"He plays the hell out of the piano"
“He plays the hell out of the piano. He is also lyrical and intensely musical, and in an age of wonderful pianists I think he is very special.”
John CoriglianoComposer
"Stravinsky or Ska? You Call the Shots"
“To be in the room that evening, though, was to discover the tension and the drama of never knowing what’s next... As they played, they swayed... They moved as if the music were something they were riding atop, not creating.”
Anand GiridharadasThe New York Times
"At a SHUFFLE Concert, you store away the penguin suits"
"At a SHUFFLE Concert, you store away the penguin suits"
“What happens when an American-Israeli pianist with a doctorate from The Juilliard School leaves a concert bored? He understands that in order to bring young audience members into the concert halls one needs a major shift in perception and he invents the SHUFFLE Concert concept. At a SHUFFLE Concert, you store away the penguin suits and you adopt a term from hi-tech industries: to shuffle, which means to randomly select or choose. Only in this case the audience chooses and not a computer!”
Ofer Ein GalPnai Plus, Tel Aviv
"The classical music puritans might have a stroke"
“The classical music puritans might have a stroke, but pianist Eliran Avni, who is a rising force in the New York classical music scene, is not worried. When asked whether the project is raising any opposition, Avni answers: ‘The truth is that we still haven’t encountered any major opposition to SHUFFLE—people seem to really love it! SHUFFLE was not created with the intention of replacing the usual classical concert format but as an alternative. And in fact, it really isn’t a classical concert. It’s a completely different beast—which in turn makes it unique and interesting.’
-Shai MarkovichYediot Aharonot (Israel's leading newspaper)
"Pianist Eliran Avni explored the wide range of ethereality"
“Pianist Eliran Avni explored the wide range of ethereality in Dorman’s Piano Sonata No. 3, confidently traversing the extreme minimalism and bold textures that make up this atmospheric music.”
Michael HuebnerThe Birmingham News
"His contribution is outstanding"
“Pianist Eliran Avni plays expressively in both the fast and slow passages; his contribution is outstanding.”
Phillip ScottFanfare Magazine
"He plays with disarming and enthralling fist-banging recklessness"
“Eliran Avni is magnificent. He plays with disarming and enthralling fist-banging recklessness. This is happy music, happily performed.”
Oleg LedeniovMusicWeb International
"This is really good stuff"
“Dorman was only 19 when he wrote his Piano Concerto; it’s the most conventional work on the disc, clearly neo-Baroque, but no less charming for that in soloist Eliran Avni’s capable hands… This is really good stuff, a genuine discovery, beautifully played and excellently engineered. It will make you feel good about the future of contemporary Classical music.”
David HurwitzClassicaltoday.com
"Pianist Eliran Avni captures the concerto’s spirit"
“Written when he was just 20 years of age, Dorman’s Piano Concerto in A Major is a splashy technicolor work that embraces virtuosic showmanship, combining a prevailingly Neo-romantic aesthetic with occasional post-minimal ostinati. Pianist Eliran Avni captures the concerto’s spirit, performing its often dizzyingly paced passagework and cadenzas with pizzazz.”
Christian CareySequenza 21
"He has the ironclad technique that Mr. Dorman's writing demands"
“Eliran Avni plays these works with an assurance and flexibility that make them sound as if they had been in his repertory forever. He has the ironclad technique that Mr. Dorman's writing demands, but there is ample suppleness in his playing as well, a quality that makes the slow, quiet movements as arresting as the fiery ones.”
Allan KozinnThe New Yotk Times
"A masterful pianist"
“During our recording sessions Eliran Avni impressed me with his interpretations and with his integrity as an artist and as a person. He is a masterful pianist with an individual musical vision that is totally his own and is completely compelling.”
David FrostGrammy-award-winning producer
"This is 'damn good'"
"First to Avner Dorman’s solo piano works performed by Eliran Avni. À la bonheur! This is good music – of the kind that, if it were by a prominent, preferably dead, composer, would be called “eminently pleasing” and “utterly delightful.” Since it is a new face, however, that shows his “Classical” Sonata No. 1, Moments Musicaux (some competition he’s got with other works that go by that title), Prelude No. 1 (written as an 18-year-old), Sonata No. 2 and the 2005 Dance Suite: Sonata No. 3, one is tempted to be more reserved and say things like “charming, if harmless” or “quaint and unchallenging listening.” Probably a bit of both is true, but more importantly there are some ‘damn good’ moments, too – and that these works make for very enjoyable listening. Repeat listening is even more rewarding: the playful way that the “classical” first sonata mimics anything from Beethoven to Liszt (“Romantic” would have been just as good a nickname) to popular music and has all the youthful quirks of unburdened composing. Dorman has an ear for a good tune but avoids cheapness. Come to think of it, this is 'damn good'."
Jens F. LaursonLogan Circle, Ionarts.com
"I was still not prepared for the excitement of this new disc"
"I was still not prepared for the excitement of this new disc of his complete (to-date) piano music... Every work is written with supreme craft and performed vibrantly and thrillingly by pianist Eliran Avni. It's hard to find a new disc of contemporary piano music that is really exciting or freshly invigorating, but this disc of Dorman’s most certainly is.”
Thomas AbbottLiving Music Magazine
"Virtuosity with elegant simplicity"
“Eliran Avni's performances of Dorman's works expertly balance virtuosity with elegant simplicity, which is especially remarkable considering Avni's youth.”
Brad GlandenSequenza 21
"Steely technique with ripe poetic sensibility”
“Dorman is handsomely served in these performances by fellow Israeli Eliran Avni, who weds steely technique with ripe poetic sensibility.”
Terry BlainMUSO Magazine
"A star-in-the-making"
“Listening to pianist Eliran Avni,was to observe a star-in-the-making. Avni’s solo ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was worth the price of admission.”
Shera CohenBravo Magazine
"I found the performance very impressive"
"I found the performance very impressive... I think he has a wonderful future."
Zubin MehtaConductor
"A real virtuoso of the instrument"
"A formidable and brilliant technique and a real virtuoso of the instrument combine to produce some astonishing artistry at the keyboard... Having worked with him for some time now, I know his dedication can be added to his musical qualities... One day, Eliran will - I am convinced - be one of the most formidable pianists, representing his country on the world stage as one of the great musicians of our time."