Reviews
“music-making of this calibre is to be cherished”
“hallmark signs of intelligence and imagination”
“effortless virtuosity and refined musicianship”
“near-faultless precision and eloquence”
“a magnetic, spellbinding performance”
“stylish and technically immaculate”
“a magnetic, spellbinding performance (…) From Daniel De Borah’s first solo piano entry we knew we were in for a piano concerto and Mozart interpretation treat [Piano Concerto in G, K.453]. Clarity of line, superb balance across the keyboard as well as with the orchestra imbued De Borah’s svelte utterances (…) Mozart’s dramatic disposition and kaleidoscopic shifts of trajectory or mood were given detailed consideration from this gifted soloist. The colours employed – at times for just a single standout note – drew upon a thrilling and very controlled spectrum of technique and nuanced pianism. The two cadenzas to end the first two movements were delivered with unhurried excellence, and the broad-strokes swoop through the elaboration contained many carefully pondered components and mellifluous moving parts (…) De Borah’s manipulation of line and textures included candid exchanges with the orchestra on the modern piano. The integrity of his joy in exquisitely beautiful searching piano song redefined delicacy for us. It presented the eighteenth-century keyboard part with exemplary, diminutive clarity.”
Sydney Arts Guide, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, October 2023
“De Borah’s light and lithe playing style and pearly tone is ideal for Mozart and it was a reading that this listener believed even the most illustrious performer would find hard to cap” [Piano Concerto in G, K.453]
Limelight Magazine, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, October 2023
“Goodwin’s lithe sweet timbre and feeling for the text, and de Borah’s innate sense of nuance and poetry, make for a special partnership and cement the arrival of a Lieder duo from the top echelon.”
Limelight Magazine, ABC Classic release When Yesterday We Met: Songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, July 2022
“Indeed, if you wanted an instance of how to accompany a Romantic era chamber work [Mendelssohn Sonata No.2 for Cello and Piano with Umberto Clerici], you could hardly do better than watch this artist at work … music-making of this calibre is to be cherished.”
O’Connell the Music, Musica Viva 2021 Concert Season, Queensland Conservatorium Theatre, June 2021
“De Borah’s subtle playing was perfectly in keeping with the restrained passion and exquisite pathos of the piece [Mozart Sonata for Piano & Violin in E minor, K.304 with Kristian Winther]”
Adelaide Advertiser, UKARIA, April 2021
“Daniel de Borah was perfectly in tune with Mozart’s refined comedy and sophisticated sentiment in a thoroughly engaging performance [Piano Concerto in G K.453].”
Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, April 2021
“Renowned Australian pianist, Daniel de Borah wowed the audience with his virtuosic skills with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 [Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Johannes Fritzsch]. His fingers flew up and down the scales during the Allegro, contrasting melodious lullabies with majestic marches (…) De Borah’s natural style flowed seamlessly through the double octaves, contrary scales and striking chords (…) With an unrelenting audience applause, De Borah rewarded the crowd with a brief but frantic encore demonstration of his mastery resulting in further tumultuous applause.”
Limelight Magazine, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, November 2020
“This was an elegant performance, with a beautiful sense of Classical style: the explosive passions always constrained by the form [Mozart G minor Piano Quartet with Andrew Haveron, Tobias Breider & Umberto Clerici]. The piano is the lynchpin of the ensemble in this work, and de Borah executed all the challenges with seeming ease and remarkable clarity.”
Limelight Magazine, Musica Viva Tasmania, Hobart March 2020
“Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman and Australian pianist Daniel de Borah were perfectly matched in their Recitals Australia concert, with both performers bringing effortless virtuosity and refined musicianship to their performance (…) De Borah showed impeccable control in his phrasing …”
Adelaide Advertiser, Elder Hall, June 2019
“Following a blissfully eloquent rendering of Arvo Part’s minimalist masterpiece Spiegel im Spiegel, the partnership between Gluzman and de Borah had a final opportunity to prove its worth in Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata, and to say this was an unqualified success would be an understatement.”
Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne Recital Centre, June 2019
“Earlier pianist Daniel de Borah had produced an almost flawless performance in Mozart’s engaging Piano Concerto in A, K 414 (…) de Borah’s beautifully controlled tone qualities in its skittish final Allegretto ensured Mozart’s humour hit home with both wit and intellect.”
Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, April 2019
“Daniel de Borah gave a thrilling, urgent, and committed account of Prokofiev’s 7th piano sonata, written as the battle of Stalingrad was being fought. The march rhythms in the first movement, so much beloved of Shostakovich, were chillingly taut, and de Borah played the finale, often used as a flashy encore because of its difficulty, in a brutal, deliberately un-beautiful way so much more faithful to the spirit of this music. But the slow movement was the emotional heart of this performance, de Borah tolling the bells before the return of the beautiful main theme with fateful clarity over the endless sea of desolation.”
Australian Stage, Adelaide Festival, March 2018
“Leading a beautifully warm lyrical interpretation of the Mozart concerto [C minor K.491], stylish and technically immaculate pianist Daniel de Borah ensured things never became melodramatic while giving the inspired C minor material plenty of colour and feeling. There was an engaging jauntiness about the delicious variations of the final Allegretto and even the darker moments of the symphonic opening Allegro maintained a light footstep and focused soundscape.”
Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, June 2017
“His playing is immaculate, focused and engaging, without the slightest showmanship or undue flamboyance.”
Adelaide Advertiser, Recitals Australia at Elder Hall, November 2016
“With an elegant, upright posture and a silky, sparkling touch entirely devoid of boorish bashing, de Borah wove a clear thread of lyrical fluency and charismatic flourish through the first movement [Grieg Concerto in A minor], approaching its grand cadenza with buoyant intelligence and measured introspection. Weighty yet delicate, his Adagio found sympathetic accompaniment, Northey keeping string and wind lines docile, pliable and nostalgic, while a bubbly finale was marked by extreme lucidity in the piano line’s virtuosic outbursts.”
The Australian, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, March 2016
“Throughout there were hallmark signs of intelligence and imagination as well as formidable technique matched with a thorough understanding of structure and sensitivity to the aesthetic of the work [Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor].”
ArtsHub, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, March 2016
“… de Borah’s thoughtful, intelligent delivery was perfectly suited to achieving the ideal equilibrium of musical clarity and emotional restraint [Brahms Intermezzi Op.119]. This was a display of sophisticated musical artistry, free from overly flashy interpretative arrogance or unnecessary physical hyperbole. Paired with this deeply respectful reverence for the music, de Borah also carefully understood the architecture of Brahms’ composition, and he made some very savvy and enlightened choices in the prominence of each voice within the musical texture. This was excellent Brahms playing …”
Limelight Magazine, Canberra International Music Festival, May 2015
“It was no surprise that De Borah would play the work [Beethoven Piano Sonata in E flat Major Op.27 No.1] with great sensitivity and style, with a very fluid technique and much heart-felt expression. He has an innate ability to connect himself to the music and the mind of its composer. His playing, especially of the third movement, marked Adagio con espressione – Allegro vivace – Presto showed this remarkable quality to the full.”
CityNews, Canberra International Music Festival, May 2015
“… the Daniel de Borah/Kristian Winther duo set a high benchmark on Thursday with a program comprising only two works but generating a white-hot intensity… Maintaining the tension in the central Andante of the finale, de Borah hurtled through a massive, cadenza-like solo with mastery [Shostakovich Violin Sonata] … it made an ideal fit for this well-matched, splendidly gifted pair.”
The Age, Melbourne Recital Centre, February 2013
“Pianist Daniel de Borah grounded the Russian work [Shostakovich Piano Quintet Op.57 with the Australian String Quartet] with near-faultless precision and eloquence in the night’s finest music-making.”