It was one of those nights that remind you of music's magic and the reason why, despite being in the digital age, we still have live performances.
masterful… exquisite… thundering… passionate… creamy tone… infectious...
The Lawrentian, 2013:
[Anderson & Roe transformed] the often stultifyingly traditional and reserved medium of the modern classical music concert into an inventive, emotionally-charged auditory and visual experience.
Anderson & Roe are truly a testament to the continuing power and relevance of classical music and live performance.
Backtrack, 2012:
Believe all the hype: Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe—more famously called Anderson & Roe—are electric. At Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, this piano duo did more than celebrate the launch of their new album; they fashioned an entirely new concert experience.
Cascadia Weekly, 2012:
Music depends upon the expressive ability of the performers, and Anderson & Roe are extraordinary partners in an ordinary world, capable of shifting paradigms... Who knew duo piano playing could be so sexy?
Visionaries and dreamers; they are the risk takers who are pushing the boundaries of the traditional world... They are the types of souls who will ultimately save our creative universe.
San Francisco Classical Voice, 2012:
... the most dynamic duo of this generation ... explosive creativity ... refreshing ... exhuberant ...
[Piazzolla's Libertango] was not simply a sensual auditory experience, it was also a visual, precisely choreographed, sizzling dance. The level of passion and heat was stifling.
Their recital gave further proof that the survival of "classical" music depends on remaining relevant in today’s culture.
Albuquerque Journal, 2012:
[Anderson & Roe] bring to the concert stage precisely the kind of rampant energy classical music performance needs to keep the works fresh and vital.
Playing [Stravinsky's Rite of Spring], the two exhibited a choreography of hand shifting bordering on the acrobatic, adding enormously to the balletic savagery of the music.
The Straits Times (Singapore), 2012:
A class act and totally likeable too. Their ensemble work on two Steinway Ds was breath-taking for pinpoint accuracy, rapid-fire synchronisation as well as stylishness of execution. By the end of the fourth [encore], the high spirits of the audience had more than taken flight, and was already out of this world.
Testament to the popularity of Anderson and Roe: the line for their autographs was longer than that for Lang Lang's.
The Big City Blog, 2012:
The Rachmaninoff was special, not swooning but with a dry strength, and the exquisite cadenza brought them deserved “bravos.” Behind their flair, they are at their best in quieter music, pieces that reveal the fine quality of their musicianship. ...an enthralling performance of Schumann’s “Mondnacht,” which I wished would never end.
The Glass, 2012:
They are already powerful pianists that become super-charged in each other’s presence...
Time Out New York, 2012:
A decidedly broad-minded young piano duo.
Purdue Exponent, 2012:
By the conclusion of the performance, the deafening standing ovation coaxed not one, not two, but three encores by the pair, capturing perfectly the overarching emotion of the evening.
The Juilliard Journal, 2012:
... arresting ... fierce ... glittering ... affecting ... electrifying ...
Listening to the sweet strains of “Mathilde, Marieke, et Madeleine,” based on songs by Jacques Brel and Gérard Jouannest, feels like slipping into a smoky Parisian cabaret.
San Francisco Classical Voice:
[Anderson & Roe] presented perhaps the most volatile and thrilling reading of La Valse. Every phrase was sculpted with sensual intentions, but in the macabre coda both crescendo and accelerando went insanely off the charts, bringing the piece to a disconcertingly manic end. ...true to the depth of the music’s soul that few dare to explore.
Midwest Record, 2011:
With a great touch, a fine sense of drama, timing and style, this duo brings the main course, cleanses the palette and serves a killer desert, all without you noticing the changes taking place.
All Music Guide, 2011:
Anderson & Roe understand their instruments completely. Brilliant playing.
Oklahoma Magazine, 2011:
Anderson and Roe wow their audience by connecting with each person individually. Their radiant performance, so affecting — note by note, phrase by phrase, mood by mood — happens because they are never stiff, or stuffy, or mannered. They are such virtuosos, and so relaxed, the audience feels totally at ease, responding to them in that way, too. So knowledgeable and capable is this duo, you feel they could toss all the piano keys up in the air, catch them, and keep on performing with every note still happily and satisfyingly in order: A transformation indeed.
Clavier Companion, 2011:
Greg and Liz take an iconoclastic pleasure in smashing through the stereotype of classical music as a tame and harmless anachronism.
Indianapolis NUVO Newsweekly, 2011:
Their extraordinarily visual and visceral playing expands the concept of "sit and listen to a standard" repertoire. Anderson and Roe not only have engaging personalities, they engage the audience with...new arrangements of old works "re-imagined" to be in-the-moment creative collaborations between composer and performer. They practically chewed up the Steinway grands...
ThirdCoast Digest (Milwaukee, WI), 2011:
Anderson & Roe are masters of their craft. They know as well how to move an audience. They strive less for virtuosity for its own sake than for an intense connection to the music.
Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, FL), 2010:
At the final concerts of the Artists Series this season, young, beautiful and exceptionally talented Juilliard-trained pianists Elizabeth Joy Roe and Greg Anderson breezed onto the Historic Asolo stage with fresh air and hope for the popular success of classical music with all audiences for years to come.
Even the most jaded of concert goers sat forward in their seats and dropped their jaws in amazement as these two just re-wrote the book of the tedious concert recital.
Oakwood Register (Dayton, OH), 2010:
From the first notes, we realized that "sensational" was an understatement. Rarely have I seen such natural performers. Their keyboard skills are brilliant, musical, and filled with the love they bring to their art.
San Francisco Classical Voice (San Francisco, CA), 2010:
Speaking of the new generation, no more sensational young piano duo team can be found than the Anderson & Roe Duo. ... You felt a sense of complete trust between them, and the security gave them more freedom.
Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, NY), 2010:
A piano-playing Sonny and Cher, Anderson & Roe were irresistible... not one person could have nodded off.
Northwest Reverb (Portland, OR), 2009:
Anderson & Roe gave an electrifying performance that swept the audience into a cheering mass of humanity, making a strong case that playing piano is the most fun thing that two people could ever do together.
The ThirdCoast Digest (Milwaukee, WI), 2009:
To say the anniversary concert actually mesmerized the audience understates the effect. The concert, a sensuous blend of two keyboards and souls completely in sync, provided an unforgettable emotion similar to star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare’s sonnets who end up fulfilling a blissful destiny.
... the intense synchronization of genius.
The Cyprus Mail, 2009:
Electrifying and riveting! ...When the concert goes too quickly, it's a further sign that the concert was excellent, well-paced, and most enjoyable.
ConcertoNet.com (New York, NY), 2009:
The famed duo of Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe played [Beethoven's] dynamic two-piano fugue variations with all the tremolos and martial spirit needed.
The Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX), 2008:
Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe captured that spirit of camaraderie while playing at the highest level of artistry.
The pair’s accounting of Strauss’ The Blue Danube waltz concluded the show with a fun, wild romp, featuring acrobatic arm entanglements and burry-fast hand-crossings. It was the piano-playing version of ice dancing.
Phrasings tapered across the instruments; harmonies blended sumptuously; articulations were perfectly matched in weight and color.
...their playing connected viscerally with the crowd.
The Legder (Lakeland, FL), 2007:
Genuinely sensuous... [The Anderson & Roe Piano Duo] can only be described as lovemaking on a piano keyboard.
The Southampton Press (Southampton, NY), 2005:
One admired throughout their energy, their precision, and their unalloyed pleasure in making music.
...Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers transposed from the dance floor to the keyboard.
...fiery and passionate ...in a class by itself ...riviting
Their hand movements and the intertwining of arms, and it seemed at times of fingers, was elaborately and brilliantly choreographed. There were times when their hands seemed magically to occupy the same space, though they were playing different notes. The entire process was a small ballet of the hands, as wonderful to watch as to hear.
It is often said that young musicians today have razor-sharp technique, but they lack individuality. This cannot be said of these two young performers. The technique is beyond question, but they have personalities, both musical and personal that are completely distinctive and a joy to discover.