On Friday (31/8), Mozart Quartet Berlin and pianist Elizaweta Stepanowa played Chopin piano concerti in a chamber music arrangement at the "Salzburger Schlosskonzerte" [concert series] in the Marble Hall [of the Mirabell Palace]. The undertaking alone to perform both Chopin piano concerti in one evening testifies to great technical sovereignty, as the concerti demand a lot from a pianist... The one, who then also possesses the ability to produce a warm, expressive sound, to explore the whole gamut from Fortissimo to Pianissimo and does not "swallow" even the finest ornaments, has come very far as a pianist. In view of these challenges, even established, renowned pianists only rarely perform both Chopin concerti in one evening. Both second movements are to be particularly highlighted... Here the interpreter may not be led into temptation to exaggerate the "enamored" atmosphere too pompously, with too much rubato: the music speaks for itself. Not yielding to this temptation is yet further evidence to the musical maturity of the young pianist. This evening was an encounter with artists one would like to hear again.
Drehpunkt Kultur Salzburg, September 3, 2007
At the opening of the new summer festival "Days of Classical Music Hamburg" ... on Wednesday we could hear the Belarussian pianist Elizaweta Stepanowa with such piano concerti in chamber music version. The temperament and the musicality of the young musician studying at the Juilliard School were remarkable.
Die Welt, July 27, 2007
The soloist Elizaweta Stepanowa ... plays a beautiful Mozart without makeup ... and in Chopin she knows exactly how to win her audience. A musician, one would like to hear in a solo recital.
Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 22, 2006
Classics in princely ambience
Elizaweta Stepanowa played the piano concerto in F major KV 413 like a sounding declaration of love to Mozart. She knows how to create a whole world with just a few tones. The enormous intensity of the cadenza in the Allegro impressed as well as the dreamy slow movement in which she groped after the composer with closed eyes.
One could play Chopins Variations on Mozarts' “La ci darem la mano” as a harmless bit of salon music. But it was not enough for Elizaweta Stepanowa. She explored the tragic dimensions of "Don Giovanni"-aria, the rampled feelings of energy-loaded free spirit. Her wild sound cascades were ghostly and demonic. Also in the second piano concerto, she breathed, felt, and suffered with Chopin. She ignited absolutely brilliant fireworks of flying fingers, and nevertheless her rapid play never reduced to a virtuoso show. She played, as if she knew a long guarded secret behind Chopins work.
Berliner Morgenpost, July 30, 2006
Faculty and students tie in festival concert
…Closing the evening with another relatively unfamiliar composition, Cesar Franck’s Piano Quintet in F Minor, was perfect planning, sending the audience home with an exceptionally beautiful blend of piano and string tone singing in their ears.
Herald Tribune, Florida, June 9, 2006
Elegiac finesse
…so the listeners at the first big Chopin evening of the “Klassiktage” festival had the opportunity once again to admire Stepanowa’s magic on the keys. Already at the opening in the Max-Joseph Hall of the Residenz with Chopin’s Rondo de Concert op.14 the pianist proved what her musical feeling allows her to express. Her Chopin just shimmered with thoughtful, elegiac finesse… [The Mozart Quartet] accompanied competently in the “Grand Polonaise brillante” op.22 and in the E minor Concerto op.11. The soloist Stepanowa, meanwhile, demonstrated impressive stamina on a high technical and musical level…
Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 25, 2005
Elizaweta Stepanowa already known to the audience from the previous concert played another Prelude by Debussy and the devilishly difficult etude de concert “Feux follets” by Franz Liszt translated as “Will o' the Wisp”. In spite of the ludicrous technical difficulty of the piece, the scintillating atmosphere that constitutes the whole charm of it emerged under Stepanowa’s hands.
Murrhardter Zeitung, September 3, 2004
…At the center of attention stood the young pianist Elizaweta Stepanowa, who showed, with sparkly, virtuosic touch, what a well-versed pianist the Prince Louis Ferdinand must have been… The Belorussian was also admired in the quintet versions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in E-flat major and Frederic Chopin’s Variations on Mozart’s “La ci darem la mano.” This evening commenced the newly-established concert series of the “Koepenicker Schlosskonzerte” in the recently-restored, decorated castle.
Berliner Morgenpost, July 31, 2004
Magnificent interpretations of Mozart
The regular members of the audience were already acquainted with it and the new ones must have noticed it immediately: this 22-year-old pianist’s distinctive feeling for sound. She managed to produce musical sparks and endow with interpretative brilliance even those seemingly-harmless early works of Mozart… With accuracy and superior interpretational force she met the humor and the rhythmical subtleties of the work, and again the exceptional skill of this artist was revealed… [A] solemn and profound movement in B flat major [of the Sonata KV 533/494] evolved to a high power of expression and incredible density under Elizaweta Stepanowa’s hands … As an encore, the Scherzo from Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” enchanted the listeners – however, in spite of its elusive character, it will remain in memory as part of the highlights of this ambitious series.
Lindauer Zeitung, November 4, 2003
Mozart masterfully interpreted
It was Elizaweta Stepanowa who conjured the time of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Cedar Hall of the Fugger Castle in Kirchheim with her terrific playing, accompanied by Mozart-Ensemble Berlin-Brandenburg.
Mozart to perfection
Elizaweta Stepanowa played brilliantly and with great devotion [and] incredible finger dexterity. [She is] an artist with very special talent [and] a pleasure that no one who loves Mozart should miss.
Augsburger Allgemeine, November 5 and September 11, 2003
Daniel Barenboim gives a Masterclass with Beethoven Sonatas
His comment is brief. But it could well echo for a long time in the ears of the young woman. “Bravo”, Mr. Honorary Senator says with a mild smile. He repeats it, followed by a polite request: might she, after such accomplished achievement, play more? Perhaps now she might play the second movement of the Sonata op.7, the “Largo, con gran espressione” in C major? The wish is respected with utter concentration, visible talent…
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 12, 2001