Review List
In a year during which Ukraine has suffered immense tragedy, it has been my privilege to review three releases of orchestral music from this newly discovered Ukrainian composer. The final release, from this month, arrived too late to be included in this year’s nominations but of the previous two, his Piano Concerto and his ballet suite Une fête en Ukraine are both marvellous works in the style of the early twentieth century Russian Romantic School of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Glazunov. Well worth discovering and all played wonderfully by the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra. --Music Web, International Records of the Year Award for 2022
Lee Denham, Music Web International
"What is certain, however, is the absolute mastery of the de Hartmann’s Piano Concerto by pianist Elan Sicroff – an artist who has dedicated much of his musical life to this avant-garde Russian neo-Romantic, after having been introduced to his works in the 1970s by the composer’s widow, Olga."
Stuart Millson, The Quarterly Review, August 2022
"These performances leave nothing to be desired. Elan Sicroff, who has recorded a disc of Hartmann’s solo piano music, is authoritative; Singaporean conductor Tian Hui Ng balances his forces well, and the orchestra plunges in with exuberance. Sound quality is top class."
Phillip Scott, Limelight, August 25th, 2022
"This concerto is no mean feat, but Sicroff seems to succeed in making even the most difficult passages sound effortless, without overdoing the more overtly romantic passages. It is also largely thanks to the tireless efforts of the pianist that the recordings exist at all, so we do owe a debt of gratitude to him for all his work."
The Light Music Society, July 6, 2022
“Elan Sicroff’s piano play is of a bold beauty, broad in scope. With an energetic and accurate touch he vibrates in the ‘improvised’ passages. A special feature is the dizzying variety in the composition, which is performed by Sicroff with an inspired ease. Virtuoso how he follows this diversity so organically and performs it in a natural way." (translated from the Dutch version)
Mattie Poels, Music Frames, August 16, 2022
"Well recorded with plenty of vivid wind, brass and percussion action and performed by all with palpable gusto, this is an excellent disc in its own right, but also a complementary recording for anyone who has already acquired and admired the selection of orchestral works on the Toccata Classics label..."
Dominy Clements, Music Web International, July 2022
“The performances are uniformly of the highest quality…all the musicians consistently sound as though they relished Hartmann’s idiomatically conceived, sometimes sinuous melodies. If I had to recommend just one performance, it would be Janssen and Sicroff’s of the magnificent Cello Sonata, one of the finest for the instrument penned in the 20th century…an unalloyed masterpiece with a wonderful variation set at its centre. A revelation.”
Guy Rickards, Gramophone, July 2021
“...the de Hartmann Project has done the world an immense service in finally presenting a somewhat orderly and in-depth look at this talented composer whose work has been not only vastly underrated but almost wholly ignored by the rest of the classical music world.”
Lynn René Bayley, Art Music Lounge, March 28, 2021
“Elan Sicroff proves an exceptional exponent of a sometimes bewilderingly diverse range of musical influences – from the nineteenth century via the salon and thence to Scriabin, Stravinsky, and perhaps a little Bartók. These represent, at least, some of the staging posts of de Hartmann’s musical journey.”