CONCERTS
The Journey with Y-Squared
The Journey with Y-Squared is best described as a pioneer of community.
The concert kicked off with a stunning rendition of Martinu’s Variations on a Theme of Rossini. The Sonata for Piano and Cello by Beethoven followed suit, showcasing Yasmin’s prowess over the ivory keys. Kapustin’s Nearly Waltz and Elegy were delicious musical treats that neatly tied off the first half of the program.
Y-Squared put on a stellar show that truly put the audience first. The musicians’ ability to connect with the audience and build such a tight-knit community in the space of two hours is definitely something that needs to be recognised. There were many moments in which the audience smiled, gasped, laughed (at a crying baby), and felt something because of these incredible performers. This is what we need in more concerts, and something I’ll always remember for future performances.
If you want to catch a dynamic cello and piano duo that knows how to work a stage, watch this space! FULL REVIEW
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St Andrew’s, Aysgarth
Pianist Yasmin Rowe captivated her audience at St Andrew’s, Aysgarth, on April 21 with a memorable performance for the Wensleydale Concert Series which encompassed music by Bach, Bartok, Beethoven and Schumann.
She is well known for her eclectic performances and this was certainly true in the first half with the complete contrast between Bach’s Partita No 2 in C Minor to her commanding and dramatic rendition of Bartok’s Suite for Piano Op.14.
One of the most memorable performances of the evening, however, was the second movement of Beethoven’s Sonata No 7, Op. 10. She fluently used the full range of the keyboard to share the phases of melancholic depression offset by those fleeting moments of joyful, tingling highs.
She finished with an exuberant and thoroughly enjoyable performance of Schumann’s Humoreske Op. 20.
Pip Land
Pip’s Patch website
April 25th 2018
Chichester Cathedral
Schumann piano concerto in A minor
Yasmin plays with great authority . . .
The 2nd movement was lyrical and there was some lovely detail in the piano’s descending arpeggios. The cadenza was a delight. Yasmin was obviously much more interested in engaging the audience musically than using it to show off her undeniable technique. As it was it sounded at times as though she was playing a duet! There was a flawless transition to the 3rd movement . . .
Hugh Carpenter
Chichester Observer
October 2017
Brighton Dome – Y-Squared
This endearing pair began with Schumann at his most tuneful, his five folk-tune pieces. Then each played a virtuoso party-piece, Nikolai Kapustin’s jazzy ‘Pastoral’ for solo piano, that for a minute sounded more like a piano duet, and Svante Henryson’s astonishing ‘Black Run’ for solo cello. Yelian He showed he could get a tune from everything between the tuning pegs and the spike. Perhaps he should look up and grin at the Grand Pause to discourage any premature applause. Chopin’s last major composition, the Cello Sonata in G minor, really showed what these two are made of, top-class musical talent.
Andrew Connal
Latest Brighton
April 2016
Royal Northern College of Music
Silver waves crashing against a craggy cliff, that’s an image that came to mind. Rowe’s style is characterised by a restless, relentless dynamism. She is an athletic pianist.
Prokofiev’s Sonata No 6 in A major was the centrepiece of a superb recital, which also included works by Haydn, Janacek, Scriabin and Chopin.
A memorable concert from an accomplished and mature talent.
Jildy Sauce website
January 2014
Chichester Cathedral
The obvious empathy between the conductor and soloist produced a truly outstanding performance of Beethoven’s piano concerto no 4 in G.
In their Cathedral concert, the Chichester Symphony Orchestra’s distinguished accompaniment to the exceptional soloist, Yasmin Rowe, ensured a memorable interpretation of this great work.
Rowe’s charm, virtuosity and poise brought an enormous freshness and power to her playing.
Graham Hewitt
Chichester Observer
March 2013
Wigmore Hall, London
I heard Yasmin Rowe previously at a Keyboard Trust recital, and she bowled me over with her finely controlled playing and performances. She started on the evening of 24 October 2011 with Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K 141. Lovely poised playing with dexterous turns of phrase, she emulated those Golden Days of the Renaissance in Italy’s unrivalled years of musical supremacy . . .
Bill Newman
Music & Vision website
October 2011
Regis School of Music
Yasmin Rowe, 22, about to embark on postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, has had an extended period of musical success including selection to perform in the Wigmore Hall later in the year.
Her polished and powerful performance of works by French composers – Couperin, Bizet, Ravel and Poulenc – demonstrated her mastery of the keyboard both in range and fluency.
Chichester Observer
June 2011
Albert Hall, Nottingham
Yasmin Rowe was the soloist in Dohnanyi’s variations on a Nursery Theme – and a very witty, glittering performance it was too.
William Ruff
Nottingham Evening Post
November 2008
Portsmouth Cathedral
Many will have been most impressed by 15-year-old Yasmin Rowe’s command of Shostakovich’s sometimes driving, sometimes tricky rhythms in his second piano concerto.
But the real measure of her remarkable talent came in her songful phrasing of the slow movement. Here was not just precocity and technique, but musicianship.
Mike Allen
Portsmouth News
February 2004
Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery
A museum lunchtime recital by 13-year-old pianist Yasmin Rowe was remarkable for its musicianship, confidence and clean touch.
The main work, Beethoven’s F Minor Sonata, Opus 2/1 was thoughtfully realised, the tensions of the rapid finale being especially notable. The rest of the recital was a collection of memorable cameos: one of Bach’s 48, admirable in clarity; Chopin’s poetic C Sharp Minor Nocturne and an Etude. There were also three of Prokofiev’s brief, sometimes whimsical Visions Fugitives; and an attractively tuneful built-in encore, Spring Song, by herself. The recital’s quality suggested that Yasmin has a future worth watching.
Philip Scowcroft
Doncaster Today
April 2002
Chichester Festival of Music
A gifted young musician from Yapton is destined for a musical career after she achieved a likely record-winning performance at the Chichester Festival of Music.
Yasmin Rowe (9) secured six trophies with her playing of piano and violin. The cups included the coveted Lily Jane Foote Memorial Cup for the Victor Ludorum, which made Yasmin the festival winner for overall musical achievement.
She secured a grade of ‘outstanding’ in every class she entered. Some were open to competitors twice her age. Praise flowed from the adjudicators . . . ‘absolutely delightful’, ‘a splendid achievement’ and ‘an outstanding musical performance, quite exceptional.’
Chichester Journal & Guardian
March 1998
CDs
Debut CD
Bach, Chopin, Janacek, Kapustin
A thrilling recording of Bach’s Second Partita on the Willowhayne Records label landed on my desk a few weeks back. British pianist Yasmin Rowe has a keen sense of line and voicing, particularly in the final movement Capriccio. The rest of the disc is an imaginative selection of works by Chopin, Janacek and a concert etude by the jazz-inspired Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin.
BBC Music Magazine’s
Editor’s Choice
September 2016
Played with conviction, love and authenticity . . . enjoy the pure beauty of these masterpieces under her inspired fingers.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
2016
This is the debut CD of British pianist Yasmin Rowe, a real ‘live wire’ if there ever was one
. . . Rowe’s Bach playing is in the tradition of Glenn Gould . . . I could listen to Bach played like this all day.Lynn Rene Bayley,
The Art Music Lounge
December 2017