LE MONDE --- The pianist threw herself into an interpretation of the Fantasie-Impromptu that has never been heard so feverishly characteristic of the art of the composer.
BOSTON HERALD --- Kodama has been receiving increasing international recognition, and it's easy to see why. She can make a big sound with little apparent effort, summon up an attractive, lyrical tone and even dazzle with technical brilliance.
WASHINGTON POST --- Her occasional re-discovery of quietness was refreshing, and she brought out those rare moments when Tchaikovsky says two things at once rather than one thing very insistently. There seems to be intelligence at work.
ZUGER ZEITUNG --- Momo Kodama played the extensive and very demanding solo part superbly in every respect. She seemed effortlessly to command all the technical and musical elements, the strong but always supple touch of her right hand deserving special admiration.
LE DEVOIR --- Momo Kodama's sonority is absolutely ideal for this piece [Mozart K 467]. Far from the usual sentimentality, her performance speaks from the inside; melodies and motives take turn in such a natural manner that one imagines being brought back to the first performance of the concerto. When performers surprise the listener to such an extent in such a famous piece, one can only applaud.
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE --- With the glass-like clarity and never forced touch, every phrase was researched even in the virtuoso passages. The performance, which was altogether impressive, reached some moments of extreme beauty.
ONGAKUNOTOMO MAGAZINE --- At the beginning, Momo Kodama expressed the composer's modernity, one of the various aspects of his character. At moments demanding, computer-like accuracy and her unequalled pure technique succeeded in constructing solid structure in the music. The ‘Italian Concerto' was played with all kinds of expressions such as symphonic construction, building various sound colors, and liberal use of dynamics. Thus she showed her ability to make music on a grand scale.
WIGMORE HALL DEBUT - LONDON (Ivan March) --- Momo Kodama created something of a sensation in London at her Wigmore Hall debut, which ended with an explosion of ecstatic bravura in Messiaen's extraordinary Vingt Regards. She had begun with a grippingly evocative account of Debussy's l'Isle joyeuse. In Scarbo the virtuosity was dazzling and at times thunderous - it seemed incredible that the fingers of this diminutive figure sitting poised over the Steinway keyboard could command such malevolent weight and projection of sound.
BOSTON HERALD --- Kodama has been receiving increasing international recognition, and it's easy to see why. She can make a big sound with little apparent effort, summon up an attractive, lyrical tone and even dazzle with technical brilliance.
WASHINGTON POST --- Her occasional re-discovery of quietness was refreshing, and she brought out those rare moments when Tchaikovsky says two things at once rather than one thing very insistently. There seems to be intelligence at work.
ZUGER ZEITUNG --- Momo Kodama played the extensive and very demanding solo part superbly in every respect. She seemed effortlessly to command all the technical and musical elements, the strong but always supple touch of her right hand deserving special admiration.
LE DEVOIR --- Momo Kodama's sonority is absolutely ideal for this piece [Mozart K 467]. Far from the usual sentimentality, her performance speaks from the inside; melodies and motives take turn in such a natural manner that one imagines being brought back to the first performance of the concerto. When performers surprise the listener to such an extent in such a famous piece, one can only applaud.
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE --- With the glass-like clarity and never forced touch, every phrase was researched even in the virtuoso passages. The performance, which was altogether impressive, reached some moments of extreme beauty.
ONGAKUNOTOMO MAGAZINE --- At the beginning, Momo Kodama expressed the composer's modernity, one of the various aspects of his character. At moments demanding, computer-like accuracy and her unequalled pure technique succeeded in constructing solid structure in the music. The ‘Italian Concerto' was played with all kinds of expressions such as symphonic construction, building various sound colors, and liberal use of dynamics. Thus she showed her ability to make music on a grand scale.
WIGMORE HALL DEBUT - LONDON (Ivan March) --- Momo Kodama created something of a sensation in London at her Wigmore Hall debut, which ended with an explosion of ecstatic bravura in Messiaen's extraordinary Vingt Regards. She had begun with a grippingly evocative account of Debussy's l'Isle joyeuse. In Scarbo the virtuosity was dazzling and at times thunderous - it seemed incredible that the fingers of this diminutive figure sitting poised over the Steinway keyboard could command such malevolent weight and projection of sound.
Momo Kodama
Photo: Vincent Garnier
Photo: Vincent Garnier
Momo Kodama
Photo: T. Iijima
Photo: T. Iijima
Momo Kodama
Photo: Vincent Garnier
Photo: Vincent Garnier