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This small selection of press extracts is updated quarterly.
Edinburgh International Festival - with Simon Keenlyside
Does Malcolm Martineau ever have anything like an off night? Solid as a rock, always and unobtrusively artful, this most practised of piano accompanists was for me the hero of last night's Usher Hall recital...
Kate Molleson, The Herald, 20th August 2011
Excellent technique was also in evidence for the altogether more muscular settings of Strauss, more creamy tone matching the complex melodic language of the piano, brilliantly played by Malcolm Martineau... Malcolm also seemed to relish the fun of these accompaniments while summoning playing of incredible beauty for the descending thirds of Nuit d’étoiles. A superb recital from an extraordinary pairing.
Simon Thompson, www.seenandheard-international.com, 22nd August 2011
...all the finesse that he could ever want from Martineau on piano... It is Keenlyside and Martineau's ability to penetrate the poetry, however, that packs thier most powerful punch. In Strauss's six settings of poems all about love and the love of nature, the rich, long lines brought thought=through emotions, whether happiness, anguish or general rapture, all gaining enormously from the duo's ever-balanced teamwork.
Carol Main, The Scotsman, 22nd August 2011
Britten: Songs Vol.1 - Onyx
The first volume of Britten's complete original songs for voice and piano introduces a series devised, cast and beautifully accompanied by Malcolm Martineau. It's likely to become a valuable documentary survey ... [an] auspicious first volume.
Hilary Finch, BBC Music Magazine, 1st June 2011
Brahms; Libeslieder Waltzer – Wigmore Hall
Malcolm Martineau...[was a] delicious pianist throughout. Both [he] and the minutely prepared singers revealed the sheer wonder and variety of setting and response within those three oom-pom beats.
Hilary Finch, The Times, 1st June 2011
The Complete Songs of Francis Poulenc - Signum Classics
This splendid two-disc set covers fours of Britten's greatest cycles plus the Cabaret Songs and some early unpublished items...Malcolm Martineau has a Britten-like authority at the piano.
Michael Kennedy, The Sunday Telegraph, 29th May 2011
For this first volume of Britten's collected songs, Martineau has gathered a gratifyingly formidable array of young British singing talent...
Stephen Pettitt, The Sunday Times, 29th May 2011
...the whole thing is unified by Malcolm Martineau's superbly characterized piano accompaniments...
Nigel Simeone, International Record Review, May 2011
Six top singers combine on Signum's first volume of Poulenc songs, which includes settings of poems by Ronsard, Cocteau, Apollinaire and others. Poulenc's singular mix of whimsy, religiosity and cool wit guarantees plenty of variety, and each song has a characteristically elaborate, note-rich piano part. Malcolm Martineau accompanies with judicious, sharp-eared facility and experience.
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 3rd April 2011
...with Malcolm Martineau as the ever-immaculate accompanist...
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 17th March 2011
No longer is it appropriate to put the accompanist's name at the bottom of the listing; Martineau is one of our finest "song pianists", as regular visitors to Wigmore Hall know well. He supports each singer and was doubtless closely involved in developing their interpretations of this oeuvre... Recorded balance is exemplary...Excellent presentation with clear texts & parallel English translations, of course. Recommended without reservation and, as they say, the further volumes are eagerly awaited.
Peter Grahame Woolf, www.musicalpointers.co.uk, 28th February 2011
Kate Royal 'A Lesson In Love' – EMI
She is superbly accompanied on the piano by Malcolm Martineau – one of the world’s most esteemed and respected accompanists. He is tender and expressive and has a knack for creating just the right mood for each song...
Presto Classical, 14th February 2011
Recital with Angelika Kirchschlager - Wigmore Hall (Decades)
Besides Kirchschlager’s exemplary performances I was left wondering whether pianist Malcolm Martineau is capable of having an off-day. I could never say for certain, of course, but based on his superb performances in the first three recitals in the Decade by Decade series I would be inclined to think not.
Sam Smith, www.musicomh.com, 9th November 2010
Recital with Christopher Maltman - Wigmore Hall (Decades)
Pianist Malcolm Martineau, who is overseeing the Decade by Decade series, was also on top form. It took rare skill in the Schulze poems to keep ‘Im Frühling’ on just the right side of sentimentality, and to give appropriate gravitas to the more exuberant ‘Auf der Brücke’... with Maltman and Martineau performing at this level, they could have continued for hours and still left the audience wanting more.
Sam Smith, www.musicomh.com, 4th November 2010
...persuasively accompanied by Martineau...
...Martineau's playing matched him gesture for gesture.
George Hall, The Guardian, 5th November 2010
Recital with Simon Keenlyside – Wigmore Hall
Malcolm Martineau’s piano playing here was outstandingly eloquent, stage-managing the emotional drama of a lover’s dawn song, or a huntsman’s heartsick soul-storm. Martineau it was who rocked the cradle in the ambivalent and bittersweet lullaby of Brahms’s Nachtwandler, one of 11 songs in which Keenlyside powerfully balanced expansive ardour with innermost fear.
Hilary Finch, The Times, 27th January 2010
It was during the Hugo Wolf setting of Mörike’s ‘An eine Äolsharfe’ (‘To an Aeolian Harp’) in this marvellous Simon Keenlyside/Malcolm Martineau recital, that it became clear that the ever-delicate art of lieder singing had hit some kind of high, not just for this evening but for the craft in general. It really doesn’t get a whole lot better.
As Martineau’s seraphic strumming established the mystery and fragrance of that song, and Keenlyside slipped effortlessly from one ravishing head-voice ascent to the next, a sound so honeyed and so enticing that whilst listening to it, you can’t imagine that there is a lovelier lyric baritone on the planet, we edged as close to perfection as is reasonable to expect. The last three notes of Martineau’s postlude were as exquisitely placed as they were expectant. The atmosphere in the hall was transfixing.
And that was just one song. This is a partnership which one feels has aged and marinated to the point where it is now fully ready to savour. In the opening group of Schubert songs the intimacy of the playing and singing was a constant source of pleasure, Martineau’s deft touch seamlessly connected to the elegance of Keenlyside’s articulation in those characteristically graceful Schubertian turns. The very last line of ‘An den Mond in einer Herbstnacht’ – ‘I will no longer be remembered on this fair earth’ – found consonance on a cadence that seemed to be the invention of Keenlyside himself, so naturally and unassumingly did he arrive there.
This is a voice of many colours but more importantly a voice where the lyric and dramatic elements are held in such perfect balance. I’ve described the sweetness, the sheer beauty of his elegant mezza voce, but there is a darker trenchancy too, and that chimed well with vivid imagery of Wolf’s bracing, wind-swept, word setting and the lustfulness of a song like ‘Der Jäger’ (‘The Huntsman’).
It was fascinating to hear in such close proximity the Wolf and Brahms setting of ‘To an Aeolian Harp’ – the former rejoicing in rapt vocal effects, the latter achieving its rapture through aspirational melody and harmony. Brahms’ grateful vocal lines rolled out, so free and refulgent, while Martineau’s weighting and placing of chords brought many tiny revelations. Is there a stranger or more haunting lullaby than ‘Nachtwandler’ (‘Sleepwalker’)? Or a more startling premonition of Mahler than ‘Von ewiger Liebe’ (‘Eternal Love’)? Just two of the questions this terrific recital asked and answered.
Edward Seckerson, The Independent, 23rd January 2010
Rossini Songs – Il Salotto, Volume 13, Opera Rara
After a period of prodigious creativity, Rossini wrote no music for 20 years, then when he was in his sixties, he produced a large number of ‘Sins of Old Age’, mainly for piano solo or for singers with piano accompaniment.
This CD presents a fair selection of them, with extremely helpful notes by Richard Osborne and full texts. Excellently performed by a team of first-rate soloists, with Malcolm Martineau, for me the best accompanist in the world, offering his usual expert support, and leading off with a solo.
The songs cover a wide range of topics, some of them, as one expects, witty parodies, but others deadly serious, such as a prayer to God by a mother to spare her dying son and take her instead.
There’s a strange ‘Song of the Titans’ for chorus, harmonium and piano, a ferocious piece. Yet despite the variety of texts and subtexts, many of these pieces sound oddly similar, and all told it is the idea that lies behind them, rather than the pieces themselves, that excites the interest.
They are neglected pieces, but one only has to listen through to this disc to see why, and to suspect that the performers were enjoying themselves more making the disc than one does listening to it.
Michael Tanner, BBC Music Magazine
Recital with Michael Schade – CAL performances
Schade has a superb musical collaborator in Malcolm Martineau, his accompanist. From the delicate placing of the last two notes of the opening song, we knew we were in for a treat equal to the vocal feast. Martineau matched Schade in grace, wit, dynamics, and colour; made the piano sounds like a lute; and poured out a torrent of notes for Der Musensohn, ending the first half of the programme on a lovely, crashing chord.
Anna Carol Dudley, San Francisco Classical Voice, 18th October 2009
Recital with Susan Graham at Sunset Center in Carmel
Musical communication was further enhanced by the brilliance and sensitivity of Malcolm Martineau’s participation – each and every note had meaning and support for Ms. Graham’s musical vision.
Robin McKee Williams, Peninsula Reviews, 30th November 2009
Aldeburgh at Kings Place
Martineau’s command of this repertoire is second to none and his unfussy playing throughout this long and gruelling programme was perfectly placed. But to judge from his young singers, his qualities as a teacher may yet equal his more celebrated gifts as an accompanist.
Guy Dammann, The Guardian, 16th November 2009
Brahms: Lieder/Schumann: Dichterliebe (Sony Classical)
TWO masters of their art come together in this exquisite Lieder disc of Brahms and Schumann. That could, of course, refer to the composers themselves.
The Brahms songs here are gripping examples of the Romantic genre; Schumann’s Dichterliebe cycle – consummate, soul-searching settings of Heinrich Heine – is no less satisfying.
But the true masters here are baritone Simon Keenlyside and pianist Malcolm Martineau, a performing due of supreme eloquence.
Keenlyside imbues each song with an uncannily rich clarity, combining emotive passion with stylish delicacy. He knits the Schumann, despite the brevity of many of its numbers, with arresting cohesion. Martineau’s inimitable pianism is authoritative and characterful, supportive, of every subtle nuance explored by the singer. Pure genius.
The Scotsman, 19th October 2009
Recording with Florian Boesch – Schumann Heine Lieder, Onyx, 2009
‘Having an accompanist as perceptive and exquisitely musical as Malcolm Martineau is a big asset too. These are lieder performance of a very high order indeed.’
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 1 May 2009
‘Boesch’s art [is] set in the best possible light by the exquisite playing of his pianist, Martineau.’
Stephen Pettit, Sunday Times, 3 May 2009
‘Boesch [is] partnered by Malcolm Martineau’s sensitive pianism.’
Norman Lebrecht, Evening Standard, 8th April 2009
Aldeburgh Festival residency recitals – June 2009
‘These singers were privileged indeed. They were working in partnership with one of today’s most sympathetic and experienced accompanists, Malcolm Martineau. He conjured an atmosphere calculated to suit each vocalist as well as the mood of each piece, his piano textures at times suggesting an entire orchestra.’
Lynne Walker, The Independent, 22 June 2009
Recording with Magdalena Kozena – Songs my mother taught me, Deutsche Grammophon
‘Malcolm Martineau’s super-refined and spirited piano-playing is an especial joy of a fabulous disc — one of the song records of the year.’
Hugh Canning, Sunday Times, October 19, 2008
Recording with Susan Graham – Un frisson français, Onyx
‘Martineau’s precision is displayed to good effect in the intricate figures of Lalo’s ‘Guitare’, Chausson’s ‘Les Papillons’ and Honegger’s ‘Trois Chansons de la Petite Sirene’.’
Anna Picard, Independent on Sunday, October 12, 2008
‘The pianist Malcolm Martineau has a deliciously light touch in Hahn’s À Chloris and the pair clearly enjoy the comedy of Manuel’s La Souris d’Angleterre.’
Rick Jones, The Times, September 27, 2008
Festival of Accompanists
Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, May 26-June 1
‘To be a piano accompanist requires a special degree of fortitude. It is not just that the job sometimes involves working with ego-driven soloists, but that misunderstanding seems to surround the role. Australia's first Festival of Accompanists, convened by the Accompanists Guild of South Australia to celebrate its 25th year, did a heroic job in putting a lot straight. Most of all it exploded the myth that the pianist is merely there to provide unobtrusive, discreet support for the singer. One of the world's most respected accompanists, Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau, showed how abundantly wrong this view is. His playing projected as much personality as the singers' performances, even stealing attention away at times. The festival's centrepiece was an extraordinarily illuminating concert with Martineau and the distinguished New Zealand-born Samoan bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu. Their performance of Schubert and Brahms's lieder was not about two artists combining as one unified musical personality, but about each musician bringing his own contribution to a song's word and sound picture. Martineau's playing was expressive and even extrovert; Lemalu was more intense and, at times, explosive. To have both elements side by side added compelling tension to Schubert's bittersweet Der Wanderer an den Mond (The Wanderer Addresses the Moon), and in Brahms's Verrat (Treachery), Lemalu's snarling anger and Martineau's magnified sense of drama made this horrifying little song about jealousy and murder even more powerful. There was humour, too, in their performances of Poulenc and Richard Rodney Bennett: both artists showed fleetness of foot and their ability to lighten the mood in an instant. The dynamic between the two artists was fantastically alive, and their timing immaculate.’
Graham Strahle, The Australian, June 03, 2008
Interview for Australian press
As one of the world's leading accompanists, Malcolm Martineau has been honoured to play with many of the world's great singers. The last time the Edinburgh-born pianist was in Adelaide was in 2000 to accompany Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, who also sang at the 2004 Adelaide Festival. ‘With Bryn and with all the great ones, you don't see them showing off their voices,’ Martineau says. ‘What you do see is them selling the songs to the audience, telling a story.’ Martineau has returned as musician-in-residence for the Accompanists' Guild of South Australia's 25th anniversary conference, which runs until June 1. He will chair the jury for Australia's top accompanists prize, the Geoffrey Parsons Award, to be presented on Friday. The famous award is named after the Sydney accompanist who became Prince Consort Professor of Piano at London's Royal College of Music. Martineau has a personal connection to Parsons. ‘He heard me first when I won a big competition in London in 1982 and he offered to teach me and immediately gave me some concerts,’ Martineau says. ‘He was my mentor, really, rather than my teacher.’ Martineau first pursued a solo career, after becoming a finalist in the first BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1977. ‘I decided eventually that it was not really for me - I thought it was a bit too lonely,’ he says.
Patrick McDonald, Adelaide Now, May 28, 2008
US Recital Tour with Bryn Terfel
Chan Centre, Vancouver – April 12, 2008
‘the pianist Malcolm Martineau was at his peak’
Lloyd Dykk, The Vancouver Sun, April 13, 2008
Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto – April 15, 2008
‘Terfel had expert help at the piano in Malcolm Martineau, who was with Terfel every note of the way. The pianist even gamely sang along to a few words of the second encore, Flanders and Swann's ‘The Gas Man Cometh.’’
John Terauds, The Star, April 17, 2008
‘Terfel and Martineau gave over the first half of their recital to a large selection of early-20th-century English songs, and it was a pleasure to hear these neglected pieces revived so eloquently.’
Ken Winters, Globe and Mail, April 17, 2008
Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances, Berkeley – April 17, 2008
‘together with the excellent pianist Malcolm Martineau, Terfel unreeled one vocal gem after another to produce a double triumph of music and charisma.’
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 19, 2008
Wigmore Hall recital with John Mark Ainsley and Lisa Milne (part of French series)
‘Too often Poulenc is viewed in the UK as a second-half composer, someone singers turn to in order to leaven their programme with a soupcon of Gallic quirkiness. So it was good to find pianist Malcolm Martineau redressing the balance, devoting the entire first half of this programme with soprano Lisa Milne and tenor John Mark Ainsley to the composer's songs. ... Martineau was as dextrous and reliable a pianist as ever.’
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, April 12, 2008
Recital with Magdalena Kozena – Cologne Philharmonie, March 2008
‘… einem miesterlichen Klavierbegleiter … Ein Klavierbegleiter comme il faut, manuell tadellos und inspirierend, wie mit einem inneren Lächeln spielend.’
‘ A masterly accompanist… An accompanist ‘comme il faut’, his playing flawless and inspired, as if with an internal smile’
Christopher Zimmermann, General-Anzeiger, 14 March 2008
Recital with Ann Murray and Philip Langridge – Wigmore Hall, February 2008
‘deftly and wittily accompanied by the pianist Malcolm Martineau’
Richard Morrison, The Times, 27 February 2008
Recital with Susan Graham – Wigmore Hall, February 2008
‘…here, and throughout a long and imaginatively compiled programme, Malcolm Martineau proved an expert and attentive accompanist.’
George Hall, The Guardian, 12 February 2008
‘accompanied with inimitable elegance by Malcolm Martineau’
Richard Fairman, The Financial Times, 13 February 2008
‘Martineau's always superbly characterised piano playing lifted the colours in Graham's voice in Roussel's Réponse d'une épouse sage and Debussy's Colloque sentimental.’
Hilary Finch, The Times, 13 February 2008
‘a pretty exhausting programme, both for her and her exemplary accompanist Malcolm Martineau, as it makes vast demands on the singer and pianist, but Graham had stamina in reserve and it proved a worthy climax to such a momentous and educational journey through French song.’
Keith McDonnell, Music OMH, February 2008
Recital with Christopher Maltman – Wigmore Hall, January 2008
‘The fluid grace of Martineau’s playing.’
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 29 January 2008
Recital with Simon Keenlyside – Wigmore Hall, January 2008
‘Love in a time of war. And with Simon Keenlyside and Malcolm Martineau to meditate upon it, it is small wonder that there wasn't a seat to be had. … Both Keenlyside and Martineau really came into their own in the elusive aching of pain and pleasure that hangs over Poulenc's settings of the surreal poetry of Paul Eluard in the nine songs of Tel jour, telle nuit. … [Keenlyside’s] deceptively artless approach (it recalled Keats's words about the need for poetry to come as naturally as leaves to a tree) won the audience over, and Martineau's playing supplied any remaining subtext of wonder or angst.’
Hilary Finch, The Times, 14 January 2008,
‘Then it was time for the Poulenc songs… The mixture of obscure surrealist poetry and Poulenc’s very subtle style … makes them very hard to bring off. But how well Keenlyside achieved it, and how well Martineau brought out the combination of seduction and stark severity in the piano part.’
Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph, 14 January 2008
‘a superb recital by British baritone Simon Keenlyside, overflowing the Wigmore Hall, where his exemplary accompanist Malcolm Martineau is masterminding a complete Poulenc series.’
Anthony Holden, The Observer, 13 January 2008
‘The voice and Keenlyside's control over it were outstanding. Even in Schumann's Dichterliebe, where there was too little effort to make the audience listen to every word rather than admire the general effect, the sounds he made were glorious. Yet it was Malcolm Martineau's accompaniments that caught the ear most powerfully.’
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 11 January, 2008
‘Keenlyside and his ever-perceptive partner, Malcolm Martineau, traced the arc of love won and lost in a succession of powerful readings. … An impressive start to Martineau's complete Poulenc series.’
Barry Millington, Evening Standard, 10 January 2008
Onyx Classics: None but the Lonely Heart – recital disc with Amanda Roocroft – 2007
‘beautifully dappled accompaniments’
Andrew Clarke, Financial Times, 24 November 2007
Recital with Simon Keenlyside
Aldeburgh 2007
'During the 60th festival’s inaugural weekend, there was more magic from…Simon Keenlyside… his darksome baritone in thrilling form, luxuriously underlaid by Malcolm Martineau’s eloquent pianism.'
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, June 17, 2007
New Zealand recital tour with Jonathan Lemalu – May 2007
Christ Church Town Hall, May 2
'Malcolm Martineau, accompanist to the stars, did far more than support the singer. This was a true double act where every phrase seemed to have been planned as a complete musical idea, piano and voice operating as one instrument. '
Timothy Jones, The Press, May 3, 2007
Recording with Susan Bullock – Crear Classics 2006
Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder; Prokofiev: Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova; Britten: The Poet’s Echo; songs by Strauss, Quilter, Rorem
'… and in Malcolm Martineau she has a pianist to match her sensitivities. Together they sound subtle depths in the closing songs of Prokovierv’s Akhmatova settings…and in Benjamin Britten’s Pushkin cycle ‘The Poet’s Echo’, where the piano’s time-ticking hauntingly offsets the meditations of Pushkin’s sleepless night.'
David nice, BBC Music Magazine, March 2007 (Five stars)
'Malcolm Martineau is the excellent pianist'
Sunday Telegraph, March 11, 2007
Recital with Michael Schade
Zankel Hall, New York, March 6, 2007
'The singing was intense and intelligent and benefited from Malcolm Martineau’s scrupulous piano playing.'
Bernard Holland, New York Times, March 8, 2007
Recital Tour with Susan Graham – January 2007
Kennedy Center, Washington
'The evening was enhanced by the firm, nuanced and unfailingly expressive pianism of Malcolm Martineau, who also wrote the incisive program notes.'
Tim Page, Washington Post, January 29, 2007
Jordan Hall, Boston
'Malcolm Martineau was the fine pianist as well as, we were told, an active partner in assembling this particular sampler of songs. …Throughout the afternoon, Martineau matched not only her passion for this repertoire but also her sensitivity in bringing it to life.'
Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe, January 23, 2007
'The program she brings to Jordan Hall is a fascinating tour of the French song tradition, spanning nearly two centuries, from Charles Gounod (b. 1818) to the modern master Olivier Messiaen (d. 1992) . Unlike many recitals, in which song sets are unified by composer, Graham and her pianist Malcolm Martineau have juxtaposed varied repertoire by composers who were contemporaries of one another, with particular care given to the dramatic shape of each group. Graham credits Martineau, whom she calls an 'encyclopedia', with suggesting many of the pieces: 'Malcolm is a master program-builder.'
The current program ends with the lullaby 'Brezaiola', from Joseph Canteloube's famous 'Chants d'Auvergne', and the recital setting has let Graham and Martineau push the envelope. 'I've been experimenting with how softly I can sing the last verse -- when the baby is going to sleep.'
Matthew Guerrieri, Boston Globe, January 21. 2007
Mandel Hall, University of Chicago, January 19
'her superb accompanist, pianist Malcolm Martineau, introduced the audience to a lot of unfamiliar songs by familiar composers as well as exquisite rarities by composers (including Emile Paladilhe and Alfred Bachelet) few of us have heard of.'
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, January 21, 2007
'Graham and brilliant piano partner Malcolm Martineau knew what they were doing in selecting the repertoire and presenting it. Opening songs by Bizet, Franck and Faure set a mood of transparent nights, birdcalls and spring love. The lyricism and delicacy, along with the rhythmic inventiveness of Lalo and Saint-Saens as the first half went on, created a consistent mood that never grew dull.'
Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun-Times, January 22, 2007
'Graham's rich voice was complemented by Martineau's delicate, sensitive piano accompaniment. However, Martineau did more than simply accompany the singer. As Lawrence Professor of Music and voice teacher Ken Bozeman explained, 'Musicians traditionally known as 'accompanists' are now being called 'collaborative pianists.' The pianist plays continuously and, in a sense, plays the emotion of the song.' In this spirit, the musicians took each bow together, and Graham directed much of the final applause toward Martineau.'
Sonia Emmons, The Lawrentian, January 19, 2007
Recital with Angelika Kirschlager
Alice Tully Hall, New York, 10 December 2006
'Accompanying her was the pianist Malcolm Martineau, who was superb, as usual. In Schumann's 'Hoch, hoch sind die Berge' (High, High Are the Mountains), he was delicate and modest, but properly intense — just like his singer.'
Jay Nordlinger, Arts and Letters, December 12, 2006
Recital with Anne Schwanewilms
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 31 August 2006
'Malcolm Martineau played the Queen's Hall piano ably. He phrased with delicacy, stretching ideas to their limits and making sure he never seemed just an accompanist: this was high-quality chamber music. In Mahler's Ablösung im Sommer, the piano's evocation of cuckoo song really did sing, whilst in the last of the Ophelia Lieder, the sudden changes of mood were imaginatively handled.
For an encore, the two performed the great Strauss lied Das Rosenband, with its soaring lyricism superbly communicated. The audience's enthusiastic applause was well deserved.'
Dave Paxton, Music OMH, September 2006
'Malcolm Martineau … a virtuoso exponent of the demanding piano part.'
Rowena Smith, The Herald, September 1, 2006
Recital with Simon Keenlyside, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
'Edinburgh loves Keenlyside and pianist Martineau, who played with relish.'
The Scotsman, Tuesday 29 August 2006
'Martineau went straight from Holst's weirdly spare, disembodied song Betelgeuse to Britten's Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, in which Keenlyside and Martineau created colour and atmosphere that even its illustrious creators, Fischer-Dieskau and Britten, would have been hard-pressed to equal.'
Rowena Smith, The Herald, 29 August 2006
Interview for The Scotsman ahead of the 2006 Edinburgh International Festival
Perfect partner - Everyone wants to work with Malcolm Martineau - for very good reason
Gerald Moore was once asked whether, in the course of his long and distinguished career as accompanist to some of the greatest singers of the 20th century, he had ever given any thought to becoming a pianist. Moore's response is not documented, but had he delivered one, he would most certainly have put the enquirer right on one thing: the art of the piano accompanist is exactly that - an art in itself.
And few come more artful these days than Malcolm Martineau, whose annual appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival are more regular than most, but whose visibility - unless you're specifically looking out for him - can easily be masked by the fact that he has chosen to follow the same career route as Moore.
Martineau's love for the Festival is as much personal as professional. He was born and educated in Edinburgh, and his father - who died when he was only nine - was a prominent clergyman in the capital. His mother is the notable pianist Hester Dickson, who is now in her eighties, but still highly active as an accompanist and teacher at Glasgow's RSAMD.
Listening as a youngster to the regular musical collaboration between his mother and her late sister, the cellist, Joan Dickson, rubbed off on Martineau. 'I've always loved the idea of collaboration in music. When I reached the semi-finals of the first ever BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1977, a lot of solo work came out of that,' he recalls. 'But I knew that solo playing wasn't really my bag, and when I went to Cambridge, I did lots of chamber music. I'm not the solitary type.'
Now in his late forties and based in London, he is one of the most accomplished accompanists around today, on first-call terms with the likes of Bryn Terfel, Simon Keenlyside, Christopher Maltman, even Simon Rattle's other half, the Czech mezzo soprano Magdalena Kozena. He tours and records regularly with many of them.
There is still, says Martineau, a lingering perception that the accompanist plays second fiddle, especially when a singer is in the limelight. 'There have been several occasions when someone has asked me if I went to 'that wonderful song recital last week at the Wigmore Hall', and I've had to answer: 'yes, I was actually playing'. The fact is, the audience come to see the singer!'
So will he go unnoticed in his two Festival appearances next week at the Queen's Hall? First up on Monday he will perform with the baritone Simon Keenlyside in a programme that includes Benjamin Britten's Songs and Proverbs of William Blake. Then, on Thursday, he will accompany the soprano Anne Schwanewilms in a potentially ravishing coupling of songs by Richard Strauss and Mahler.
'Anne is the one that sang [Strauss's] Ariadne in the dress that didn't fit the other soprano,' he says, referring mischievously to the notorious incident in 2004 when London's Royal Opera House sacked its original soprano, Deborah Voigt, reportedly because she was overweight.
The answer to the above question, though, is no. It's not Martineau's style to fade into the distance. Indeed, he immerses himself completely in a performance, quite visibly at times. Watch his eyes and his gestures. They are a reflective interpretation of what the singer is singing.
'As an accompanist, you must have an ear for colour, for storytelling,' he explains. 'Benjamin Britten was my favourite accompanist of all time. He had a composer's ear for colour. He could achieve an amazing range of dynamics, even at the softest end of the spectrum. That is where accompanying becomes such a different art from the solo role.'
But it's important, too, he says, to know how a singer works - both technically and psychologically. He has made his career out of doing so. 'I was trained also as a singer,' he says. 'After Cambridge, I took joint first studies in singing and piano at the Royal Academy of Music. That's paid off. I tell my own accompanist students at the RAM to get singing lessons. It's important to know what breathing [as a singer] feels like.' Learning languages, too, has equipped him well for the role. 'I'm no linguistic high-flyer, but I do understand French and German poetry.'
Seasoned singers have grown to depend on Martineau's instinctive artistry. Younger ones look to him for advice. Thomas Quasthoff, indeed, calls him a 'psychic'. 'He once said to me after a recital: 'you knew what I was going to do before I did it',' recalls Martineau. 'The truth is, as an accompanist you have to second-guess what the singer is about to do. Half the time you get it right.'
If anything singles Martineau out as much more than a jobbing accompanist it is the entrepreneurial spirit that has led him to lead, and often instigate, extended projects of his own, particularly with singers.
Festival aficionados will recall some years ago the extraordinary series that encompassed the entire Lieder output of Hugo Wolf.
'It was essentially [Festival associate director] James Waters's baby, but I became immersed in it and it became an amazing thing to do,' he says. 'I try to do series here and there, to encourage singers to learn new repertoire.'
He is currently exploring rarely heard Russian songs by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glinka, and later ones from the 1950s, with Susan Bullock. He is also putting together a series centred on the songs of Poulenc, presented in the context of their own time. 'Aside from Schubert and Wolf, I love the French repertoire,' he says.
Most of all, though, he is relishing his return this week to the Queen's Hall. 'It's among the best halls for song recitals in Europe,' he claims. 'It feels friendly, in much the same way as the Wigmore Hall.' He also feels at home with its piano, which he can genuinely call his own. 'It's a bit embarrassing,' he admits. 'I was one of four appointed to select the best instrument. When the day came to try them out, I was the only one who turned up.' As most singers would say, if you want an accompanist you can rely on, get Martineau. But I suspect there's a waiting list.
KENNETH WALTON, THE SCOTSMAN, 26 August 2006
Recital with Magdalena Kozena
Salzburg Festival 2006
'Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená's August 7 recital with pianist Malcolm Martineau was hailed as 'a magic moment' by local critics.'
Michael Markowitz, Playbill Arts, 25 August 2006
Schubert Song Cycle with Matthew Rose, Jonathan Gunthorpe and Robert Murray
St. Mary's, Haddington, 9th July 2006
'If accompanists are often the under-acknowledged half of a vocal recital, then Malcolm Martineau's latest project, in which he performs all three of Schubert's song cycles with three different singers over the course of a day, certainly presents a visible pianistic tour de force. As a feat of strength on Martineau's part, the undertaking is impressive, though whether it adds much to the audience's understanding of the works is debatable.
Not in doubt, though, was the wisdom of Martineau's decision to perform the cycles in reverse order, beginning with Schwanengesang, then Winterreise and concluding with Die Schöne Müllerin. In the wake of two doses of unremitting gloom, there's something incredibly refreshing about a work that experiences the heights of joyous, youthful ardour before plunging to the depths of despair.
What the series did set up was a comparison between the styles of the young singers involved. Matthew Rose's Schwanengesang was a somewhat four-square affair; his sonorous bass failing to match the expressiveness of Martineau's playing, until in Der Atlas it found an intensity lacking elsewhere. In comparison, baritone Jonathan Gunthorpe had a more flexible approach, though his Winterreise didn't sustain the atmosphere of the most bleakly nihilistic of accounts.
The most complete performance of the day was that of tenor Robert Murray, the only singer to really inhabit his character (a task admittedly easier in Die Schöne Müllerin than the other cycles). From the lusty delight of proclaiming the beloved his, to the anxiety brought on by the arrival of the hunter, to the bitter sadness of betrayal, this miller's emotions were tangible, rendered all the more visceral by Martineau's vivid, extrovert playing.'
Rowena Smith, The Guardian, July 21, 2006
Recital with Barbara Bonney
St George’s Bristol
'Martineau’s pointing up of the piano’s growing contribution to the psychological portrayals was deeply illuminating.'
Rian Evans, The Guardian, 11 February 2006
Recital with Florian Boesch
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
'Never fully in the limelight, Martineau is nonetheless a real star.'
Carol Main, The Scotsman, 2 September 2005
Masterclass – The Art of the Song Recital
The Hub, Edinburgh – 23 August 2005
'If there’s such a thing as an accompanist of genius, it is Malcolm Martineau'
The Guardian
'The most effective accompanist in the business'
The Independent
Recital with Christopher Maltman
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh – 22 August 2005
'One of those moments when time stands magically still. Maltman and Martineau are, indeed, a class act.'
Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman, 23 August 2005
'In each work, the pianist carries equal weight in generating the requisite mood, and Malcolm Martineau opened up shivery gothic vistas and haunted landscapes in turn.'
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, August 24, 2005
CD Recording with Barbara Bonney (Onyx)
'This time with the excellent Malcolm Martineau at the piano...'
The Independent, 7June 2005
Recital with Barbara Bonney and Angelika Kirchschlager
Barbican Centre
‘Fauré’s Tarantelle was a high-speed obstacle course, with Martineau skillfully maintaining an illusion of gathering momentum.’
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, February 1, 2005
‘It’s to the credit of Bonney, Kirchschlager and their accompanist Malcolm Martineau that they resisted as much as they did the temptation to play out the girly fantasies suggested by the packaging.
Here, the two voices chased each other, echoed, confided and danced through the night to a veritable villageband conjured by the indefatigable fingers of Martineau.’ Hilary Finch, The Times, February 1, 2005
CD with Bryn Terfel
Silent Noon
‘Malcolm Martineau’s accompaniments are stylish and authoritative, coming into their own in the final pair of Edward Lear limerick settings, parodies of Bach by one Karel Drofnatski (a pseudonym for Stanford) that are funnier the verses they set.’
Matthew Rye, The Daily Telegraph, January 15, 2005
Recital with Barbara Bonney and Angela Kirchschlager
Kölner Philharmonie
‘Malcolm Martineau completed the congenial duo at the piano as a distinguished and experienced accompanist. Some additions could be heard after minutes of standing ovations.’
Olaf Weiden, Kölnische Rundschau, December 21, 2004
‘And the pianist? Malcolm Martineau is known to be one of the best accompanists in the world and he definitely proved this in Cologne.’
Markus Schwering, Kölner Stadtanzeiger, December 21, 2004
Recital with Michael Schade
Chan Centre
‘Co-recitalist Malcolm Martineau is the sort of uncanny accompanist who seems to know what his singer will do before a sound is uttered. His palette of colours is refined and his degree of support remarkable.’
David Gordon Duke, The Vancouver Sun, November 23, 2004
Recital with Simon Keenlyside
Usher Hall
‘His subtlety of phrasing and colour, coupled with Martineau`s sensitive and perceptive accompaniments with their almost singing vocal quality, produced beautifully measured Lieder performances, taking us to the soul of these poems by Goethe and Kerner.’
Frank Carroll, Sunday Herald, August 29, 2004
Recital with Christopher Maltman
Schwarzenberg Schubertiade
'I loved the heartfelt innocence, the vulnerable bravado, and the vivid vocal colours – with playing to match from Malcolm Martineau, who, for my money is, these days, the most effective accompanist in the business. No one quite has his ability to make a flawless technique so expressively alive.’
Michael White, Independent, September 23, 2003
Recital with Amanda Roocroft
Royal Festival Hall
'Providing an irresistible dynamo for the merry-go-round in Debussy’s Chevaux de Bois, tracing the twisting undercurrent to Roocroft’s smooth lullaby in Strauss’s ‘Meinem Kinde’, making the thickly scored accompaniments to four other songs by Liszt sound easy: again and again, Malcolm Martineau showed that he is the classiest accompanist around.’
Erica Jeal, Guardian, December 5, 2003
Recital with Barbara Bonney
Wigmore Hall
'Accompanist Malcolm Martineau was sensitive, reliable and utterly musical – it’s little wonder that A-list singers are queuing up to work with him. He held back in the final song, Die alten bösen Lieder, to let Bonney’s voice through, but made the ensuing postlude into something truly enchanting.’
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, January 27, 2001
Recital with Ian Bostridge
Wigmore Hall
‘His accompanist Malcolm Martineau was also a major factor in providing that extra dimension, and his limpid contributions were even more telling in the Heine poems of Dichterliebe, where every piano postlude unerringly crystallised the import of the words and their setting’.
Andrew Clements, Guardian, December 7, 2000
Recital with Lisa Milne
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh Festival
‘The finest singing and acting heard and seen in this year’s Festival came together yesterday in the devastating performance of Lisa Milne, making her debut solo recital in the Queen’s Hall series, with accompaniments to die for provided by the peerlesss Malcolm Martineau’.
Michael Tumelty, The Herald, August 27, 2002
Recital with Simon Keenlyside
Usher Hall, Edinburgh Festival
‘And Malcolm Martineau provided one of the most emotionally complete, naturalistic piano accompaniments I have heard, capturing tine details like a leaf’s erratic flutter and a stream’s currents’
James Allen, The Scotsman, September 1, 2003
Recital with Felicity Lott
Wigmore Hall
‘The limpid, echoing rhymes of ‘S'il est un charmant gazon’ charmed and calmed voice and spirit; and Martineau’s nectar-intoxicated piano introduction to Fauré’s ’Le Papillon et la fleur’ nourished the senses’.
Hilary Finch, The Times, November 25, 2002
Recital with Thomas Allen
Perelman Theater, Philadelphia
'At every turn, his approach was seconded with near-psychic sureness by pianist Malcolm Martineau, who doesn’t frame the voice so much as he becomes and extension of it, issuing colors and harmonies on which the voice can float’
David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 April 2003
Recital with Bryn Terfel
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
‘If there’s such a thing as an accompanist of genius, it is Malcolm Martineau. He can vanish discreetly into the background when required, or turn the final solo bars of a song like ‘Is My Team Ploughing?’ into a poignant summing up. In the hands of musicians like these two, the future of the song recital should be assured.’
Stephen Johnson, The Guardian, November 24, 2000
From an interview with Mary Miller for ‘The Scotsman’
'Martineau began with solo work and got bored, far preferring the chemistry of music making with others. ‘The concerto is one thing. The soloist is more important than anyone else involved, and that’s fixed. But in a song… yes, the singer has the solo line, but you are making something new every time you approach the music. With five different singers, there are five different ways. In fact, with one singer, there may be five contrasting inflections, according to mood, or energy, or temper. It is wonderful. That’s the joy of the job.’
August 7, 1996