Germany’s PIANIST magazine has given Manu Sinistra a rating of 9 out of 10, with critic Stephan Schwarz-Peters describing an album where all the stars align: a fantastically performing MDR-Sinfonieorchester, its conductor Oksana Lyniv, and the young Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko himself.
The review praises Ovcharenko’s left hand for reviving the rare but existing literature for left-hand piano concertos across the full spectrum of soft and powerful orchestral colors. Schwarz-Peters highlights Ovcharenko’s account of Bortkiewicz’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as one of the finest new recordings of the work, describing its late-Romantic bombast, alongside a fighting spirit in the more conflict-laden Ravel concerto and dazzling technical dexterity in the fast movements of Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 4.
The review also praises the close dialogue between soloist and orchestra, noting that Lyniv leads with both economy and sensuality, and that the spark this creates is felt immediately from the first listen.
Manu Sinistra is out now on PENTATONE.
