2006
Westfälische Allgemeine Zeitung
December 03, 2006
"Henze's "Tristan" is a tremendous piano concerto with electronic sounds and imposing orchestra - with a salute to Brahms and Chopin. A seismograph at the piano: the splendid Vladimir Stoupel."
Westfälische Rundschau
December 03, 2006
"The wonderfully on-form Bochum Symphony Orchestra under Steven Sloane, and the impressive pianist Vladimir Stoupel, performed "Tristan: Preludes for piano, orchestra and electronic sounds" from 1973 with a sensitive sound development."
Hanauer Anzeiger
November 29, 2006
"Superlative sound experience! Vladimir Stoupel impressed with an astonishing and emotionally charged interpretation. In absolute concentration and total fervor, he utterly absorbed himself in the melodic sequences and embodied piano playing in all its facets. Beginning with Mendelssohn Bartholdy's "Variations sérieuses", he gave a perfect performance of this virtuosic masterpiece using his creative abilities to the last extend. With the complicated early work from Karol Rathaus, Sonata No. 3 from 1927, the pianist surprised with short melodic passages, unexpected changes in tempo and breathless tension.... The Ballade No. 1, Nocturne C minor and two Polonaises of Chopin followed the intermission. Vladimir Stoupel's cultivated, smooth touch, contrasted with the tremendous tension in the rapid sequences and double stops, the explosive power of his chords and the gentle, wonderfully slow elements, combined to form a superlative sound experience that drew sustained applause from the audience."
Saratov News, Russia
June 03, 2006
The Alfred Schnittke Philharmonic Concert Hall presented three programs in May. Quite noticeably, a leap in quality happened on the 14th of May, when Maestro Rostropovitch conducted the Philharmonic. We will remember this concert for a very long time. It was feared, however, that the orchestra would not be able to bring about a comparable achievement again. But ten days later, Vladimir Stoupel stood at the desk of the orchestra. And again, the orchestra was playing with interest, verve and much energy. This conductor brought something completely new to this orchestra - something that they had never seen before. Stoupel, who appeared both as conductor and a pianist, showed highest professionalism in both roles. Although his interpretation of the Mozart the piano concerto in c-minor could perhaps be debated, his conducting of the "Italian" Symphony by Mendelssohn was unbelievably convincing.
Il Roma, Italy
February 19, 2006.
Winter Concerts (Concerti d'Inverno), moving proof on the sweet notes of Tchaikovsky "There are compositions whose semantic strength particularly denounces this melancholic significance, veined of dramatic power and deep sorrow: compositions like Shostakovich Trio in E min. Op. 67, where passages of yearning elegy alternate with passages of grotesque dance, with evident influences of oriental modalism, and Tchaikovsky Trio Op. 50, with its grave language and sullen tones with rare flashes of luminosity.
With this program of overwhelming emotional intensity, the trio composed by Judith Ingolfsson (violin), Leonid Gorokhov (cello) and Vladimir Stoupel (piano) conquered the audience of "Cafaro" theatre in Latina. The full-bodied sound perfectly balanced between the instruments, the energetic temper underlying the dramatic power of the pieces, the musical magniloquence the three have showed, allowed the audience to forget the arduous technique and the monumentality of these two works. Vladimir Stoupel is a pianist particularly careful to the quality of the sound. With extreme naturalness he was able to extract blown - but always well defined - sonorities in the "piano" as well as - without ever being intrusive - extremely intense sonorities in the "forte", so rich of the robust Russian fiber.
Brilliant as well were the strings (Judith Ingolfsson's performance gave absolutely no reason to regret the absence of Mark Peskanov, whom she substituted), whose expressive power culminated in the very last thirteen measures of Tchaikovsky's Trio "Lugubre" (Mournful). Here, on the indication of "Piangendo" (Crying), they managed to masterfully express the desperate invocation of the main theme opening."
Nordkurier, Germany
January 29, 2006
"The Mozart quartet for piano, viola, violoncello and, for the first time, for flute instead of violin (!), showed us a work written by an extraordinarily modern artist and maverick... In 1922, Ernst von Dohnanyi (father of the conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi) composed variations on the same children’s song as Amadé - a work evocative of Mahler’s lamenting tone. It was a pure pleasure to listen to the dark and sorrowful, yet whirling and vigorous, interpretation of the terrific "keyboard-devil" Vladimir Stoupel." (translation: Tanja Felder)