Reviews

"Steven Mayer not only plays extremely well, he has interesting ideas about how this music should sound. The Concord Sonata receives a magisterial performance, but the music itself is so dense that it never sounds slow. Quite the contrary. If Mayer sacrifices some typical Ivesian wildness, he compensates by allowing us to hear more of what’s going on in even the densest passages. Mayer’s relaxed reading of The Alcotts has special charm and warmth that’s just right for this portrait of two girls practicing the piano at home."

David Hurwitz, Classics Today
November 2004

***

"So, what could Steven Mayer bring to this piece that others haven’t? Well, first of all, he has the chops to pull it off—his playing of Art Tatum’s music would have led one to expect that—but, more, he has the musicianship to breathe life and import into these notably dense movements. I particularly enjoyed Mayer’s hearty abandon in The Celestial Railroad; simply superb pianism!"

Scott Morrison, Amazon.com
December 2004

***

"Mayer’s playing is revelatory, with lines thoughtfully spun out to show their relationship to each other. His sound it subtly textured, with an ear toward balancing sonorities. He reveals cohesion in the piece by means of emphasizing whatever is melodic, whatever is contrapuntal."

Barela, American Record Guide
January/February 2005