Stephen De Pledge REVIEWS

New Zealander Stephen De Pledge, who began with Petites esquisses d’oiseaux,
is a disarmingly relaxed and sunny performer; the difficult double articulations shivered under his hands and his switches of weight were like quicksilver. Messiaen may have caught the aggressive strangeness of the birds, but the overall impression left by De Pledge was of playful mystery.
The Times

Stunning spring – loaded virtuosity [from] Stephen De Pledge, a New Zealander whose laid-back, let-me-entertain-you manner might have suggested that he took none of this too seriously, except that his technique was as alert and crisp as it was fast and fluent.
Independent on Sunday

Formidable … left me wanting to hear more
Sunday Times

De Pledge played with intensity and terrific rhythm
Evening Standard

Stephen De Pledge offered abundant musicianship
Independent

Stephen De Pledge is not just an emerging talent to watch, he is already a fine player, a consummate musician and a perceptive communicator of the music he chooses to perform.
Musical Opinion

A fiery account of the Appassionata Sonata by Stephen De Pledge, particularly mature and full of suspense balanced with delicacy.
Beethoven Piano Society of Europe News

De Pledge did the work justice, (Mozart concerto K.488) with elegant phrasing and limpid tone against a sympathetic orchestral backdrop.
New Zealand Herald

The audience was spell bound… not since I heard Schnabel play this sonata (Beethoven Op 111) in 1948 have I been so profoundly moved by it.
Bucks Examiner

Rarely have I heard such superb playing from a young pianist… (De Pledge) brought equal authority to the discipline of Bach, the romanticism of Schumann and the impressionism of Ravel.
Midweek Herald