“An arresting musical intelligence… a major technique…. A formidable Bach pianist [who] plays with the passion and drama of a young Glenn Gould. … Schepkin’s performance [of Bach’s Goldberg Variations] has an electrifying energy… it is also a picture of textural clarity… the strands of counterpoint sing with extraordinary transparency; you will hear relationships never apparent before.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
“An artist of uncommon, almost singular capability and integrity… He synthesizes the most diverse approaches and insights…. He’s the kind of pianist who with every performance seems to set the bar higher for himself…. His playing roused the audience.”
THE BOSTON GLOBE
“Sergey Schepkin is one of Boston’s great treasures, a supremely intelligent pianist who plays Bach as well as anyone.”
THE BOSTON PHOENIX
“Schepkin’s playing [of Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto] was masterful, structural, and beautifully projected in the room. What a rich sound, never forced. How did he always stay above or with the orchestra without having to raise his arms for torque—even in the climax of the last movement just before the coda? He did use his full arm to project the melody in quieter passages when it consisted of a single note, to stunning results in the 2ndmovement in particular. And his chordal playing sounded, well, Russian. And rich, lush, and balanced. […] An incredibly satisfying experience.”
THE BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER
“Ample technical and intellectual gifts… Loaded with subtle, fluid, dynamic changes. Schepkin played Chopin’s Berceuse with a clearly cut, unsentimental eloquence, where the thirds and rapid figurations shone like gems. An explosive, tightly knit performance [of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”].”
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“[In his performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5,] Schepkin’s virtuosity blazed with electricity; finger-fulls of notes, runs up and down the range, overwhelmed with excitement and control. The audience could not contain their applause at the end of the movement. He showed strength again in the second through keen sensitivity in note placement. All harpsichordists must toy with time and space in order to achieve expressive depth; all of Schepkin’s such choices felt inevitable. His torrents of notes grabbed the spotlight in the last movement.”
THE BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER
“Throughout his all-Bach recital at the Phillips Collection… Schepkin sounded equally happy with the demands of early music and the possibilities of his modern Steinway.
THE WASHINGTON POST
“Schepkin is an intense performer… The precision of his technique allows him an extraordinary virtuosity. Octave passages, leaps, and trills are dazzlingly fast, even, and accurate. However, his performances never seem to be about virtuosity or projection of ego. Schepkin disappears into the music he is playing.”
THE BOSTON HERALD
“[In his recording of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier,] Schepkin dazzlingly captures the fleet virtuosity of the improvisatory Preludes… and imbues some of the darker ones… with haunting poetry… He has at his fingertips an extraordinary array of expressive devices… this collection can stand comparison with the classic recording by Edwin Fischer.”
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
“For Bach Partitas, he is it.”
AMAZON.COM
“A Goldberg of rare richness and beauty…. This magical recording grows even more beguiling with repeated hearings, and I recommend it confidently in preference to pretty well any other Goldberg recording I’ve ever heard. He has raised the stakes for every player who essays Bach. I wish I could convey the sheer delight and amazement that listening to Schepkin’s Bach has awakened in me… No one who loves Bach can afford not to listen to these performances.”
FANFARE
“If you’re in search of a recording of the Bach Partitas that will thrill you with not only fine sound, but the most musically compelling performance I have ever heard, you must have these truly great performances. There are no better to be found anywhere.”
THE LISTENER
“Thrilling inventiveness…. His Book I of Well-Tempered Clavier outclasses every commercially released piano version I have ever heard.”
FANFARE
“Schepkin’s WTC II is thought provoking, blissfully musical, remarkable in the depth and felicity of its detail… Schepkin stands out in my mind as the major Bach interpreter of his generation.”
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
Photo by Kathy Chapman