Press
Concert Reviews
Seen and Heard International, April 2008
“Owen is an intelligent and insightful player with a technique to allow him to essay even the most difficult of music and present it clearly to us; there are insufficient superlatives to praise him.”
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The Glasgow Herald
“Charles Owen is out of the best school of British pianism – bright, sensitive, unaffected and with playing informed by brainwork.”
The Irish Times, 2004
“A spectacular performance of unswerving commitment”
Cultura, Moscow, 2003
“In a programme of French composers, Owen revealed himself as an acutely sensitive musician and possessor of a uniquely cultured sound world.”
The Times, 2002
“Charles Owen, a mightily supportive and perceptive pianist”
The Independent, 2002
“His alert and witty way with Haydn’s G major Sonata, Hoboken 40, was perfect, and his sharpness of observation—if ears can observe—in Messiaen’s short bird-studies, was acute; he might have been saying, ‘Listen, d’you hear?’”
The Independent, 2002
“It’s hard to recapture the spell Albeniz must have cast (over his admirers). Last week, Charles Owen came as close as any pianist I can think of…combining sensuousness with clarity and precision”
Cultura, Moscow, 2002
“The remarkable discovery of the festival was the pianist Charles Owen. A brilliant player with a fantastic touch, flair and sense of style”
Fauré
International Piano – September 2008
“Owen’s ability to keep the pressure on, while at the same time commanding sufficient variety and sublety of touch to allow the nostalgic snatches of melody to escape unchained, deserves immense respect.” Read full review
Fanfare USA, August 2008
“Exemplary. Classic. Spellbinding. And enthusiastically recommended.” Read full review
Classic FM, August 2008
“The nocturnes in particular require the most exquisitely subtle inflections [...], something that Charles Owen achieves to mesmerising affect. He plays [...] as though held spellbound by their elusive intimacy” Read full review
Janacek
Gramophone, July 2003
“It says much for Charles Owen and his understanding of this composer that (he) should present this music with such a distinctive voice.”
BBC Music Magazine, April 2003
“his refusal to sentimentalise is enormously refreshing and his touch… little short of magical.”
Poulenc
Recording of the Month, MusicWeb International, 2005
“A magical album. Charles Owen empathises closely with Poulenc’s elusive idiom catching its delicacy and insouciance brilliantly. An album to cherish and one that will undoubtedly figure highly in my recital discs of 2005.” Ian Lace
Bryce Morrison, Critics Choice, Gramophone, December 2004
“Charles Owen’s Poulenc piano recital a world apart from Rachmaninov in its teasing elegance and Gallic sophistication, but one presented with rare affection and joie de vivre.”
International Record Review, June 2004
“An excellent recital of piano works…Owen veers easily between the light hearted and serious offering an abundance of colour on the way”
Editors Choice. Gramophone, June 2004
“Hugely enjoyable : a genuine feel for the music from a pianist equal to its demands…Owen’s playing is marvellously alive. Add to that a lovely ear for balance and fingers that are more than capable of these twisting exercises and you have enjoyment at a high level.”
International Record Review, June 2004
“Owen veers easily between the light-hearted and serious, offering an abundance of colour on the way.” Read full review
The Birmingham Post, March 2004
“He fully captures the picaresque charm and wry humour of Poulenc’s style with great technical precision , tonal clarity and in the romantic moments – a ravishingly warm cantabile touch”
