"His technique is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Zhang is a more reserved presence than Lang Lang's, yet he still managed to put his personal stamp on the more lyrical passages in the concerto. Zhang is, without a doubt, on the cusp of a great career. " '...Haiou Zhang, one of the most talented classical pianists today whose brilliant performances have evoked standing ovations and poetry from veteran Concertgoers. '' ''It was a performance that was rich and smooth and satisfying, a moving testimony to the power of Beethoven's writing and his ability to masterfully translate his spirit into living sound. The second standing ovation of the evening led to one encore, yet another led to a second encore, and the evening ended with an audible chorus of appreciation as the audience rose to their feet one more time.'' '' The only 25-year-old Zhang, whose immeasurable talent is polished diamonds to the needs, no grand gestures, he has to make a display not with him is all music, just music ... We have already seen a grand piano may be the coffin in which the music was buried, but this unforgettable evening would have even a Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau and Keith Jarrett speechless. Music is not, that's otherworldly beauty.'' Zhang and his''Intsrument form a unit. Quietly and without great gestures, but virtuous and very focused .. The Sonata in B minor, Opus 35, all fast-paced places he mastered brilliantly, gave each of the four sets its own unique sound ...'' Zhang Haiou''seeks meaning and integrity in music. In his recital he played convinced with credibility in every work he so that he succeeded in making the audience drop their defenses, it was only after several encores that he could finally end this excellent concert.'' |
Haiou Zhang
pianist
''(...)the notes fly from Zhang’s fingers as sparks from flint. There is a steel-like strength in his playing that not merely surmounts every technical obstacle but makes of it an effortless lope. And yet, wherever Liszt pauses to paint musical portraits of romantic dalliances past and present, and dreams of passions yet to come Zhang’s tone turns pliant, plaintive, and tender. All of this is aided and abetted by a recording of such crystalline clarity as to dispel any sense that an electronic reproduction stands between you and Zhang’s piano. For Liszt lovers, Zhang’s recital is indispensable.''
Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine
July/August 2011
"A young Chinese pianist... truly at home in Liszt's most challenging creations."
Bryce Morrison, Gramophone Magazine
April 2011
" I don't think that, among this year's recordings or concerts, I've heard as cleanly laid-out an interpretation as from Haiou Zhang. His new Liszt album is well worth checking out."
John Terauds, The Toronto Star
25th July 2011
Only in his mid-20’s,Haiou Zhang has received wide recognition by critics and audiences in Europe, North and South America and the Far East. In China more than 30,000 copies of his debut CD (Haydn, Chopin and Liszt) have sold. He created a sensation throughout his home base of Germany.
Haiou Zhang conquered thousands of his concert goers throughout the 2010 Canadian Tour with the Slovak Sinfonietta. Ten concerts, almost all sold out and each concert ended up with standing ovations. He subsequently recorded Beethoven's ''Emperor'' piano concerto with the Slovak Sinfonietta. Besides, Haiou reached a larger number of listeners via his lobby concert / interview by Classical Radio 96.3.
Returning to Germany, Haiou Zhang performed all 4 Chopin Scherzos at the Braunschweig Classix Festival and received huge acclaims. Meantime, NDR Kultur (North German Radio) featured Haiou as the new coming rising star, interviewed in Hamburg by journalist Marcus Staebler, and the Braunschweig Classix Festival featured Haiou's second seasonal recital at the Porsche Center, with Haydn, Chopin, Liszt, contemporary music and his own compositions.
For the Franz Liszt 200 anniversary in 2011, his new album – Liszt Piano Works under the German label Hänssler CLASSIC is now on the market worldwide. Both Lufthansa and KLM have scheduled it in the inflight programs. Reviews have been raves throughout Europe, the US, Canada, and South America. Future plans include recording all the Beethoven works for piano and orchestra with the Heidelberg Symphony.
Engagements as a soloist have included Rachmaninoff's piano concerto No.3 with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Tchaikovsky piano concerto No.1 with the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia Orchestra, Beethoven and Mozart piano concerti with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Mannheim Mozart Orchestra, Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Polish Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Klassikphilharmonie Hamburg, and Chopin piano concerto No.1 with the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, and a debut in Sao Paolo, Brazil with the Heidelberg Symphony.
Piano recital débuts include the Konzerthaus Berlin, Laeizhalle Hamburg, Gasteig in Munich, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Sylt Art Fesitval, the Würzburg Bach Festival, the Augsburg Mozart Festival, Festival ''Best of NRW'', the Festival International de Musique de Besançon, Théâtre de la Coupole Saint-Louis in France, and the Casalmaggiore International Festival in Italy. Haiou returns to make his Canadian recital debut in May 2012
Haiou is heard regularly in concerts and interviews for various radio stations and television, such as CCTV China, SF1 Switzerland, NPR, CBC, Classical FM96.3, Ontario TV Canada, Radio 4 Netherland, ORF 1 Austria, Radio New Zealand, France télévision 3, Bavarian Radio 4, NDR, WDR, Deutschlandradio Kultur and the Deutsche Welle TV.
Beside his concert career, he has founded ''Haiou Zhang International Summer Music Festival'' in Buxtehude, Germany, supporting talented young musicians. The second edition in 2011 was from August 25 to 28.
Find out more at Haiou-Zhang.com.
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