Carnegie Hall debut
"Ardenuir: The Stone in the Sword"
World Premiere, May 20, 2022. Virginia Somerville Sutton Theater, WellSpring, Greensboro, NC.
"The Stone in the Sword is a memorable multi media event. Imagine Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition ....with a plot along the lines of [Tolkien's] Lord of the Rings. Natalie's art is a winning combination of graphic novel art and phantasmagoria. Vincent's music was a marvelous mix of styles. From folk-like, frolicking music that depicts the market, to dramatic outbursts that take place in some battle scenes; from lyrical, romantic music ..to dreamy impressionistic cascades. Vincent's playing brought the artwork alive. He is a powerful performer, and his virtuosic chops were often employed in impressive rapid octaves, shimmering cascades of scales, and occasional glissandos. His lyric playing is admirable as well, with some lovely tunes emanating form the middle of the rich texture.
Timothy H. Lindeman - The Classical Voice of North Carolina.
Carnegie Hall debut
"Dr. Vincent van Gelder is a formidably equipped, no-nonsense virtuoso, his interpretative and temperamental style is remarkably redolent of what I would have expected from a stereotypical “Dutchman”. In fact his playing at this concert made me recall Cor De Groot, a splendid artist whose Philips LP recordings from the 1950s (released in America by Epic) gave me much pleasure."
New York Concert Review
London solo recital
"Vincent van Gelder’s performance of Gaspard de la nuit made light of all the extraordinary difficulties, and got straight to the nub of the work in three musical portraits of deep imagination, with the ability to tell three stories, conjure three scenes to perfection, and even manage, amid its legendary complexities, to find a great deal of wit in ‘Scarbo’."
London Musical Opinion
"Despite the severe demands on the stamina of the performer, Vincent van Gelder remained a proudly sensitive performer to the end, and even found the energy to add his own thrilling and original Fantasy on the Miller’s Dance from Falla’s ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’ as an envoi.
Leslie Howard-British Liszt Society newsletter
St. Louis solo recital
[performance of the four Chopin Ballades]: “He brought out the different layers with the precision of a brain surgeon”.
St. Louis Post
Guardians of ICeland Eylin's Journey
"The result was really good at the concert. The music was magnificent and magnified the atmosphere of the artwork, and the artwork always put the piano in the right context. The result was definitely fun"
-Frettabladid-
Concert at Harpa, Reykjavik, Iceland
"To describe this evening as good playing is a complete understatement; the illustrations by Natalie were an essential part of the enjoyment".
-Classical Voice of North Carolina
Concert at East Carolina University
“Vincent van Gelder at Goldsmiths College – Deptford Town Hall The distinguished Dutch pianist Vincent van Gelder gave a memorable piano recital on 12th June 2015, presented by Goldsmiths in conjunction with The Liszt Society. Van Gelder is essentially a poetic artist rather than a barnstormer, and his programme, whilst it by no means avoided the technically challenging, was notable for the range of beautiful sounds it allowed him to extract from the Steinway D. He began with four of the splendid piano pieces that Prokofiev made from his balletic masterpiece Romeo and Juliet: ‘The Street Awakens’, ‘Montagues and Capulets’, ‘Dance of the Girls with Lilies’ and ‘Mercutio’, all played with acute sensibility to the characterisation and with fastidious attention to detail. Gaspard de la nuit is Ravel’s piano masterpiece, and one of the pinnacles of the repertoire. Vincent van Gelder’s performance made light of all the extraordinary difficulties, and got straight to the nub of the work in three musical portraits of deep imagination, with the ability to tell three stories, conjure three scenes to perfection, and even manage, amid its legendary complexities, to find a great deal of wit in ‘Scarbo’. The music of John Corigliano is less often heard in Britain than it merits to be, and it was revelatory to hear his Fantasia on an Ostinato in concert. It is a well-crafted work, and very easy for an audience perhaps wary of the unknown, helped by the very familiarity of the theme – from the Allegretto of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. Van Gelder proved a very convincing ambassador for the piece. The recital ended with three Liszt rarities, played with obvious affection: the Feuille d’album no. 2 (S167) – the third fantastic reworking by Liszt of his song ‘Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth’; Liszt’s only left-hand work: a transcription of his noble song ‘Hungary’s God’ (S543bis); and the extravagant and intricate outpourings of the early version of Vallée d’Obermann, as found in the ‘Album d’un voyageur’ (S156/4). Despite the severe demands on the stamina of the performer, Vincent van Gelder remained a proudly sensitive performer to the end, and even found the energy to add his own thrilling and original Fantasy on the Miller’s Dance from Falla’s ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’ as an envoi. Leslie Howard” - Leslie Howard
— London Musical Opinion, British Liszt Society newsletter
“(Translated)The Spanish Dances by Granados were jewels, each with its own character and story. Vincent van Gelder’s performance of the “Andaluza” could be a in a tv commercial for the area. ” - Ellen Kruithof
— Twentse Courant Tubantia