CD Spotlight - Bach Concertos Review: 'A distinctive imprint that demands attention...stunning aeration'
'Van Bloss shows a clean pair of heels with his breezy tempi (viz Allegro BWV 1053) and passage work characterized by its stunning aeration, lending these readings a distinctive imprint that demands attention. What is clear is the exquisite rapport Bloss, Parry and the ECO bring to central movements; eg: Adagio e piano sempre, BWV 1054... one's attention is inevitably focused on playing of this order'. (Howard Smith)
Click here to read more. (Classical Music Daily)
'Van Bloss shows a clean pair of heels with his breezy tempi (viz Allegro BWV 1053) and passage work characterized by its stunning aeration, lending these readings a distinctive imprint that demands attention. What is clear is the exquisite rapport Bloss, Parry and the ECO bring to central movements; eg: Adagio e piano sempre, BWV 1054... one's attention is inevitably focused on playing of this order'. (Howard Smith)
Click here to read more. (Classical Music Daily)
Gramophone Magazine Review - Bach Concertos
'...van Bloss continues his musical comeback with a smooth, articulate reading of five of Bach's Keyboard concertos...the piano seamlessly integrated, phrase shapes clear and intelligent, articulation crisp and never intrusive, and the whole thing held together with an underlying sweetness'. (Phillip Kennicott)
Click here to listen. (Gramophone)
'...van Bloss continues his musical comeback with a smooth, articulate reading of five of Bach's Keyboard concertos...the piano seamlessly integrated, phrase shapes clear and intelligent, articulation crisp and never intrusive, and the whole thing held together with an underlying sweetness'. (Phillip Kennicott)
Click here to listen. (Gramophone)
Norman Lebrecht - CDs of the week
'Not many pianists can make you listen to all five concertos as if for the first time. Well, Nick van Bloss can. Whatever alchemy he brings to the piano, and his life has been turbulent, Van Bloss finds a quiet certainty in Bach that few others match. David Parry conducts the English Chamber Orchestra'. (Norman Lebrecht)
Click here to read more. (La Scena Musicale)
'Not many pianists can make you listen to all five concertos as if for the first time. Well, Nick van Bloss can. Whatever alchemy he brings to the piano, and his life has been turbulent, Van Bloss finds a quiet certainty in Bach that few others match. David Parry conducts the English Chamber Orchestra'. (Norman Lebrecht)
Click here to read more. (La Scena Musicale)
International Piano Magazine Review - Bach Concertos
'This disc has much to recommend it, most of all the impression of genuine heart at its centre...There's a deep emotional response at work...The piano spins long, expressive lines worthy of any string instrument...And the pianist can at times be heard humming along. He's not the first fine Bach player to do that, of course.' (Jessica Duchen)
Click here to listen. (International Piano Magazine)
'This disc has much to recommend it, most of all the impression of genuine heart at its centre...There's a deep emotional response at work...The piano spins long, expressive lines worthy of any string instrument...And the pianist can at times be heard humming along. He's not the first fine Bach player to do that, of course.' (Jessica Duchen)
Click here to listen. (International Piano Magazine)
Observer - Bach Concertos Review
'Nick van Bloss won golden opinions for his Goldberg Variations, and here turns to the keyboard concertos... the music-making is always fluent and lyrical...' (Nicholas Kenyon)
Click here to read more. (The Observer)
'Nick van Bloss won golden opinions for his Goldberg Variations, and here turns to the keyboard concertos... the music-making is always fluent and lyrical...' (Nicholas Kenyon)
Click here to read more. (The Observer)
Musicweb International Review - Bach Concertos
'His sensitivity in those special movements, such as the Adagio e piano sempre of BWV 1054, is exquisite, and the appeal of his colour and articulation is unassailable'
Click here to read more. (Musicweb International)
'His sensitivity in those special movements, such as the Adagio e piano sempre of BWV 1054, is exquisite, and the appeal of his colour and articulation is unassailable'
Click here to read more. (Musicweb International)
Superb review of Nick's Goldberg Variations - '..a beautiful discovery'
'The English pianist Nick van Bloss has an elegant style of playing. His touch, to the ends of the fingers, is particularly flexible and his 'pearle' is measured down to the millimetre. This horizontal reading is coloured with charming little effects, like the 'plucked' bass notes, which are an unexpected antidote to the likes of Gould. This performance plays freely with the variation of tempo and is a beautiful discovery.'
Click here to read more. (Le Pianiste Magazine, Paris)
'The English pianist Nick van Bloss has an elegant style of playing. His touch, to the ends of the fingers, is particularly flexible and his 'pearle' is measured down to the millimetre. This horizontal reading is coloured with charming little effects, like the 'plucked' bass notes, which are an unexpected antidote to the likes of Gould. This performance plays freely with the variation of tempo and is a beautiful discovery.'
Click here to read more. (Le Pianiste Magazine, Paris)
Nick's Bach Concertos CD Named Album of the Week
Album of the Week - The Independent: This fine recording is unusual thanks to van Bloss's approach to ornamentation, which doesn't always follow the conventional practices. He has a way of putting a bloom on the notes in the slow movements, which sing beautifully: the music emerges with pristine freshness. (Michael Church)
Click here to see. (The Independent)
Album of the Week - The Independent: This fine recording is unusual thanks to van Bloss's approach to ornamentation, which doesn't always follow the conventional practices. He has a way of putting a bloom on the notes in the slow movements, which sing beautifully: the music emerges with pristine freshness. (Michael Church)
Click here to see. (The Independent)
Nick releases CD of Bach's Keyboard Concertos
Nick releases CD of Bach's Keyboard Concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra...
Click here to read more. (Nimbus)
Nick releases CD of Bach's Keyboard Concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra...
Click here to read more. (Nimbus)
Nick quoted by British Recorded Music Industry - Bach!
Nick talks about Bach being voted the nation's top composer...
Click here to read more. (Classical Music Magazine)
Nick talks about Bach being voted the nation's top composer...
Click here to read more. (Classical Music Magazine)
International Piano Magazine - Feature
Feature by Jessica Duchen on Nick's life, music and Goldberg...
Click here to read more. (International Piano )
Feature by Jessica Duchen on Nick's life, music and Goldberg...
Click here to read more. (International Piano )
Feature: The Independent on Sunday
Nick talks to Michael Church about the 'monster' that all but destroyed his concert career, but which now drives his instinctive artistry
Click here to read more. (Independent on Sunday)
Nick talks to Michael Church about the 'monster' that all but destroyed his concert career, but which now drives his instinctive artistry
Click here to read more. (Independent on Sunday)
Review: Gramophone Magazine - Goldberg
Sophisticated, imaginative voice-leadings that yield no quarter to Perahia, Schiff...
Click here to read more. (Gramophone Magazine)
Sophisticated, imaginative voice-leadings that yield no quarter to Perahia, Schiff...
Click here to read more. (Gramophone Magazine)
Disc of the Day - Review: The Arts Desk - Goldberg Variations
Van Bloss demonstrates convincingly that Bach's keyboard music does sound best played on a modern concert grand...
Click here to read more. (The Arts Desk)
Van Bloss demonstrates convincingly that Bach's keyboard music does sound best played on a modern concert grand...
Click here to read more. (The Arts Desk)
Gramophone Magazine talks to Nick about his Goldberg recording
Gramophone Magazine features Nick on its latest Podcast
Click here to listen. (Gramophone Magazine)
Gramophone Magazine features Nick on its latest Podcast
Click here to listen. (Gramophone Magazine)
Review: Musicweb International
...his superb recording should be a very, very serious consideration indeed for any fan of the Goldberg Variations.
Click here to read more. (Musicweb International)
...his superb recording should be a very, very serious consideration indeed for any fan of the Goldberg Variations.
Click here to read more. (Musicweb International)
Review: The Telegraph - Goldberg Variations
This CD will dispel any doubts about the level of his artistry...I found its joie de vivre irresistible.
Click here to read more. (The Telegraph)
This CD will dispel any doubts about the level of his artistry...I found its joie de vivre irresistible.
Click here to read more. (The Telegraph)
Review: International Piano Magazine
'Blissful freshness of approach...delicious...Fascinating...'
Click here to read more. (International Piano Magazine)
'Blissful freshness of approach...delicious...Fascinating...'
Click here to read more. (International Piano Magazine)
Goldberg Variations Q&A with Nick van Bloss
Classical Music Magazine interviews Nick about his latest release of Bach's Goldberg Variations...
Click here to read more. (Classical Music Magazine)
Classical Music Magazine interviews Nick about his latest release of Bach's Goldberg Variations...
Click here to read more. (Classical Music Magazine)
Review: Norman Lebrecht Goldberg Variations
A CD of the week - '...Bloss can clearly play anything without fear'
Click here to read more. (La Scena Musicale)
A CD of the week - '...Bloss can clearly play anything without fear'
Click here to read more. (La Scena Musicale)
Review: Sunday Times : Goldberg Variations '...Sublime poetry, playfulness ...'
'With the battle to gain recognition as tough as it is, nobody should blame any artist with a tale of triumph over adversity for telling it. Yet the liner notes to van Bloss’s debut avoid specific reference to his condition (a television documentary told of his Tourette’s in 2007), and his account of the Goldberg Variations is very good indeed: fresh, but cogent and entirely unselfconscious. If there is a slightly stately intellectualism in the canons, there is also sublime poetry, playfulness and, above all, a relish of what the modern piano can bring to this music in terms of dynamics, colour and articulation.' Stephen Pettitt
Click here to read more. (The Sunday Times)
'With the battle to gain recognition as tough as it is, nobody should blame any artist with a tale of triumph over adversity for telling it. Yet the liner notes to van Bloss’s debut avoid specific reference to his condition (a television documentary told of his Tourette’s in 2007), and his account of the Goldberg Variations is very good indeed: fresh, but cogent and entirely unselfconscious. If there is a slightly stately intellectualism in the canons, there is also sublime poetry, playfulness and, above all, a relish of what the modern piano can bring to this music in terms of dynamics, colour and articulation.' Stephen Pettitt
Click here to read more. (The Sunday Times)
Review: The Observer Goldberg Variations
'The fluidity of line, the unforced lyricism...'
Click here to read more. (The Observer)
'The fluidity of line, the unforced lyricism...'
Click here to read more. (The Observer)
A British Pianist Rises Again
Jasper Rees interviews Nick van Bloss...
Click here to read more. (The Arts Desk)
Jasper Rees interviews Nick van Bloss...
Click here to read more. (The Arts Desk)
Review: The Independent Goldberg Variations
'...precision is paramount, and Van Bloss employs it here to mesmerising effect...'
Click here to read more. (The Independent)
'...precision is paramount, and Van Bloss employs it here to mesmerising effect...'
Click here to read more. (The Independent)
Nick van Bloss releases recording of JS Bach's monumental Goldberg Variations
Nick's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations is now available on the Nimbus Alliance label
Click here to read more. (Nimbus Alliance)
Nick's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations is now available on the Nimbus Alliance label
Click here to read more. (Nimbus Alliance)
Review - 29th April 09
There are professional pianists who are violently sick before every performance. There are those who have to be physically pushed on stage to make it happen at all. It's a terrifying business. Imagine, then, what it's like when you've been absent from the platform for 15 years, and it's your first night back...
Click here to read more. (timesonline.co.uk)
There are professional pianists who are violently sick before every performance. There are those who have to be physically pushed on stage to make it happen at all. It's a terrifying business. Imagine, then, what it's like when you've been absent from the platform for 15 years, and it's your first night back...
Click here to read more. (timesonline.co.uk)
Review - Telegraph - 29th April 09
Pianist Nick Van Bloss achieved a personal triumph ...
Click here to read more. (telegraph.co.uk)
Pianist Nick Van Bloss achieved a personal triumph ...
Click here to read more. (telegraph.co.uk)
28th April 09
A British classical pianist who suffers severely from Tourette's syndrome will tonight give his first public performance for 15 years...
Click here to read more. (thisislondon.co.uk))
A British classical pianist who suffers severely from Tourette's syndrome will tonight give his first public performance for 15 years...
Click here to read more. (thisislondon.co.uk))
20th April 09
Next week, a British pianist will return to the concert platform for the first time in 15 years. When Nick Van Bloss last performed to a live audience he was 26. Then he retired...
Click here to read more. (dailymail.co.uk)
Next week, a British pianist will return to the concert platform for the first time in 15 years. When Nick Van Bloss last performed to a live audience he was 26. Then he retired...
Click here to read more. (dailymail.co.uk)
18th April 09
Every minute of every day, Nick van Bloss involuntarily yelps, shakes or blows raspberries. Tourette's syndrome made his life a misery - until he found the one thing that would calm him...
Click here to read more. (independent.co.uk)
Every minute of every day, Nick van Bloss involuntarily yelps, shakes or blows raspberries. Tourette's syndrome made his life a misery - until he found the one thing that would calm him...
Click here to read more. (independent.co.uk)
17th April 09
Neurologically speaking, Amadeus has a lot to answer for: it was largely thanks to its fanciful treatment of genius that people started thinking that Mozart had Tourette's syndrome. He didn't, of course, but the connection between music and Tourette's is sometimes very real...
Click here to read more. (independent.co.uk)
Neurologically speaking, Amadeus has a lot to answer for: it was largely thanks to its fanciful treatment of genius that people started thinking that Mozart had Tourette's syndrome. He didn't, of course, but the connection between music and Tourette's is sometimes very real...
Click here to read more. (independent.co.uk)
12th April 09
Comeback for pianist who beat Tourette's. Caroline Davies talks to Nick van Bloss, who has stopped treating his condition as a disability and is back on stage for the first time in 15 years...
Click here to read more. (guardian.co.uk)
Comeback for pianist who beat Tourette's. Caroline Davies talks to Nick van Bloss, who has stopped treating his condition as a disability and is back on stage for the first time in 15 years...
Click here to read more. (guardian.co.uk)
8th April 09
A professional pianist is to go back to performing in public, 15 years after his Tourette's syndrome forced him to leave the stage...
Click here to read more. (bbc.co.uk)
A professional pianist is to go back to performing in public, 15 years after his Tourette's syndrome forced him to leave the stage...
Click here to read more. (bbc.co.uk)
6th April 09
'Superhuman' Tourette's pianist returns to stage after 15 years. Nick van Bloss, 41, described by award-winning music producer Michael Hass as the most exciting pianist in years, retired from life as a professional musician as his Tourette's got worse...
Click here to read more. (telegraph.co.uk)
'Superhuman' Tourette's pianist returns to stage after 15 years. Nick van Bloss, 41, described by award-winning music producer Michael Hass as the most exciting pianist in years, retired from life as a professional musician as his Tourette's got worse...
Click here to read more. (telegraph.co.uk)
29th April 09 - PRI Anchor Lisa Mullins introduces us to British pianist Nick Van Bloss.
Lisa Mullins for USA Radio's PRI's The World talks about Nick's triumphant return to the concert platform
Click here to listen. (www.pri.org/theworld)
Lisa Mullins for USA Radio's PRI's The World talks about Nick's triumphant return to the concert platform
Click here to listen. (www.pri.org/theworld)
28th April 09
For 15 years the celebrated concert pianist Nick Van Bloss played to an empty room...
Click here to read more. (timesonline.co.uk)
For 15 years the celebrated concert pianist Nick Van Bloss played to an empty room...
Click here to read more. (timesonline.co.uk)
8th April 09
Pianist Nick Van Bloss tells the PM programme how Tourette's syndrome affects his musical prowess.
Click here to listen. (bbc.co.uk)
Pianist Nick Van Bloss tells the PM programme how Tourette's syndrome affects his musical prowess.
Click here to listen. (bbc.co.uk)
