Press Kit/Images
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"[T]echnically … the demands are huge. But there is tenderness aplenty here, too, an emphasis on the starry beauty of the quietly disjunct. The pianism here is terrific: Nonken’s finger strength in the loud passages in particular is massively impressive. That said, she treats many of the quieter passages with an attention to texture and touch that one might more readily associate with a sensitive interpreter of the French Impressionists. "
— Colin Clarke, Fanfare "Her voicings are exquisite, her pedaling throughout is a model to be studied, and, when necessary, her virtuosity is equaled only by the insight and passion with which every piece is imbued." — Marc Medwin, Fanfare "At first glance, this highly abstract, very dissonant music seems extraordinarily challenging …. But it is so purely expressive, honest and, not least, presented with such passion, that it should be intensely engaging for any music lover with an open mind. For me, this is yet another triumph for one of our greatest champions of living composers." — Peter Burwasser, Fanfare "Marilyn Nonken negotiates the immense technical and musical challenges of these works in remarkable fashion ….. This well-recorded disc is self-recommending to readers ... receptive to music of this sort. However self-recommending it may be, though, I recommend it too." — David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare "Nonken has followed her outstanding 2-CD set of Murail's complete piano music with a disc devoted to his colleague Dufourt and the American composer Joshua Fineberg .... Brief, dramatic eruptions punctuate gradual, ever-shifting transitions; Nonken handles the incremental tension superbly" — Graham Lock, International Piano "Ms. Nonken is a pianist from music's leading edge... always precise and poetic at the keyboard." — Paul Griffiths, The New York Times "'Dedicated exclusively,' it says in Marilyn Nonken's artist's bio, 'to music of this century.' Does this have a reader's eyes glazing over already? If so, please un-glaze them at once! No two ways about it, what we have here is a remarkable young pianist by any standards, and those other centuries' loss is very much our gain.... In addition to being the possessor of a first-class technique, not so unusual a thing these days, Nonken summons up a passionate identification with just the sort of music that would most seem to resist any such identification.... When she returns -- soon, please -- may there be a crush to hear her. She's that kind of pianist." — Richard Buell, The Boston Globe "These pieces are difficult for both the body and the intellect, but her technique is in place and her feeling for these pieces is so heartfelt, so sincere, that one is constantly engaged. In an odd way, her role may have been that of a preservationist, a determined protector of important music that history embraces in the abstract and...one day may take to heart." — Bernard Holland, The New York Times "Although Nonken’s allegiance is very much with the avant-garde, she reveres traditional music. Her passion for such a broad sweep of piano literature is immediately apparent, and the establishment desperately needs individuals like her to make modern music relevant." — International Piano "The work is absolutely electrifying, and there are very few people other than the incomparable Marilyn Nonken who could pull it off with such power." — Ira Byelick, American Record Guide "In an environment that has nurtured many fine pianists who are sympathetic to new music (Oppens, Kalish, Hamelin, etc.), Marilyn Nonken stands out among American pianists for her intense devotion (she plays new music exclusively) and the enormous scope of her technique." — Peter Burwasser, Fanfare "You can rest assured that in Marilyn Nonken we are hearing a musician of outstanding qualities. It is evident that she knows, strongly characterises and loves this music. She has performed it and many other 'difficult' contemporary works all over the world and is a pianist in whom we can trust." — Gary Higginson, Musicweb "Nonken lived up to her considerable press. There's nobody like her out there, from her attractive stage presence (think Bebe Neuwirth in Broadway's Chicago) to her lack of self-serving ostentation. — David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer "She is a supreme interpreter of new music who blends audacity with sensitivity." — Donald Rosenberg, The Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Photographs by Ventiko
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