszt’s To the Cypresses
of the Villas d'Este with carefully conducted poise, drawing out the
simmering undercurrents of the piece… her interpretation of The
Fountains of the Villa d'Este poignantly captured the fluid, aquatic
beauty of the Hungarian’s composition."
The Saint Andrew's (Scotland) Saint,
January, 2003
"…it was in the rhapsodic playing that Nosikova's talents
showed to best advantage. Introspective, recitative-like declamations
got all the space they deserved, including silences. It was musically
very poetic. ...full of light, warmth, and joy."
Madison (WI) Music Review, October,
2002
"The Italian leg of Liszt's Années de Pèlerinage is frequently traversed on disc these days. Happily, Ksenia Nosikova proves
to be a worthy contender on every level, as her stylish, intelligent,
and technically rock-solid artistry bears out. Nosikova's laser-like projection
and lean yet never flinty tone are in keeping with her direct, straightforward
readings… Tempos are judged to perfection and even seemingly fragmented
works such as Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli ebb and flow
in judicious proportion… Nosikova's Dante Sonata is particularly
incisive, dramatic, and colorful and shines alongside excellent recent
versions..."
ClassicsToday, October, 2002
"...in her Weill Hall recital, the space bloomed with fresh colors
and supple pulse, an invigorating and pleasing effusion. ...refined sensibility
and exquisite pianism...fascinating to watch and hear..."
New York Concert Review, May, 2001
"Nosikova has a palette of musical expressions in her playing, allowing
her to tackle the greatest works for the solo piano with ease. Playing Années de Pèlerinage 2 in their entirety heightens
the achievement when someone like Ksenia Nosikova contributes just as
much energy as an expression. Her subtle and expressive playing moves
from a slow movement to a descending chromatic forte without changing
intensity, without loosing its substance…Her artistic choices offer
a serious rendering of the soccer with feeling, often deprived of depth
when it is played without feeling…This invirogating piece (Dante
Sonata) was broadly interpreted by the pianist who proposed a reading
of the work without any airs, clumsiness and exaggeration. A real talent
of interpereter."
Journal L'Alsace (France), June 18,
2000
"Her performance is brilliant, full of grace and the most astonishing
precision. Truly fascinated by the work of the master (Liszt), the completely
extroverted artist knew how to bring out and obtain different sound from
the instrument, by increasing the sonority, by multiplying the effects
and the means… If the playing of Ksenia Nosikova was only virtuoso
it would be fairly forgotten. It is nothing of the kind though. The audience
understood the extraordinary capacity of the artist to make this a lesson
in generosity and sharing of emotions."
Dernieres Nouvelles D'Alsace (France),
June 17, 2000
Earlier Reviews
"Ksenia Nosikova . . . displayed authority and brilliant clarity
. . . had the verve of youth."
The Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune, June
12, 1996
"Ksenia Nosikova, a native of Russia . . . gave an outstanding account
of Liszt's Concerto #2 . . . "
The Flint (MI) Journal, March 4, 1994
"Ksenia Nosikova again displayed impressive musicianship that demonstrated
the iconoclastic musical ability of Alfred Schnitke."
The Boston (MA) Globe, March 11, 1988
" . . . an attractive piece by Akshin Alizade called Portrait,
which benefited from a very sensitive accompaniment by Ksenia Nosikova"
The Boston (MA) Globe, March 8, 1988