Excerpts from Reviews

“The star of the ship for us was a young Russian pianist named Rustem Hayroudinoff….His Rachmaninov preludes brought the audience to its feet.”                                                           Sunday Times (London), January 2003

“The Wigmore Hall debut by the Russian pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff had a sense of occasion about it, not least because word of his playing had enticed a full house. …In Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, Hayroudinoff played the opening Ondine with shimmering control but also caught passion; Le Gibet had macabre, sun-baked stillness. He met the demands of Scarbo, surely Ravel’s most deliberately fiendish composition".                                                                                                                          The Times, February 2002

“He has made a splendid CD of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata…It’s a performance that makes as constructive a case for this suicidally disposed work as you could imagine, showing a penetrating intelligence served by a strong technique.”                                                                      The Independent, January 2002

“Hayroudinoff’s relaxed yet sober account, with an appropriate feeling for Franck’s wistful appeal, was utterly faultless. …He created a powerful sense of orchestration as well as formal perspective in…Le Gibet; I felt I understood the whole piece as if for the first time.  ...The young Russian ended on home territory, with two Etudes-tableaux and a Prelude by Rachmaninov. These were all stylish, voluptuous without too much apparent effort. His encore, Rachmaninov’s G sharp minor Prelude, was like having your tummy rubbed.”                                                                                                       The Independent, January 2002

“Rustem Hayroudinoff’s fresh, intelligent and tremendously witty playing makes this a CD I’d give anyone for Christmas. This young Russian is clearly a deep-thinking, independent and very characterful artist and concert halls should book him, fast. But also, he has unearthed some real gems in these pieces of incidental music by Shostakovich, the vast majority of which are heard on disc here for the first time. The total effect is a breath of fresh air.”                                                                          BBC Music Magazine: The Best CDs of 2001

“Hayroudinoff’s performances are tender and brilliant, enhancing the music’s many facets with glowing tone, exquisite phrasing and an unerring sense of comic timing… If this disc is anything to go by, he’s a pianist out of the ordinary: he plays every note as if he simply loves it. More from him, please, Chandos!”                                                                                                                                   BBC Music Magazine (London), August 2001

“An absolutely precious disc… A first-rate performance by the pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff, brilliant technically but even more so in the psychological and often drastic transitions from one piece to another.”                                                                                                                              Compact Disc Classics (Italy), July/August 2001

"The secret of the special charm in his playing seems to be in a combination of Russian lyricism and the nobleness he acquired from the British.  Brilliant technique and beautiful expression…"                    FM Fan (Tokyo), April 1999

"While demonstrating the clear and beautiful tone and the typical virtuosity of young musicians from Russia, he yet stands out amongst the majority of them as someone who is not satisfied by merely  displaying his virtuosity but makes it serve a grander purpose, namely, his powerful interpretation. His is an outstanding talent."                                                                                                           Ongaku No Tomo (Tokyo), March 1999

"When Rustem Hayroudinoff appeared on the concert platform the audience immediately felt gripped by his powerful stage presence… Hayroudinoff's rendering of Bach's Partita revealed his daring musical imagination and unique style…Chopin's Mazurka op.17 No.4 was equally striking for the ingeniously conceived and executed interplay of tones and colours. In Prokofiev's Sonata…ferocious intensity was effectively counterbalanced by emotional restraint."                                               Chopin Magazine (Tokyo), March 1999

"Apart from the brilliant technique his performance on this CD displays the lyricism unusual for many Russian musicians. Particularly striking are the pieces by Rachmaninoff for the sheer singing quality and the Blue Danube Waltz which is full of vitality and vigorous, bouncing rhythm".                           Musica Nova (Tokyo), March 1999

"Rustem Hayroudinoff showed an astounding variety of touch and colour and prodigious technical mastery matched by an equally profound intensity of expression.”                                               Chopin Magazine (Tokyo), June 1998

"Liszt's B minor Sonata of slashing firepower…an unusually thoughtful Rachmaninoff Third"   American Record Guide (New York), December 1997

"Rustem Hayroudinoff is exceptionally gifted. He gave outstanding performances…"                  Chopin Magazine (Tokyo), November 1997   

"…An absorbing mastery of demanding music. One of the most rewarding aspects of his playing was his use of dynamics to create layered textures. In Schubert's Impromtu in B flat D935 one could hear details of parts as they disclosed; and even when going hell-for-leather, Hayroudinoff could keep up that level of clarity, in the fugue from Liszt's Sonata in B minor, for example...He is a young man who thinks things through for himself and whose musical intelligence makes him stand out amongst the many who are primarily concerned with display."                                                                                     The Irish Times (Dublin), September 1996

"Rustem Hayroudinoff created a sensation…"                                                                        Classical Music (London), September 1994