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| Dvorak Concerto at the Proms with Sakari Oramo and the CBSO |
| “Not all young cellists carry the Dvorak Concerto in their knapsacks, ready to unpack it at a day's notice: fewer still could, under these circumstances, retain their composure while taking risks with the music. That Alban Gerhardt (replacing Heinrich Schiff) is one of them became clear from the merry dance that he led Sakari Oramo and the CBSO, who matched his welcome flexibility to tempo and phrasing with deft solos of their own. Gerhardt's impetuous approach emphasized the music's dancing qualities at the expense of its occasional grandioso markings, but the notes never ran away from him: he articulated each chord of those fearsome double-stops towards the first movement's climax to thrilling effect instead of running them together in a glissando. Greater variety of dynamics and tone colour would have added extra layers to the interpretation, but these were likely to sacrificed to extra power, necessary for projection in the hall. Even so, he shaped the elegiac sections of the second and third movement with a fine legato, suggesting the music's tension and regret without resorting to sentimentality…” |
| Peter Quantrill, November 2001 |
| New York Orchestra Debut at the Y with American Chamber Orchestra and J. Schwarz |
| “…Cellist Alban Gerhardt’s fine reading of the Tchaikovsky Rococo-Variations was particularly note worthy because it was being played on the ex-feuermann Strad, which is up for sale. Gerhardt’s sound, big and lustrous when I last heard it, was on this occasion slender and more focused, but beautifully nuanced…” |
| Harris Goldsmith, Strad Magazine, August 1995 |
| New York Debut at Alice Tully Hall with Markus Becker |
| “…His account of the Kodaly Solosonata was perhaps the most exciting I have ever heard: it had a commanding virtuosity comparable to Janos Starker’s nonpareil way, and added a youthful, daredevil thrust that went right to the work’ jugular…He and his equally distinguished pianist Markus Becker conveyed a chaste, Classical approach with the integration of a bona fide partnership. They also made light of the difficulties posed by Brahms’ F major Sonata op.99, and gave a straightforward, unmannered account of the Debussy Sonata. The two encores (both superbly rendered) were Kreisler’s Tambourin Chinois and Debussy’s Clair de Lune.” |
| Harris Goldsmith, Strad Magazine, January 1994 |
| Finals at the Rose Competition in Washington with the NSO and Y.P.Tortelier, playing Dvorak |
| “...Gerhardt's deeply moving playing of Dvorak's Adagio during the semi-finals convinced the listeners that the whole concerto with orchestra would be a treat: and it was. His assured playing, penetrating musicianship and warm tone, cast a spell over the judge and the audience...” |
| Sorab Modi , November 1993 |
