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Linda Kobler has concertized in the U.S., Europe, and Canada, and has
been concerto soloist with such major ensembles as the Zurich Chamber Orchestra,
the Toronto Symphony, the Bach Gesellschaft, and New York City's "Y" Chamber
Orchestra under Gerard Schwarz. She has played with the Mostly Mozart Festival
Orchestra at Lincoln Center and the Tafelmusik chamber ensemble. She was a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New
York and has recorded two commercial CDs which won critical praise in America
and abroad.
Equally at home at the harpsichord and piano, her repertoire spans five centuries. An Early Music specialist, her first CD featured 18th century French music never before recorded. Her second CD won the prestigious Noah Greenberg Award of the American Musicological Society. As a strong proponent of contemporary music on both harpsichord and piano, Linda Kobler has premiered over a dozen solo and chamber works. She has had solo works written expessly for her by Vincent Persichetti, Albert Glinsky, David Borden, and the Pulitzer Prize winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. She has worked with composers such as Elliot Carter (playing his Piano Sonata at Alice Tully Hall), Roger Sessions (playing From My Diary at the composer's 80th Birthday Tribute at Lincoln Center), John Cage (HPSCHD at Symphony Space in Manhattan), and John Rutter (with the composer conducting, at Carnegie Hall). |
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"Kobler
played with a sense of stylistic distinction… she achieved both a beautiful,
flowing line and an infectious rhythmic incisiveness…"
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A
splendid harpsichordist…"
--The New York Times (Tim Page)
"Ms.
Kobler played Bach's Prelude, Fugue and Allegro inventively, adding color
to the fugue by switching manuals at section breaks and ripping
through the Allegro at a breathtaking clip."
--The New York Times (Allan Kozinn)
"[An] artist of the first rank…"
--The Indianapolis News
"Linda
Kobler's harpsichord concert at Carnegie Recital Hall Thursday was a pleasure
to hear. She showed such mastery of rhythmic articulation,
and such zest for the drama of ornament and the interplay of sound and silence,
that her instrument's inherent narrowness of expressive
possibilities in other areas (which sometimes inhibit its appeal to a generalist
audience) can hardly have been felt. Her style contrasted a fine
improvisational feeling with an at times almost fierce dynamic of tension
and release. (Her pauses, even between one piece and another, had the
quality of coiled spring; part of the effect was visual, a matter of stage
presence, but it could be sensed in the way she suspended and resumed
phrases even when one listened with eyes closed."
--The New York Times (Will Crutchfield)
"She
demonstrated all that a good harpsichord player can bring to this instrument.
The audience was particularly enthusiastic after these 'fireworks."
--Zuger Tagblatt (Switzerland)
"Linda
Kobler's performance of Haydn's Concerto in G Major was a treat. An accomplished
and relaxed performer, Kobler's interpretation was solid,
entertaining, and much appreciated by the audience."
--The Bangor Review (Bangor, Maine)
"Kobler's
performance [of English Suite No. 3] was an ennobling experience. Her rhythmic
elasticity in the Allemande gave a satisfying sense of quiet
urgency, and led to majestically flowing confidence in the Courante. Her
Sarabande made the most of stately chromatic complexities, and the mildly
ornamented Gavottes were consistently charming. A robust, driving pulse in
the Gigue ended the Bach with graceful command… a splendidly engaging
reading."
--The News and Courier of Charleston (Piccolo Spoleto Festival)
"The
gay, unburdened Rondo afforded the soloist ample opportunity for glistening
scales and solo cadenzas. The performance was airy and relaxed, and the
accord between soloist and orchestra impressive. The audience was carried
away enthusiastically and forced the repetition of the final
movement."
--Zurich Bieter (Switzerland)
"Even
he who disapproves of Mozart interpreted on the harpsichord had to recognize
that Linda Kobler elicited from her instrument an impressive version
of the Sonata which caused one to almost forget that the harpsichord cannot
produce dynamics."
--Stuttgart Mitteilungsblatt (Germany)
"The
highlight of the concert was a stunning performance by harpsichordist Linda
Kobler of three lively pieces by Pancrace Royer."
--The San Diego Union
"…brilliant
execution…"
--New York Tribune
"Brilliant
Harpsichord Concert with Linda Kobler (headline). The concert with harpsichordist
Linda Kobler is to be rated as a musical happening.
Her playing left behind a lasting impression and inspired the audience…
played with temperament and virtuosity."
--Luzerner Neuste Nachrichten
"Thus
Can Harpsichord Playing be Gripping (headline). Harpsichord solo concerts
can easily become a boring, dry, academic affair. Not so at the
harpsichord concert which Linda Kobler, a resident of New York, gave on Saturday
evening. Linda Kobler, in whose veins flows Spanish blood,
turned out to be a veritable bundle of temperament, reflecting an enrapturing,
always spontaneous music making."
--Luzerner Tagblatt (Switzerland)
"Her
masterly sparkling or singing rendition of the harpsichord part [Bach d minor
Concerto] was delicately sustained by the attentive orchestra.
The beautiful simplicity of Miss Kobler's interpretation of the chanting
and enchanting slow movement was enhanced by a fine balance of the
orchestra."
--The Enterprise (Cape Cod, MA)
"The
quiet delicate tones of the harpsichord sounded clearly throughout the hall,
demanding, and receiving total concentration from the audience.
Kobler plays beautifully, and makes her instrument sing in the lyric passages
of the Adagio."
--Swiss American Review
"…
New York harpsichordist Linda Kobler gave a lively, incisive performance
of Franz Joseph Haydn's Concerto in D."
--Albany Times News
"[Frank
Martin's Petite Symphonie Concertante, with Gerard Schwarz conducting the
New York Chamber Symphony]… the excellent soloists were Susan Jolles,
harpist; Linda Kobler, harpsichordist, and John Van Buskirk,
pianist."
--The New York Times (Bernard Holland)
"Kobler
played the English Suite No. 3 in G minor with drive and smooth facility
in the fast movements and expressive freedom in the slow ones…
the Sarabande blended detachment and melting lyricism that gave this pivotal
movement its poignancy."
--Indianapolis Star
"Kobler's
lengthy cadenza in the first movement [Bach Brandenburg #5] was thoughtfully
and aptly baroque, replete with varied touches."
--Toronto Star
"…
the Festival Music Society struck gold with the musicianship of harpsichordist
Linda Kobler... played with a flair for style and beautifully
executed."
--Arts Indiana
"…Sunbow,
by Albert Glinsky exploited counterpoint without forgoing heart-rending song.
Harpsichordist Linda Kobler served the composer well,
creating the illusion of legato with each spiraling melody."
--The Washington Post
"…she
brought panache to each movement that seemed to respect the dance origins
of the forms Bach employed… [two Scarlatti sonatas]: The first was laid
out in gracefully turned, delicately spaced phrases. The second, with its
emphatic ornamentation, gave Kobler a chance to display her flair in music…
Brought back for several curtain calls, Kobler responded with an encore,
Noblet's Bien-aimee."
--Indianapolis Star
"It
gives me great pleasure to recommend Miss Linda Kobler. She is a young pianist
who performs new music very well and with great artistry and conviction.
She has performed my Piano Sonata with great success and entirely
to my satisfaction."
--Elliott Carter (composer)
| FRENCH
HARPSICHORD MUSIC OF THE 18TH CENTURY
"...fingerbreaking
virtuosity…"
"Not
only are these pieces little known and worthy of a hearing, but their dramatic
qualities find a sympathetic proponent in Kobler…
"…Ms.
Kobler plays quite dazzlingly…Ms. Kobler treads through the obstacle
courses of this unusual repertoire with assurance, control, and panache.
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SEICENTO
CEMBALO
"...a
must-have for anyone interested in this repertoire." |
