FANFARE, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
COLIN CLARKE
The command Osorio has of the keyboard is remarkable, as is his innate feeling for this music. He captures the flitting, skittish nature of Ricardo Castro’s writing in the first movement of that composer’s A-Minor Concerto (dedicated, incidentally, to Reinecke). Castro is one of those composers who died early (his dates are 1864–1907). A pianist himself, he gave the Mexican premiere of the Grieg Piano Concerto. Castro is clearly of Romantic bent, and Osorio and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto give the first movement of his Piano Concerto plenty of space to speak. Apparently, this is the first Mexican piano concerto, or even concertante work with piano. Castro seems keen to emphasize the influence of Chopin in both the first and second movements, and his projection of line is perfectly judged. The recording is superb: The brass climax of the first movement is properly moving and sonically impressive, and the delicate woodwind entrance to support the very closing measures of the slow movement is perfectly judged and together. Osorio is beautifully expressive in this post-Chopinesque Andante; but it is in the scintillating finale that the true delights really happen. This polonaise glitters, and yet some intriguing turns of harmony add an extra layer of fascination. Osorio’s legerdemain is phenomenal, as is the orchestra’s own lightness and discipline. It is impossible to imagine a finer performance of this concerto.
The set of solo piano works by Castro is a dream: a “Berceuse” from a set of two Piano Pieces, op. 36 (the other is a “Valse mélancolique”) that does exactly what it says on the case, and deliciously. A Canto de amor is an extended six-and-a-half-minute tone poem for piano. The move to the climax of the Canto is worthy of Liszt, and Osorio performs it with dignity and total command. The “Plainte,” op. 38/2, an Andantino of whispered intimacy, has a melody to die for. Osorio’s phrasing here is perfect, with just the right amount of rubato.
This is not Osorio’s first recording of the Ponce First Piano Concerto: He previously recorded it for ASV, with Enrique Bátiz conducting the State of Mexico Symphony. The first movement is an amazing succession of tableaus, with the many changes of moods impeccably tracked by Osorio and Prieto. Osorio’s easy virtuosity is a boon here, allowing us to concentrate on Ponce’s astonishingly fertile invention, while the slow movement is monumental in intent, and Osorio’s performance is nothing short of magisterial. A cadenza is mesmeric under Osorio’s hands. At one point woodwind gestures take us into the world of the Romantic tone poem before an extended lyrical melody in the lower strings moves us into more internal regions. Ponce’s use of extended fields of utterance for the orchestra allows the piece to exude a sense of expansive thought and, in the piano part, of solitary rumination for the soloist. So it is that while Lisztian octaves are part of the vocabulary, here it is the lyrical aspect that seems pronounced. The finale glitters. Aspects of this last movement seem reminiscent of the finale of Liszt’s First Piano Concerto, but Ponce’s movement is less intense, morphing easily into passages of comparative rest. Technically, Osorio’s staccato is perfect, and how impressive is the woodwind echo of a succession of piano chords, a real acknowledgement of the rapport between Osorio and Prieto in these performances. The finale has real backbone; the very conclusion is almost Hollywood-epic in demeanor. This is a fabulous performance of a most impressive concerto.
This is utterly convincing, committed music-making from all concerned, captured in a state-of-the-art recording.
American Record guide, November/December 2023
Critics’ Choice 2023
Bruno repp
The two piano concertos on this release are both by Mexican composers, of whom Ricardo Castro (1864-1907) is the lesser known. In fact, he has no entry in our index, and this was my first encounter with his music. Manuel ponce (1892-1948) is well known as a composer for the guitar, but his numerous piano pieces are no longer a secret, thanks in large part to the efforts of Mexican master pianist, Jorge Federico Osorio.
The performances are excellent. Osorio has recorded the Ponce concerto previously with the State of Mexico Symphony under Enrique Batiz (ASV 926 and 952, J/F 1996+97), but the new reading is in better sound, and Osorio plays slower and more thoughtfully. The orchestra is not from an obscure town called Mineria (as I thought at first) but a classy Mexico City band that performs summer concerts in the former school of Mining, the Mineria. Prieto (b. 1965) is the most prominent Mexican conductor today and does a fine job.
In addition, Osorio performs several short pieces by both composers. Some of them he has also recorded previously. They are: ‘Berceuse’, Op. 36:1, ‘Canto de amor’, and ‘Plainte’, Op. 38:2 by Castro; and ‘Arrulladora Mexicana’, ‘Gavota’, ‘Romanza de amor’, and Intermezzo No. 1 by Ponce. They are all lovely, and Osorio plays them to perfection. Perfection, while perpetually out of performers’ reach in long and complex compositions, can actually be achieved in such miniatures, but it still requires exceptional artistry, which Osorio has. Reviewers of his previous recordings of Ponce’s pieces, including Alexander Morin (S/O 1994), Jack Sullivan (M/A 1999), and Margaret Barela (M/A 2006), were of the same opinion. This is a beautiful recording, guaranteed to give much pleasure.
“An imaginative interpreter with a powerful technique”
- THE NEW YORK TIMES
“One of the more elegant and accomplished pianists on the planet”
- LOS ANGELES TIMES
"A serious and cultivated Beethoven player"
- CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"A distinguished name among pianists"
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
"Superb"
- WASHINGTON POST
Osorio joins Robert Spano for opening concert of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Scott Cantrell
Dallas Morning News, September 10, 2022
Robert Spano makes a splendid debut as the Fort Worth Symphony’s new music director
A respected veteran, Spano brought new flexibility and suavity to Friday’s concert.
“After intermission, pianist Jorge Federico Osorio served up the freshest Beethoven Emperor Concerto in memory. Defying auto-pilot norms, Osorio favored a subtly nuanced, sometimes almost improvisatory approach.
He hesitated before and on pivotal downbeats, to great effect, but didn’t hesitate to nudge the music along where it could use added urgency. Cascades of notes were elegantly tapered. Spano had the orchestra perfectly coordinated.”