Dan Franklin Smith

DAN FRANKLIN SMITH
Reviews

ELYSIUM RECITAL in GERMANY
June 2006
"A landscape flooded with sunshine, a blue lake, smooth as a mirror, and mighty old trees in the park surrounding the monastery: This view presented itself on Sunday afternoon through the window of the Baroque Music Hall. With this fantastic scenery, our festival guests were able to experience the great concert "After Mozart" from our music director and pianist Dan Franklin Smith.

[Many artistically renowned guests] were deeply touched by this concert, which presented "great music in the shadow of Mozart," as the Süddeutsche Zeitung noted. "This was," as the reviewer continued, "a showcase for the internationally renowned pianist Dan Franklin Smith, who had in the past already unearthed a number of long-forgotten composers. "

Many people who came to Smith's first solo concert in Bernried two years ago, became aware of his excellence and have returned.... [At the post-concert reception] the people from the audience expressed their enthusiasm and joy over this wonderful experience."

Elysium's online newsletter

In the longest offering of the evening, [ Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Sonata #106, Smith exhibited] sonorous expression and ... an exceptionally powerful technique. His flying touch [created] a sudden expressivity and then with a gasp of deep emotion, exhaustion. [In the Beethoven Variations] Smith imbued his renditions of the shimmering emotional pieces with true European feeling. He understands the subtle hesitations and shifts that constitute great expression.

Münchner Merkur, Friday, 16 June 2006

Smith...found the greatest potential for interpretative distinction [in the Beethoven Variations, linking] the greatest precision with keen intensity....The lyrical outlines of the Jan Vorisek Impromptus [were also] reproduced with stirring emotionalism. The Introduction and Rondo Brillante by Ignaz Moscheles that followed realized [one's desire for] a great finale. This was a great attempt with a brilliant conclusion.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, 13 June 2006

"His manner of music-making does not embrace glitz or showy plumage. It is as though he has a secret within; a feeling of intimacy and sincerity flourishes. . . . Mr Smith . . . emits music."

New York Concert Review

". . . an incredibly sensitive player with a beautiful tone, rich technique and modest offstage personality that belies his onstage strength."

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, New York

". . . a fine pianist and a considerable virtuoso" (Arthur Hinton Piano Concerto)

Seen and Heard Concert Review, London

"Dan Franklin Smith is one of the most brilliant pianists I have ever had the pleasure of hearing and reviewing!"

Eskilstuna-Kuriren, SWEDEN

"We were indeed fortunate to have had an artist of the stature of Dan Franklin Smith to perform here. Smith gave Chopin's popular Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23, new meaning as he experimented with phrasing, nuance, rubato and tempi. The entire composition was breathtakingly beautiful as the haunting and romantic melodies soared under the guidance of Dan Smith's authoritative control . . . . The dazzling, agile fingerwork left the hearers in utter awe of [Smith's] advanced technical skill and beauty of tone . . . . His quiet, sincere, straightforward manner relies on an economy of movement and energy which allows him introspection into the core of the music."

The Yuma Evening Sun

Dan Franklin Smith "is returning to Tucson at the request of audience members who have enjoyed his previous appearances."

Tucson Weekly

"Chopin's well-loved G Minor Ballade [was delivered] with a wonderful sense of its romantic poetry . . . . In Prokofiev's stunningly played Sonata No. 9 the pianist displayed faultless passagework."

Dayton Daily News

Dan Franklin Smith is "a solo recitalist of extraordinary dynamism and sensitivity."

Evansville Sunday Courier & Press

"In the first movement of Debussy's 'Images,' soft-spoken phrases billowed into clouds of sound and rays of melody broke though like streams of sunlight . . . . The last movement of Turina's 'Sonata' was a tour de force for Smith's fluid technique."

Rockland Journal-News

Dan Franklin Smith "is a consummate technician. [His] playing is exacting and very musical, the architecture is clearly delineated . . . . [He] showed an immense reservoir of power, control, and facility."

The Toledo Blade

"Liszt's 'Feux Follets' was a revelation of technical wizardry and pianistic pyrotechnics while the concluding Etude in F Minor proved a brilliant display piece with an emotional outpouring of technical virtuosity . . . . Smith played with exciting pianism. He shows a fine technique, yet a technique which is controlled by a musical sensitivity and intelligent use of his pianistic gifts."

The Scrantonian

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ELYSIUM RECITAL in GERMANY June 2006 "A landscape flooded with sunshine, a blue lake, smooth as a mirror, and mighty old trees in the park surrounding the monastery: This view presented itself on Sunday afternoon through the window of the Baroque Music Hall. With this fantastic scenery, our festival guests were able to experience the great concert "After Mozart" from our music director and pianist Dan Franklin Smith. [Many artistically renowned guests] were deeply touched by this concert, which presented "great music in the shadow of Mozart," as the Süddeutsche Zeitung noted. "This was," as the reviewer continued, "a showcase for the internationally renowned pianist Dan Franklin Smith, who had in the past already unearthed a number of long-forgotten composers. " Many people who came to Smith's first solo concert in Bernried two years ago, became aware of his excellence and have returned.... [At the post-concert reception] the people from the audience expressed their enthusiasm and joy over this wonderful experience." Elysium's online newsletter
	In the longest offering of the evening, [ Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Sonata #106, Smith exhibited] sonorous expression and ... an exceptionally powerful technique. His flying touch [created] a sudden expressivity and then with a gasp of deep emotion, exhaustion. [In the Beethoven Variations] Smith imbued his renditions of the shimmering emotional pieces with true European feeling. He understands the subtle hesitations and shifts that constitute great expression. Münchner Merkur, Friday, 16 June 2006
Smith...found the greatest potential for interpretative distinction [in the Beethoven Variations, linking] the greatest precision with keen intensity....The lyrical outlines of the Jan Vorisek Impromptus [were also] reproduced with stirring emotionalism. The Introduction and Rondo Brillante by Ignaz Moscheles that followed realized [one's desire for] a great finale. This was a great attempt with a brilliant conclusion. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 13 June 2006
	"His manner of music-making does not embrace glitz or showy plumage. It is as though he has a secret within; a feeling of intimacy and sincerity flourishes. . . . Mr Smith . . . emits music." New York Concert Review
". . . an incredibly sensitive player with a beautiful tone, rich technique and modest offstage personality that belies his onstage strength." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, New York
	". . . a fine pianist and a considerable virtuoso" (Arthur Hinton Piano Concerto) Seen and Heard Concert Review, London
"Dan Franklin Smith is one of the most brilliant pianists I have ever had the pleasure of hearing and reviewing!" Eskilstuna-Kuriren, SWEDEN
	"We were indeed fortunate to have had an artist of the stature of Dan Franklin Smith to perform here. Smith gave Chopin's popular Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23, new meaning as he experimented with phrasing, nuance, rubato and tempi. The entire composition was breathtakingly beautiful as the haunting and romantic melodies soared under the guidance of Dan Smith's authoritative control . . . . The dazzling, agile fingerwork left the hearers in utter awe of [Smith's] advanced technical skill and beauty of tone . . . . His quiet, sincere, straightforward manner relies on an economy of movement and energy which allows him introspection into the core of the music." The Yuma Evening Sun
Dan Franklin Smith "is returning to Tucson at the request of audience members who have enjoyed his previous appearances." Tucson Weekly
	"Chopin's well-loved G Minor Ballade [was delivered] with a wonderful sense of its romantic poetry . . . . In Prokofiev's stunningly played Sonata No. 9 the pianist displayed faultless passagework." Dayton Daily News
Dan Franklin Smith is "a solo recitalist of extraordinary dynamism and sensitivity." Evansville Sunday Courier & Press
	"In the first movement of Debussy's 'Images,' soft-spoken phrases billowed into clouds of sound and rays of melody broke though like streams of sunlight . . . . The last movement of Turina's 'Sonata' was a tour de force for Smith's fluid technique." Rockland Journal-News
Dan Franklin Smith "is a consummate technician. [His] playing is exacting and very musical, the architecture is clearly delineated . . . . [He] showed an immense reservoir of power, control, and facility." The Toledo Blade
	"Liszt's 'Feux Follets' was a revelation of technical wizardry and pianistic pyrotechnics while the concluding Etude in F Minor proved a brilliant display piece with an emotional outpouring of technical virtuosity . . . . Smith played with exciting pianism. He shows a fine technique, yet a technique which is controlled by a musical sensitivity and intelligent use of his pianistic gifts." The Scrantonian
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