Idil Biret - Mussorgsky, Glazunov & Balakirev: Piano Works (Live at Lille Festival, 1993) (2021)

“For well versed insiders of music, Idil Biret is since years a trusted, respected and beloved artist. Her Skrjabin, Bartók and Prokofieff interpretations are exemplary classical benchmarks. The discipline of her powerful grasp and approach of the music has led, especially for works of our century, to a stylistic congruence between the written score and the interpretation, which makes us all aware of an outstanding artistic potency of the highest standards of excellence!” DIE WELT Germany 1979

“No doubt remained as soon as the piano began to reverberate: On the stage was a first class musician and a maestro. A complete freedom went hand in hand with Idil Biret’s interpretations. One has the feeling that she plays as easily as she breathes. With an extraordinary plasticity, she moulds each musical phrase like wax with her fingers… The art of Idil Biret gives joy and emotion.” D. Blagoy SOVIETSKAIA KULTURA USSR 1960

“In the Soviet Union there is no woman who can play Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto the way you did yesterday (with the Leningrad Orchestra). The men who can do so can be counted with the fingers of one hand.” Maestro Alexander Dimitreev 1983

“When I first heard Idil Biret in Paris at Nadia Boulanger’s home in 1957 I realized how great a pianist she would be in the future. Later, I invited her for a tour of the USSR in 1960.” Emil Gilels to the Turkish author and journalist Hayati Asilyazıcı 1960s

“Thanks to Helena Günther-Glazunov I discovered the music of Russia. I had met her and her husband, Herbert Günther, through Wilhelm Kempff. Madame Glazunov wanted me to play her father’s works. Many years later I would give recitals of Russian music exclusively, at the Salle Gaveau (Paris), organized by the publisher Belaieff.” Idil Biret in her book of memoirs 2006.