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1/13/2008
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“Mozart: Piano Sonatas 9, 11,12;
Rondo, K 511
Juana Zayas—ZMI 103—72 minutes
Zayas has been much praised in these pages for her fine technique and interpretive abilities. Turning her attention to Mozart, she proves to be an interesting player but not always in sympathy with the Mozart style.
Sonata 11 is a fairly straightforward presentation and avoids all the pitfalls besetting pianists who subscribe to the dainty as you go approach. There is much expressivity and textured subtlety, along with several little rubatos that break up any hint of the metronomic. The ‘Alla Turca’ finale avoids the whiff of preciosity that taints most amateur performances, but Zayas is clearly no amateur, and her studied, yet free-sounding playing can be enjoyed fully in the context of her direct style.
In Sonata 12 Zayas has several little speedy interjections in the opening movement that some may perceive to be strikes of genius where others may find rhythmic inconsistencies. All goes well in the final Allegro assai, and her evenness of execution is very impressive.
Sonata 9 is nicely nuanced in the first movement but still has its share of flexible tempos. The Andante is most beautifully sustained and has great refinement. With the final Presto the spirit of Mozart takes full wing and the listener’s attention is held.
The well-known Rondo is all one could ask for. The artist wins by her gentle grace and delicate shading. It is certainly one of the high points of a release that must face huge competition for any collector’s attention.
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Alan Becker, American Record Guide, J/F 2008
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2/22/2007
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“It was in a group of Chopin pieces that Zayas reached a pinnacle of artistry. Here was playing in the grand romantic tradition of long, sweeping lines of power and color. The Grand Valse Brillante in A-Flat Major had an intoxicating swing. In the Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Zayas' skillful handling of embellishments typical of Chopin produced an elegant rippling effect. After the lovely Berceuse in D-flat Major, Zayas launched into the heroic Ballade in G Minor. With sensitivity and passion, she led the audience through the Ballade's world of ever changing color and emotion.
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George H. Pro, Special to The Seattle Times
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6/26/2006
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“Schumann - Carnaval;
Arabesque; Toccata;
Fantasiestücke
Juana Zayas,
Hamburg Steinway 001
Music and Arts CD 1181
What a superlative musician Juana Zayas is. Not only does she possess a technique beyond fault but in those compositions she has recorded she displays an intuitive understanding of and simpatico with the composer’s temperament. This can place her interpretations somewhat at variance with the usually accepted readings. . .
Many famous pianists have recorded Toccata; Simon Barere, Horowitz, Cziffra and others, but Zayas has her own insight into this virtuoso’s outing. To parody an old cigarette ad: It’s not how fast you play but how you play it fast.
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Bruce Surtees, Classical and Beyond
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10/15/2005
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“Ms. Zayas offered a varied and musicologically important program that lasted two solid hours. Beginning with Mozart’s Sonata in A Major, K. 331 (alla turca), she showed her brilliance from the first phrase she played. I have not seen many performances where everything just seems perfect: her dynamics, articulation, interpretation, control, technique –- you name it, she did it with ease. Her Chopin was just magnificent as well, with the highlights of that section being her interpretations of the Barcarolle, op. 60, and the Ballade in G Minor, op. 23. I do not even know if there is a word in any language that could accurately describe the beauty Ms. Zayas created on the piano.”
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Charles T. Downey, Ionarts
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5/1/2005
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“On the heels of her superb discs of Chopin and Schubert, Zayas here turns her attention to Schumann with impressive results. Her playing of the turbulent G minor Sonata brims with ardor, fire, and sparkling virtuosity. One of the many elements I find so attractive in her recordings is her consistently pleasing, musical tone- -she never pounds on the piano. Another is her admirable balance- -there is never an excess of anything and she habitually avoids overstating the expressive, dramatic, and brilliant aspects of the music. And her technical equipment certainly ranks among the most formidable of today’s leading pianists. . .”
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Mulbury, American Record Guide, March/April 2005
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12/1/2004
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“Schubert’s “great” B-flat Sonata, with its “heavenly lengths” (to paraphrase Schumann’s description of the “great” C-major Symphony) generally elicits the very best that pianists who perform it can call forth. Recently I have reviewed a spate of recordings of it, by Brendel, Perahia, Kissin, and Paul Lewis. Zayas’s performance is more than secure in the company of the best of these uniformly stellar accounts, along with Rubinstein’s, which I still regard as the benchmark for this masterwork.
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Mulbury, American Record Guide November/December 2004
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11/30/2004
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“Zayas has total command of the instrument. She recognizes all the subtleties of Schubert’s score without exaggeration or affectation. Yet it’s all here, fresh and abundantly animated from within the music. She does not “point out” any passages of special interest but they are there to hear. In any hands, the 20 minute first movement may be too long for impatient listeners but Zayas’ fluid playing keeps it moving. The rest of the sonata sounds equally spontaneous but was surely well considered. If you enjoy a pianist wrestling Schubert to the ground, look elsewhere. Zayas plays Schubert and Schubert wins.
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Bruce Surtees, Classical and Beyond
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12/2/2002
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“Chopin Piano Sonatas in B flat minor, Op. 35 & B Minor, Op. 58, etc (Zayas Masterworks ZMICD102)
Collection: Juana Zayas in recital; works by Bach-Busoni, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, & Debussy (Zayas Masterworks ZMI101)
". . . This is truly organic playing, in which everything is interrelated and a powerful sense of structure is conveyed without any sacrifice of expressive detail. Witness her artful variation of phrasing and emphasis in the two Chopin sonatas, where repetition is such a vital part of the drama. . . meticulously plotted articulation and dynamic contrasts as an agent of movement in Mozart's K330 Sonata . . . a musician deserving the highest respect."”
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Jeremy Siepmann, BBC Music Magazine
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3/30/2001
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“Zayas, Channeling Chopin.
. . . Zayas is a pianist who has much to teach the world. She trusts Chopin implicitly and never roughs him up or slathers on rouge; she lets his repetitions play out naturally and hypnotically. Her sense of the right way to do things is so close to what Chopin writes on the page that it can seem as if she isn't interpreting the music at all. But that is a kind of interpretation in itself: or rather, a kind of faith. Zayas's devotion and modesty are her greatest strengths, and both came through with perfect clarity.”
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Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post - Washington, DC
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3/13/2001
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“Master pianist Juana Zayas makes triumphant return to Schenectady.
On Sunday at Proctor's Theater, she gave a deeply charismatic performance of the Chopin F minor Piano Concerto, and an equally riveting interpretation of the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. . . . [In the Chopin] Zayas's tonal beauty and sincerity of approach imbued every note with life and love. In the slow movement (Larghetto), she conveyed the rapture and longing of the 17-year old Chopin's unrequited passion for a fellow student. The delicious trills and exquisitely molded ornamentation sent shivers down the spine. . . .
The second tour de force of the evening was the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. . . . Zayas brought out the aesthetic core of each and every variation with strength, decision and warmth. At the same time, she was able to negotiate the pyrotechnical difficulties with disarming ease and grace. . . .”
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Feroza LaBonne, Special to the Times Union - Albany, NY
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5/3/2000
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“. . . This was one of the most musically mature, technically powerful, and thoughtfully structured programs to have been heard in the Lehigh Valley in quite some time.”
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Philip A. Metzger, The Morning Call - Allentown, PA
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12/31/1999
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“. . . This recording of Chopin's piano music is one of the finest available, and Juana Zayas's talent makes her eligible to be mentioned in the same breath as Martha Argerich, as well as Jorge Bolet. . . In short, even if you have other recordings of Chopin's Preludes, you need to make room for this one. Juana Zayas is phenomenal.”
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Raymond Tuttle, Classical Net Review
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10/15/1999
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“. . . pianist Juana Zayas challenged the audience to rethink the way Chopin is heard and experienced in our generation. . . . In her unassuming way, Zayas's mastery attained the technical feats the recital demanded, and let the music take center stage. . . . After three standing ovations and clamoring for more, she finished the program with a simple and beautiful rendition of the Waltz Opus 69 No. 1.”
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Vincent Schommer, The Times Herald-Record - Middletown, NY
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9/30/1997
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“. . . The concert at Macalester College's Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, was not flashy and overdone, but truly an affair of virtuosity and joy.”
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Minneapolis Star Tribune - Minneapolis, MN
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4/17/1997
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“. . . it was a great night of music-making. . . Zayas is a fine example of what is called a natural virtuoso... She merely buries her head in the music and, aided by deft fingers, reveals its richness.”
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Los Angeles Times - Santa Paula, Ventura County, CA
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9/30/1996
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“. . . Zayas plays Chopin with much the same commanding sweep that Petri invested in the music of Liszt. Higher praise is hard to imagine.”
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Piano & Keyboard review of the Chopin Etudes
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1/26/1996
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“... Zayas, however, simply must be heard by all who appreciate piano playing - and Chopin playing - on the highest level.”
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Donald Manildi, American Record Guide
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3/16/1995
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“. . . from the first phrases a distinctive clarity coupled with a personal tonal beauty caught the listener's attention. From thjen on, one could only note in passing the pianist's technical brilliance of articulation and ease of execution, as the sheer pleasure of the music's content overwhelmed all else.”
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Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL
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5/11/1992
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“. . . a return appearance by Juana Zayas was a real musical feast. . . Zayas is a musician's musician - a pianist with both heart and technique, which means she plays the dazzling romanticists like Liszt with unstoppable virtuosity and Mozart with a classical kind of lyricism.”
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The Dayton Daily News - Dayton, OH
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1/14/1991
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“Not since Gina Bachauer was around to dazzle concert audiences has a woman pianist brought such virtuosity to a program for the keyboard. Not, that is, until Cuban-born Juana Zayas emerged on the scene. . . [Zayas] was a vivid reminder of Bachauer, a musician with enormous strength, very much a no-nonsense pianist. . . clean, brilliant keyboard work, beautifully polished.”
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The Dayton Daily News - Dayton, OH
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10/24/1990
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“Humble and unaffected in persona, she is a magic dynamo at her keyboard. The familiar came through as something almost new.”
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The Hour - Norwalk, CT
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5/21/1990
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“Hearing pianist Juana Zayas play music from South America is like hearing Count Basie's band play the blues. . . Nobody does it better. . . dazzling display. . . Zayas played the entirety of both works [by Ginastera] like they were hers and hers alone.”
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The Daily Gazette - Schenectady, NY
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12/31/1989
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“Her playing is crisp, and she has enormous verve. Her disc of the Chopin Etudes exhibits high craft.”
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David Dubal in The Art of the Piano, Summit Books, New York
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11/2/1989
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“Zayas has the hands and temperament for fiery, dramatic works and her fast, clean fingerwork was particularly incisive in the sometimes agitated, sometimes bantering first movement [of Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1]. . . Zayas's cadenza playing later in the work was spectacular, to say the least.”
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The Schenectady Gazette - Schenectady, NY
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10/24/1989
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“Young, Cuban-born pianist Juana Zayas joined Bonavera, the St. Cecilia [Chamber Orchestra] and trumpet soloist John Hudak for a fresh, satisfying performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1. . . Zayas was entirely at home in the bravura piano writing, playing with crisp accuracy and a tonal beauty even in some of the pounding chordal sections.”
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The Times Union - Albany, NY
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10/11/1989
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“. . . one of the highlights of this incredible, crowede period was pianist Juana Zayas's debut appearance in Dayton Saturday. . . Zayas played the sort of musically satisfying, intelligently planned recital program. . . impeccably played. . . wonderfully romantic. . . with sensitivity as well as virtuosity.”
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The Dayton Daily News - Dayton, OH
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5/13/1989
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“. . . Her brilliant grasp of the [Chopin First Piano] concerto and refined sense of style. . . Her execution of a true Chopin rubato was exemplary, as were her phrasing and articulation.”
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The Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, CA
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2/8/1989
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“Miss Zayas's interpretation [of Chopin's First Piano Concerto] remained steady and solid. There was never a sense of conflict or difficulty in her facile execution of the concerto's intricate themes and subtle rhythms. . . Ms. Zayas's fingers were flying in the final "Rondo" movement but remained invisibly tied to a steady, regular pulse. But the constraints of a mechanical beat did not restrain Ms. Zayas from infusing her interpretation with tender nuance.”
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The Journal News - Nyack, NY
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1/21/1988
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“Ms. Zayas is a very talented artist. Her playing is a consummate blend of superb technique and sensitive expression. . . She has a firm sense of the architecture of a piece.”
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New Canaan Advertiser - New Canaan, CT
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11/23/1987
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“. . . it seems as if she [Ms. Zayas] is better than ever. If anything, there is, it seems to me, poetry and lyricism - even a little restraint - in her playing [of Saint-Saèns' Concerto No. 4]. . . Zayas plays with power without ever assaulting the instrument and she can deliver soft, muted passages with feathery gentleness.”
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The Schenectady Gazette - Schenectady, NY
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11/10/1987
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“[In Chopin's two sets of Etudes, Op. 10 and Op. 25] Her style is primarily virtuosic, but with a restraint that is well suited to the music of Chopin. . . a thinking person's Chopin. . . an unhesitating "A," as befits this abundant Chopin evening.”
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The Journal-News - Nyack, NY
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11/5/1985
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“Juana Zayas is a musician of decidedly special communicative power. . . Ms. Zayas made of the set [of Chopin's Preludes] a totally and uniformly absorbing half-hour, setting every one of these miniatures out in immensely poetic style, with abundant warmth, strength and security. . . an artist worth traveling many miles to experience.”
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The Times Herald Record - Middletown, NY
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12/25/1977
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“Miss Zayas played with style, sensitivity, a big technique, and an aristocratic flair for the mixture of romanticism and classicism embedded in the music.”
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Harold C. Schonberg, The New York Times
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10/19/1977
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“Miss Zayas gave an exceedingly impressive performance of the complete etudes. . . She played with color, with technique to burn, with a good deal of individuality. . . like Joseph Lehvinne or Ignaz Friedman, she never broke the line by over-interpretation. . . It was altogether an imposing feat, and it may be that we have with us a Chopin pianist to the manner born.”
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Harold C. Schonberg, The New York Times
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