Quotables​

Steven Herbert Smith...

​...“mastered his task brilliantly...with huge expressive powers. Smith, who engaged himself equally in all pieces, played brilliantly.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine)

... “captivated the audience immediately with the first songful bars of the F-Minor Ballade of Chopin, and reinforced this favorable impression in due course with a rich display of his significant capabilities.” (Gazette des Yvelines)

... “proved his exemplary authority and concentration...” (Journal de St.Germain-En-Laye)

... “proved a prodigious keyboardist with an obvious affinity for modern music, good reasons why three of the contemporary pieces had been written for him...[a] fervent performance of the Schubert Sonata [Opus Posthumous in B-Flat] featured an impressive display of control of tempo and dynamics." (Washington, D.C.: Washington Times)

Concert Reviews

“The recitals by the American Steven Herbert Smith at St John’s, Smith Square, on 5 and 6 February under the title Piano Entente comprised recent solo piano music, mostly by British and American composers, and marked a major act of faith on this artist’s part. …Steven Herbert Smith is a very fine pianist, with a finished technique and a dedicated approach to the music…chosen, which one rarely
encounters in modern-day recitals. It is safe to assert that none of the pieces in his programme could have been better played.” (Robert Matthew-Walker, Musical Opinion)

NEW YORK:
At Merkin Recital Hall, pianist Steven Herbert Smith presented back-to-back recitals, complete with very informative program notes, consisting entirely of solo piano music written since the 1950’s.  Smith titled his two-evening project PIANO ENTENTE.  Considering the high excellence of Smith’s communicative performances, I would suggest the less modest title PIANO DETENTE to imply a “lessening of tensions” down the chain from composer to listener.

(Messiaen’s Le Merle bleu) Here Mr. Smith summoned reserves of color.  His supple, fluid rhythm allowed Messiaen’s birds to both sing and dance.
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The first half of the recital ended with a convincing presentation of the Scottish composer James MacMillan’s Piano Sonata.  From the opening tantalizingly incomplete gestures in the upper and lower ranges of the keyboard, it was clear that we were in the presence of a masterful composer, one who knows how to grab our attention and raise questions that demand answers.  While alternation of slow, sustained sounds and rapid, insect-like textures might become formulaic in the wrong hands, MacMillan clearly has something to say -- Smith’s empathic performance was superb. These composers are indeed fortunate to have such a sensitive, “entente-savvy” interpreter as Steven Smith, whose awareness of the entire spectrum of sound makes the written score come alive for the listener.

American Record Guide

BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas, all; Diabelli Variations; Bagatelles, op 126; Rondos, op 51 Steven Herbert Smith Sound Waves [11CD] 788 minutes

Review by Alan Becker

Smith turns out to be a true artist, capable of helpful interpretations and fully worthy of comparison with many of today’s outstanding performers.

Smith’s traversal begins promisingly with strong performances of the early sonatas. … Early on it becomes obvious that Smith will be well able to handle the technical challenges ahead. He is long associated with academia, but there is no hint of intellect over heart… Smith can also wow his listeners when he wants to, as amply demonstrated in the ‘Presto’ from Sonata 6 [Op. 10/2], which rides a demon steed to its conclusion. Sonata 5 [Op.10/1] is particularly felicitous with just the right amount of wit and whimsy. Smith seems to be having a good deal of fun with the rhythmic bends and turns of the music and squeezes out all the juices he can. The Prestissimo finale is treated in a thoroughly virtuosic manner. With Sonata 3 [Op.2/3] ... Adagio is especially beautiful and never seems pushed for effect. Having myself struggled with the finale in the past, I fully appreciate the grace and skill this artist brings to the music while always sounding natural and unforced. …. Sonata 7 [Op. 10/3] is of sturdier stuff and is given one of the finest performances in the set. Tonal gradations are just about perfect, and the singing line of the Adagio is as lovely as I have heard. Above all, the music unfolds with an ease and naturalness that gets to the core of Beethoven’s argument.

Following the remaining early sonatas, in readings far beyond merely satisfactory, we enter the world described here as “the romantic and heroic Beethoven”. The two sonatas of Op. 27 show compositional advances and an imaginative wildness that was to mark most of the composer’s efforts in the future. … Smith manages these sharp contrasts with spirit and a sense that all is absolutely correct as the printed page turns into a living, breathing entity. …. Sonata 21 [Op.53], Waldstein, continues a rapid ascent to the world of jawdropping, awe-inspiring virtuosity. It is a driven performance, but one allowing for sensitivity as well. The octave glissandos toward the close of the last movement are very well executed. … With Sonata 26, Les Adieux [Op.81a], the competition is fierce, as it is in Sonata 23, Appassionata [Op.57]. I would not go so far as to call these renditions unparalleled, but they do belong with the most satisfying to be heard on record. ….what is heard here is truly excellent and often thrilling playing.

[In Op.101]  Smith is totally in sympathy with the complexities of the final and longest movement, and its contrapuntal strands are unfolded with clarity and expression. Nos. 30 and 31 [Opp.109, 110] are the most often performed and recorded of the late sonatas. Smith excels in both and makes us fully appreciate the wondrous accomplishment of a composer able to transcend [deafness].  The ‘Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo’ final movement of 30 is a thing of rare and concentrated beauty—its complex trills exquisitely played. Once again, the complex of tempo changes in the final movement of 31 is the both composer and pianist at their most intimate and expressive. These are certainly among the best performances in a set of many wonders. Sonata 29 [Op.106], Hammerklavier, is considered by many the pinnacle of Beethoven’s sonata creation. … the long Adagio sostenuto.. is the very core of the sonata and must maintain a sort of rarefied beauty and restrained intellectuality at the same time. The playing is unerringly right for this music. Beethoven’s final cryptic sonata [Op.111] is once again fascinated with the fugue, and Smith embraces the music with arresting gutsiness.
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[In the Diabelli Variations, the] final fugue is one of the most impressive performances I have heard. The remaining variation sets are all delivered with stunning attention to contrast and brilliance. The Op. 51 Rondos and Op. 126 Bagatelles further enhance the desirability of the album. … this is a set to place beside the others I have mentioned (Ashkenazy, Brautigam, Brendel, Gilels, Goode, Kempff, Schnabel). If you have not heard of Steven Smith, it is high time you did. At budget price the set is a steal.