Press
“...an uncommonly elegant pianist.”
— New York Times
“He gave an absolutely inspired solo recital to which the audience responded with an almost delirious ovation. His stamina and concentration are phenomenal -- he has that unique ability to energize proceedings -- amply demonstrated as he galvanized the Cape Philharmonic earlier this week when he stunned the audiences by playing all five Beethoven Concertos in two consecutive nights.”
— Pretoria News
[Los Angeles recital, Ambassador Auditorium] “...a pianist of exceptional sensitivity and stylistic discrimination.”
— Los Angeles Times
[San Francisco Symphony Beethoven Festival] “...a definition of pianistic finesse.”
— San Francisco Classical Voice
[Mostly Mozart Festival, Lincoln Center] “In recent seasons, Mr. Nel has shown himself to be an expert interpreter of Romantic music. Here he addressed the Mozartean style with an elegance and vibrancy that served as a window into the music ”
— New York Times
[Bard Music Festival, Great Performers at Lincoln Center] “In music breaking down tonality Anton Nel gave superb performances of Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19, and Busoni’s Sonatina Seconda.”
— New York Times
[Mozart: Concerto for Two Pianos in E-flat, Mainly Mozart Festival] “...breathtaking in its perfection...”
— San Diego Union Tribune
[Chicago recital debut, Mandel Hall, University of Chicago] “Recently, Chicagoans heard Rudolf Serkin at 85, and you might well wonder who of the younger pianists will sound that way when he reaches that age. I nominate Nel, who is only 26 and plays with the authority and artistic strength of someone who can go the whole way to the highest goals.”
— Chicago Sun Times
[Brahms: Piano Quartet in G Minor] “The real potent force behind this performance, however, was Nel. His intellectual grip on the piece -- the ability to make transitions without sacrificing either their surprise or their logic -- marked this as chamber music in the best sense of the word: worthy of a festival all on its own”
— Toronto Globe and Mail
“The South African-born and internationally acclaimed pianist, Anton Nel, revealed himself to be a consummate performer with an ear for musicianly detail in a recital which can best be described as a study in refined artistic elegance. Thursday evening’s performance hosted by the Grahamstown Music Society was a high-point in the musical life of Grahamstown with Nel’s beautifully crafted tone production “living with me” well after the event.”
— East Cape Herald
[Edmonton Symphony, Alberta, Canada] “Anton Nel’s performance of the Tchaikovski’s Piano Concerto No. 1 on Saturday night was as close to perfection as is possible...”
— See Magazine, Edmonton
[Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Chicago Symphony]
“...a beautifully weighted tone and a nearly flawless legato...”
— Chicago Tribune
“A well-traveled international soloist and professor at the University of Texas’ Butler School of Music, Nel is an old school pianist of the Serkin-Gieseking-Schnabel variety. While he has virtuosic technique to burn, Nel gives first priority to capturing the composer’s stylistic and structural content while exploring the musical depths beneath surface glitter.”
— southfloridaclassicalreview.com
[Lincoln Center Recital] “...a pianistic aristocrat and a charmer...”
— Musical America
[Lincoln Center recital] “...tossed off with the kind of virtuosity that used to make audiences swoon...”
— Wall Street Journal
[Cleveland Orchestra] “Nel made a dazzling show of Edward MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2. He was elegant in the lyrical material, fleet in the passages where fingers must fly, and muscular when MacDowell sends the soloist roaring about the keyboard in storms of octaves.”
— Cleveland Plain Dealer
[Seattle Chamber Music Festival] “Pianist Anton Nel, appearing for his 21st season and a favorite among musicians, audiences and critics alike, gave the recital. The program was all Chopin and performed so exquisitely, thoughtfully, and musically, that it would have been enough satisfaction for the whole evening ...”
— The Gathering Note, Seattle
“...a world-class pianist and master of all the facets of his craft.”
— Die Volksblad
[Stravinsky: Concerto for Piano and Winds, Festival del Sole, Napa, California] “The first half of the program was graced with an outstanding performance by pianist Anton Nel in the Stravinsky concerto. His attacks were incredibly spiky and on-the-money rhythmically in the outer movements. By contrast, he magically turned the central Largo into an almost Romantic ode that brought tears to my eyes. This, in 1923 (revised 1950) neoclassic Stravinsky.”
— San Francisco Classical Voice
“Nel’s magnificent, granitic performance was the bedrock upon which the whole success of the performance rested.”
— Georgia Strait, Vancouver
[Recital with violinist Sarah Chang, Suntory Hall, Tokyo] “Anton Nel, the pianist, supported Sarah Chang with warmth, and communicated the joy of chamber music making...”
— Evening Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo
[Schubert: “Trout” Quintet, Vancouver Chamber Music Festival] “Particularly fine was the South African pianist Anton Nel in a role full of glittering scales and rapid passagework placed high on the keyboard. His playing was coruscating and fleet with never a hard tone and full of varied expressive touches.”
— Vancouver Sun