American Record Guide, by Joseph Magil January 2004
"In a perfect world, all accompanists would be as musical as Stoupel. Stoupel knows how to make a phrase breathe with his elastic tempos. He knows when to push the ahead and when to hold back. He is also a very sensitive pedaler, and the beauty of his tone helps compensate for his partner's deficiency, though I wouldn't say Selditz's tone is defective. I came to fully appreciate Stoupel's musicianship in III of the sonata. Here he is clearly in the driver's seat for interpretation, and where that is the case we have choice interpretations."


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 21 June 2004
(translation: Tanja Felder)
... In the beginning, the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini op. 43 by Rachmaninov was in the centre of interest. For this demanding task, pianist Vladimir Stoupel was the most suitable interpreter one could think of: technically brilliant, distinguished, with a precise rhythm. An impressing performance!


Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, 21 June 2004 (translation: Tanja Felder)
... The first sounds, with which Russian pianist Vladimir Stoupel started de "Paganini Variations" for piano and orchestra op. 43 by Rachmaninov, were sharp and squared. Afterwards, Stoupel juggled with an almost infinite range of musical articulation forms: tender and plucked, knocking and sparkling, insisting, sometimes almost brutal. But all the same, he is able to create a convincing velvet and dreaming expression which he finds immediately ...


Mainzer Rhein Zeitung, 21 June 2004 (translation: Tanja Felder)
... The public smiled amusedly when pianist Vladimir Stoupel, after having brilliantly interpreted the Paganini variations by Sergei Rachmaninov as an encore, announced "something quiet". Perhaps he should have announced the piece, the "Moment musical" in F minor by Schubert which, indeed, was quiet but therefore not less exciting than the previous, masterly played piece, both being characterised by astonishing changes of the mood. As for Schubert, a little harmony change from minor to major was an event. The Rachmaninov piece was fascinating not only due to the technical requirements, but particularly because of the masterful handling of tone colours and moods. Stoupel and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Staatstheater, directed by his music director Catherine Rückwardt, actually played "diabolically well" without, however, loosing their sensitivity and precision which made them absolutely deserve being celebrated.

April 18, 2004
“ Sunday News”, Lancaster, PA
Russian pianist Vladimir Stoupel joined the orchestra for one of the most popular piano concertos of the 20th century, Rachmaninoff's No. 2 in C minor.
Stoupel began with nine unaccompanied piano chords, increasing in sonority, that supplied all the dramatic and ominous atmosphere you'd want. The pianist found the dark dissonances of the chords, and projected them in a very dramatic way.
Stoupel's nervy pianism and virtuosic edge provided imaginative renderings, especially in transitional passages. He has an intimate connection to his instrument evidenced by the ease with which he negotiates the entire keyboard. The refinement of detail in his playing charges every note with energy, direction and meaning.
Low register arpeggios possessed seldom-matched clarity; his pedaling was so seamlessly connected to the harmonic and melodic motion, we hardly noticed it. Moreover, the pianist's sensitivity to nuances of articulation and sonorities was brilliant. His tone seems capable of any modulations of volume, any effect of color.
Soloist and conductor both reminded us of two of youths who abandoned caution in favor of living the dangerous life. They took the romantic expression to constantly heightened levels of passion, where it is easy to surpass the boundaries of taste and reason. But instead of disaster, there was only wave upon wave of heightened feeling. The orchestra lavished in the exaggerated expression.
During the second (Adagio sostenuto) movement's opening chorale, the blend of bassoons with lower strings was remarkable. A nocturnal song emerged from flute out of a broken chord for piano. The soloist's and orchestra's renderings were both contemplative and personal, and ultimately deeply affecting. Sensitive string playing was heard here, particularly from the violins, and when the violas were spotlighted they held the audience in the movement's grasp to the last note.
Movement three (Allegro scherzando) began with a vigorous, martial character and frequent bravura passages for the piano. The orchestra was relegated mostly to large gestures articulating florid Piano pyrotechnics. The well-known and loved second theme was sensuously projected. The concerto closed with cascades of sound, eliciting thunderous applause and multiple standing ovations from the audience.


April 17, 2004
“ Intelligencer Journal”, Lancaster, PA
Guest Pianist Rachs the House
After intermission, however, the musicians returned to the stage ready to take no prisoners. "The Rach Two" as groupies of the Russian composer refer to the concerto, is the quintessential Romantic work for piano and orchestra.
Maestro Gunzenhauser flew in Vladimir Stoupel, a noted pianists in central Europe, to play the hallowed piece. He chose his soloist wisely.
There are so many flamboyant concert pianist on the circuit these days, Lang Lang for example. It was refreshing, and fitting, to see Stoupel sit stoically at the bench yet play his heart out. The concerto takes great concentration. It is, after all, the piece Rachmaninoff dedicated to his hypnotist.
The opening movement is moody, dramatic and sweeping. The second is much slower; lush, emotional music to savor. The finale is triumphant and dazzling.
Stoupel and the LSO played it by the book. The soloists face betrayed few emotions, but he proved to be a lyrical pianist with the full range of tone color - from heavy chords to gentle trills - in his finger arsenal.
Almost every LSO concert ends with a standing ovation. For this concerto performance, the pianist and musicians deserved the rousing applause.

Vladimir Stoupel, who played the Liszt arrangement of the "Wanderer Fantasy" by Schubert for piano and orchestra, perfectly presented the orchestral side of his instrument. The virtuoso interpretation of the Fantasy stood to the fore. Liszt really lived up to his symbol and the pianist felt at home in the midst of this large-scale composition. However, it was also essential that the piece remained instantly recognizable. On no account should the image of the wanderer be lost in cascades of sound. It was successful. The orchestra and soloist resisted the temptation and presented the original with clarity. The audience's admiration for Vladimir Stoupel was assured when he also made his mark in his interpretation of Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto. His inexhaustible technique possesses elasticity and power to equal extents, with hardness and subtlety of touch. Anyone who could create from such a resource was capable of concentrating his energy on the musical statement. Beethoven would surely have heard an echo of himself in Vladimir Stoupel's interpretation. (Translation: Tanja Felder)

Güstrower Anzeiger, 22.10.2003

In Schubert's "Wanderer fantasy", in the arrangement for piano and orchestra by Franz Liszt, the soloist Vladimir Stoupel fascinated with a very subtle variation of sound, which particularly illuminated the delicate shades, and an exciting lightness of touch. By the time you heard Vladimir Stoupel play Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto, his sound was already making an irresistible impression. The finale was witty, the first movement lavish. But most beautiful of all was the Andante, where Stoupel knew how to turn the piano's lamentation into a mixture of hymn and sad folk song. The audience responded with rapturous applause. (Translation: Tanja Felder)

Nordkurier, 20.10.2003

May 04, 2003; Merkin Hall: New York Philharmonic Ensembles

Concluding was a complete surprise, a sextet by Glinka: Gran sestetto originale in E-flat for Piano and String Quintet (String Quartet with a double-bass). The work, composed in 1832, sounds like early Brahms, and not Russian at all. The opening movement is immense with an endless profusion of melody and development. The andante seems to open with a Chopin Nocturne, a long solo piano passage, before the strings enter with an ethereal stillness. A vibrant finale concludes the work. Vladimir Stoupel led with an incisive, beautifully phrased piano. Anna Rabinova and Yulia Ziskel were the violins; Judith N. Elson the viola; Evangeline Benedetti, cello, and Bill Blossom on the double-bass.
So ended a wonderfully imaginative season of chamber music.

Robert Ryan Berbec, 15.05.2003 (http://www.berbec.com/rberbec/reports/m030504.html)

THIRD PART OF THE MUNICH MOZART CYCLE: STOUPEL IS VICTORIOUS
Enchantingly beautiful but not drowning in beauty, illuminating but not blinding through brilliance – so played Vladimir Stoupel the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major KV 414. Stoupel is an inventive, creative virtuoso. For example, it is rare to hear the Andante from KV 414 played so wonderfully pathologically and restrained as in the hands of Stoupel. After Vassily Lobanov and Florian Uhlig, the third of this cycle’s group of soloists leaves the strongest impression. He has the courage to create a crisp, intimate, restrained and precisely shaded tone. (Translation: Tanja Felder)

Fürther Nachrichten, 18.02.2003

The audience was held in rapt attention by Franz Schubert’s earlier composed Piano Sonata in A minor, op. posth. 164 and by Stoupel’s incredibly sensitive playing. In particular, Stoupel surprised in the second movement with a wonderfully lyrical melody and dynamic differentiation and shading even when playing pianissimo. This movement was of almost heavenly beauty.

Holsteinischer Kurier, 7.11.2002

A brooding sound that yearns for passion is attributed to the key of F sharp minor in which Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Concerto op. 20 is set. After a lyrical start, it mushrooms into a substantial virtuoso concerto that demands the claws of a piano lion. Vladimir Stoupel possesses them, but also the velvet paws to delicately caress the keys.

Nordkurier, 19.10.2002

Stoupel’s touch is absolutely secure, immensely powerful before completely relaxing again. He sets very sharp contrasts before dreamingly abandoning himself to the music or pounding one breathtaking chord sequence after another. Moreover, he remains consistent from the first to the last tone.

Freie Presse Sachsen, 6.06.2002

… A renowned representative has been found with the Russian pianist Vladimir Stoupel. The keyboard artist interprets Schumann’s Piano Concerto op. 54 with effectiveness and virtuosity: the introductory allegro is dramatic with powerful strokes, the middle movement graceful and sparkling, and the finale breathtakingly tumultuous.

Mainzer Rhein Zeitung, 4.03.2002

Henze is at his best whenever he places one or more soloists antiphonally to an ensemble. This is true for many of his operas, as well as for the concerti, like his 1973 piano concerto in six parts, "Tristan." Its solo part, often no more than hints of rhythmic figures, was interpreted by Vladimir Stoupel as the lament of the individual cast out by society. [...] Society has lost its coherence, and without direction, the individual, the soloist, tries to make his way through this chaos. Henze's own life and suffering give this piece an equally fascinating and oppressive splendor.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, 17.12.2001

The most lasting musical impression was made in the middle of the concert when Russian pianist Vladimir Stoupel played Viktor Ullmann's Piano Concerto. The Jewish-German-Bohemian composer was killed in Auschwitz in 1944. Stoupel interpreted the work (written in 1939) in all its furious and brutal brashness, rhythmic explosiveness, and lyric feeling with such delicate pianistic skill, such controlled virtuosity and rhythmic drive, in short, such esprit, that the provocativeness of the piece was significantly lightened, without losing substance. For this, Stoupel received thunderous applause.

Norddeutsche Neueste Nachrichten, 17.12.2001

Pianist Vladimir Stoupel was very deservedly praised for his interpretation of Franz Liszt's 2nd Piano Concerto. Despite the fact that the concerto, in contrast to the more robust 1st Concerto in E-Flat Major, is more lyrical in character, Stoupel was able to demonstrate his powerful exuberance with enormous virtuosity. But perhaps the real sensation this evening was his melodious piano sound, his ability to trace individual notes without neglecting the cohesive forces of the piece. The encore, Chopin's Etude No. 3, op. 10, clearly revealed the pianist as a sensitive sorcerer of sound.

Neue Westfälische Zeitung, 05. Mai 2001

Franz Liszt's 2nd Piano Concerto was in the best of hands with Vladimir Stoupel. One rarely hears the delicate structure of the piece conveyed so excellently in each and every note, exactly as in this Russian pianist's performance that evening. Apart from his excellent technique, Vladimir Stoupel's achievement was bringing the piece to life through his careful development of the overarching musical form. The surging applause drew a Chopin encore from Stoupel, which alone would have been worth attending the concert that evening.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, 04. Mai 2001

... Vladimir Stoupel, the pianist, entered with a friendly smile and began his performance of Robert Schumann‘s piano concert in a minor. He struck the opening chords with explosive power while showing great tenderness with beautiful lyrical passages. Thus he combined a highly cultivated touch with reckless energy during arpeggios and octave double stops, be they forte or piano! Here as well as during the grandiose Intermezzo and the final Rondo with its long Coda, the pianist fully displayed his technical and expressive faculties.
Everyone‘s expectations having been fulfilled, the audience was unanimous: It had heard a most extraordinary piano concert! After Franz Liszt‘s virtuoso “Chasse neige” as an encore, the soloist took leave from a raving audience! ...

Allgemeine Zeitung Coesfeld, 12. September 2000

[...] With the piano concerto No. 24, c-minor KV 491, the orchestra conjured up a pointedly dark and dramatic Mozart. Like the c-minor sonata and the c-minor fantasy, the concerto opens classical piano music to completely new forms of expression. The exchange between noble winds, precise strings, and soloist Vladimir Stoupel was captivating and characterized by a harmonious interplay of sensibilities. The pianist's gesture of pained questioning always found a fitting answer in the pensive replies of the orchestra. The balance of symphonic and concerted aspects was nothing less than perfect.
Vladimir Stoupel, who is more often heard with piano rarities from Henze and Schulhoff here, displayed a light and soft touch and a wide range of expression. It reached from tragic seriousness and dramatic triumph to a deceptive, forced gaiety. The cadenza of the first movement, written by Brahms, was in tune with this approach, by emphasizing austerity and rebelliousness.

Berliner Morgenpost 01. Dezember 1999

Bravo for a magical recital! What an ear for color, spacing, atmosphere, and what a superb sense of concentration, harmonic tension; and what an incredible dynamic range! The Schubert Fantasy showed an inclination to follow where the musical events led – and did it “wander” – a special forward, goal orientation. Beautiful Scriabin, too, and a special treat to hear the Schulhoff.

Harris Goldsmith, New York, 17. August 1999

[...] The brilliant pianist Vladimir Stoupel led (Henze's "Tristan Fantasy"), while conductor Thielemann, rigorously beating time, was fully occupied with motivating the Berlin Philharmonic. [...]

Der Tagesspiegel Berlin, 29. Mai 1999

The interpretation of Prokofiev’s 2nd Piano Concerto at the Rostock Philharmonic Concert this weekend by the pianist Vladimir Stoupel and the outgoing general music director Michail Jurowski was indeed nothing less than the work of two kindred spirits: with opulent sound but without neglecting the fine delineation, with tremendous rhythmic impetus but springing flexibility, powerful and vehement but not without intimate, indeed almost tender moments.

Ostseezeitung Rostock, 12. April 1999

Stoupel’s "Wanderer Fantasy" was extremely strong. His "wanderer" was no free country lad but well and truly the uneasy, restless one of the Schubert song of the same name. It is rare to experience a pianist who so much foregoes everything high spirited in this piece and who so peers into the inner depths with wonderful piano strokes and halting and eloquent rubato. Sensationally unwavering and confident in style to an almost unfashionable degree.

Frankfurter Rundschau, 09. Februar 1999

... As the only 19th century work, Schubert’s Fantasy in C major D 760 nevertheless fitted in well: as an early example of a later expanding virtuosity and of a cyclical form that extended far into the future. Stoupel magnificently mastered not only all the technical hurdles of this "Wanderer Fantasy" but also presented the four-part single movement clearly and impressively. Fantastic sound effects characterise Alexander Scriabin’s Sonata No. 4 in F sharp major op. 30, in which Stoupel refrained from any excessive use of obscuring pedal. Maurice Ravel’s own arrangement of the dance poem "La Valse" is the apotheosis of a lost time ending in catastrophe. Vladimir Stoupel presented the old Vienna glance, but did not try to conceal the perpetual rumbling of disturbing moments that eventually bring the building to collapse. Lots of applause and a Scriabin etude as encore.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 08. Februar 1999

His technical mastery includes a variety of nuances of touch matching the wealth of compositional ideas and sounding coolly detached as well as emotional. Stoupel shares the composer's well-known joy of sheer virtuosity as well as his enchanted modeling of sounds and themes; and he presented an interpretation of him that can only be called exemplary [George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue].

Die Rheinpfalz, 03. Januar 1998

The orchestra and soloist Vladimir Stoupel contributed finesse of sound and created an atmosphere of intense concentration in the Philharmonie [Gubaidulina]. ... Vladimir Stoupel admirably delved into the composer's recalcitrant cosmos of sounds [Ustwolskaja].

Berliner Morgenpost, 14. Dezember 1997

Stoupel convincingly demonstrated what Liszt meant by an "exécution transcendante" with his performance of "Ricordanza" ("Recollection") from Liszt's "Études d'exécution transcendante". He often achieved sheer weightlessness of sound. In Liszt's Mephisto Waltz no. 1, too, his highly differentiated interpretation verged on transcendence.
More bliss and miracles for his listeners during six chosen preludes by Debussy. Never has "La fille aux cheveux du lin" been given such tender shape through sounds. The
" Sunken cathedral" rose in visionary grandeur. What Debussy intended with the clowns ("Minstrels"), the reveries in the heather ("Bruyère"), the eccentric general Lavine, and the piano's especially exuberant "Fireworks" was captured by Stoupel with overwhelming precision.
Not content to leave it at that, Stoupel finally even tackled Ravel's "La Valse" - what a culmination!

Hamburger Abendblatt, 06. Mai 1997

What was then demonstrated with Maurice Ravel's version for piano of his orchestral composition "La Valse" was at first glance piano acrobatics of the highest order. This alone would have been enough to provoke sheer amazement. But there was more to come, namely a deliberate shaping of the sound even during the wildest eruptions. The choice of such a piece is of course only possible on the basis of a most highly developed piano technique. With seeming effortlessness Stoupel uses it to indeed play with the nuances of sound and, as is his true domain, to bring into play its colors. Thus he does not blindly sway into that apocalypse which divests the 'cozy' waltz of all its friendliness. This is an enormous achievement.

Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, 11. Dezember 1996

An increasingly delighted audience discovered the wonders of Shostakovich's piano concert (F major op. 102) during its performance in Kaiserslautern by the Pfalztheater orchestra under conductor Lior Shambadal and with soloist Vladimir Stoupel. Stoupel is an amazing young man whose splendid technique could hardly be surpassed, unless by his unbelievably precise sense of color expressing itself in finely nuanced touch and interpretation. The sharp clarity of the first movement was followed by almost impressionistically soft roamings and floatings through ever changing and melting major and minor chords in Andante - with the soloist and the orchestra again playing in perfect harmony. Elegantly mediated by Lior Shambadal, the rhythmical excesses were brought to the fore during the Finale; the piano's martellato rose to brillant fireworks, the applause rose to thunders of approval.

Rhein-Pfalz, 09. November 1996

Dukas's gigantic Sonata for piano in E flat minor, the fruit of intensive reflections on the genre and its historical development, proved to be an astounding discovery. Vladimir Stoupel was the right man to guide the listener through the opus’s labyrinthine growth because of the enormous intensity and the almost graphic vividness of his performance.

Stuttgarter Zeitung, 12. Oktober 1996

During his piano recital at the Berlin Festival, Vladimir Stoupel succeeded in putting his audience under his spell for over fifty minutes. He did so with one of the most complex and weighty works in the history of piano compositions, Paul Dukas’ Sonata for piano in E flat minor. Whether the listeners open themselves up to a complex subject or not often depends on the way it is presented. Vladimir Stoupel opened ears. ... The intensity of his touch, the flow of energy that he transfers onto the instrument, his fearless grasp of the gigantic oeuvre - all of this enchanted his audience from the first bars on. Stoupel induces an almost trance state in his listeners, and his pianist's personality sets musical standards. Both the force, with which he gives plastic shape to the melodies, and the graphic clarity, with which he - using his left hand-discloses the development of harmonies in the composition's architecture, bring the composition to life and turn its abstract material into live matter

Der Tagesspiegel Berlin, 09. September 1996

Liszt's Sonata in B minor, a veritable bravura touchstone, which, however, appeared to be almost a trifle for the young pianist after the Dukas excursion, was thoughtfully and serenely built as a tense and compact poem of sound, felt and filled with feeling from its significant opening scales up to the final deep B, prepared in somnambulant concentration and lingering long afterwards.

Frankfurter Rundschau, 21. Januar 1995

Stoupel has it all: the ability to do filigree work on details (final chromatics), power for
titanic play (introductory rubati), raving passion, restrained and brought under control, and an unerring sense of beauty (second movement) [Anton Rubinstein: Concerto for piano in G major]. All this culminated in the generous encore that was no match for the Russian's mastery of form and for his art: Liszt's "Rigoletto Paraphrase".

Meininger Tageblatt, 22. Oktober 1994

Tchaikovsky seems to have revealed all his emotions in the grand first movement [First piano concerto in B flat minor op. 23], or so one imagines, hearing the vehement choral outbursts of emotion juxtaposed with passages of tender lyrical outpourings. Vladimir Stoupel maintained the tension from the first to the last chord. In between, glistening and brightly gleaming cadences were masterfully presented.
In the second, slow movement, soft notes exuding quiet were predominant. And one always had the impression that the melodies originated in the very moment the fingers touched the keys. The harmony between piano and cello, flutes, and oboe was wonderful. Thunder opens the final movement and with it a breathtaking race to the redeeming, glorious end.

Freie Presse Sachsen, 17. September 1994

Vladimir Stoupel captivates by unifying such opposing qualities as attention to detail and regard for the whole, a delicate sensitivity for sounds and fervent virtuosity.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 26. Januar 1994

Unforgettable: Vladimir Stoupel.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 12. Mai 1993