Composer and musician Miguel Kertsman lets us hear music rooted in European classical traditions and Brazilian folklore. An unbelievable Journey through time and Brazil’s music history… Overall, this music remains indescribable and defies categorization.
– Rolling Stone
“Kertsmans Musik ist eine klassische musikalische Erzählung und verblüfft überdies als exotisch musikalische Wundertüte.”
– Tilman Urbach, Fono Forum 01/2019
“The music of Brazilian composer Miguel Kertsman is versatile and eclectic… Fantastic album… It (Chamber Symphony Nr. 2 New York of 50 Doors) is a striking work; like his other pieces, it defies categorization.”
– Nathan Faro American Record Guide
“It’s a fascinating disc, it’s a real melting pot of repertoire. Kertsman’s style is very, very varied. He plunges everything into his music, from jazz to world music influences. It’s sometimes atonal, but it’s never inaccessible.”
– Jeremy Pound, Deputy Editor of the BBC Music Magazine on their December Podcast about “3 Concertos & Chamber Symphony No. 2”
From the splendidly creepy, and imaginatively scored, Concerto for Violin, Horn and Shofar to the jazzy ‘New York of 50 Doors’ Concerto, there’s no shortage of variety here.
– BBC Music Magazine
“Kertsman shares with his older compatriot (Villa-Lobos) an appealingly intuitive approach to composition. ‘The freedom in his instrumental writing, heard most obviously in the Chamber Symphony No 1, Acorda!”
– Gramophone Magazine
“Its frequently louche and jazzy loneliness might almost be the soundtrack to Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks.”
– MusicWeb International about “New York of 50 Doors”
“Miguel Kertsman has captured musical lightning in a bottle with his latest release titled ‘In The Moment’… engaging and highly imaginative”
– Skope Magazine, Jimmy Rae
Colorful musical pictures from Brazil in fine recordings… meditative, colorful music, rich in ideas.
– International Classical Music Awards
“immensely attractive music…imaginative and varied… orchestral lavishness… there are sublime moments of epic grandeur here…”
– Fanfare Magazine
“Capturing the unique spirit of Brazilian music is a seductive prospect which pretty well sums up the concept album Amazonica…”
– Jazz Times
“… this musician does not recognise any stylistic boundaries… what does this “orchestra” of two performers perform? Everything, as its creator Miguel Kertsman loves.”
– Jazz Quad Magazine
“Miguel Kertsmans Cantiga de Ninar üppig-aufstrebendes (Lied)”
(as recorded by guitarist John Williams and mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager on Sony Music)
– Neue Musikzeitung NMZ, Edith Eisler
“Miguel Kertsman’s original and enjoyable documentary in music… You can listen to it as creatively enhanced “early music”, or you could draw parallels with present-day Britain… Whatever your attitude, Amazonica exerts a direct appeal to ear and imagination.
– BBC Music
“The music is haunting and beautiful. It conjured up images of wind-swept castles and haunted marshes.”
– John Breeden, Game Industry News
“brilliant… the full breadth of orchestral drama with a definite touch of exotica. There is a genetic relation between Maestros Villa-Lobos and Kertsman that, at least in Kertsman”s early period, brings him into the picture as a successor, an extender of a Brazilian orchestral heritage”
– Classical Modern Music
“This original disc is a high-quality listening experience!”
– The Whole Note about “3 Concertos & Chamber Symphony No. 2”
“Kertsman manages to be completely Modern and yet so too lyrical and melodically enchanting. Four works, four worlds all different and a very satisfying listen to anyone who welcomes the NEW in New Music. I recommend this one strongly to you.”
– Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review about “3 Concertos & Chamber Symphony No. 2”
“Stark atmosphärisch”
– Remy Franck, Pizzicato about “3 Concertos & Chamber Symphony No. 2”
“Miguel Kertsman… Amazonica prend un par un les éléments qui se sont combines au fil des siècles pour former la richesse des musiques du Brésil“
– Liberation Quotidien
“Kertsman dá voz às nossas raízes musicais” on Amazônica
– Folha de São Paulo JBN
“Miguel Kertsman is a composer with ideas, often reacting to his environment. This makes his music so atmospheric” on “Three Conceertos”, London Philharmonic, Dennis Russell Davies, Soloists
– Remy Franck, Pizzicato
“Music with passionate sounds envelops its listeners… brilliantly played.”
– Oberösterreichische Nachrichten
“…prepare to be “driven” to your limits by Miguel Kertsman… The listener never truly knows where the artist will take them next. This is the true power of In The Moment.”
– Indiebandguru.com, Keith Pro
“…Those who can embrace his gear-changes (Kertsman’s) should savour this exploration moment by moment.”
– Rob Barnett, Music Web International
„Alle die sich freuen auf vielfältige Veröffentlichungen der Neuen Musik, vor allem wenn sie so hohe Variabilität in Komposition und Interpretation zeigen, sind angehalten dieses Album zu hören!“
– Orchestergraben Stephan Pillhofer
Time? What’s Time? “Brazilian-born composer and virtuoso Miguel Kertsman releases an album beyond categorization…fascinating and atmospheric”
– Austin Daze, McRiprock’s 2010