VOCAL PERFORMANCES
“Throughout the recital, Jessye Norman had the advantage of a superb pianist, Mark Markham, who made the keyboard very much a full-fledged partner. His flair for pianistic coloring was as impressive as his musical sensitivity.”
***SUN SENTINEL, Fort Lauderdale
“Ms Norman was at her best in a Poulenc cycle, ‘La Fraîcheur et le Feu’, sparkingly and deliciously accompanied by Mark Markham.”
***NEW YORK TIMES
“An even greater tour-de-force was the ‘Erlkönig’ where Jessye Norman put her pianist Mark Markham to the test, speeding up for the last stanza; he did not miss a beat. Markham was the unsung hero, standing in a diva’s shade without being overshadowed.”
***ST PAUL PIONEER EXPRESS
“The lid of the piano as high as it could go was notice at the start of the concert that pianist Mark Markham was going to be a collaborator with Jessye Norman, not just an accompanist. In everything he played –Brahms, Schubert, Poulenc and Carter — he established his individuality and authority as a musician as well as his ability to join with Norman in every bar of music.”
***SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
“Mark Markham, the evening’s pianist, was superb: his control of piano sound was masterful and his sense of harmony and rhythm exemplary.”
***CALGARY SUN
“In the first part of the program, fourteen songs of Richard Strauss, the pianist Mark Markham was a key figure, his playing flowing with an abundance of inspiration. The piano sounded pure and clear and perfectly balanced.”
***HA’ARETZ Tel Aviv
“Mark Markham was a poetic piano soloist, especially in the ecstatic song ‘Heaven” by Duke Ellington.”
***THE INDEPENDENT London
“At the Concertgebouw recital, Jessye Norman had at her side her loyal partner Mark Markham, the talented and inspired pianist.”
TROUW Amsterdam
“Pianist Mark Markham’s accompanying was as equally transcendent as Jessye Norman’s singing which he supported in every detail.”
***LA VANGUARDIA Barcelona
“Mark Markham’s playing was perfectly coordinated with the phrasing of Jessye Norman. With his musical mastery of the art of singing, he moved effortlessly as the singer’s shadow.”
***WIENER ZEITUNG Vienna
“Jessye Norman sang with her excellent pianist Mark Markham, who was as always, admirably incomparable.”
***HAMBURG ZEITUNG
“The accomplishments of the pianist Mark Markham deserve more than the usual adjectives ‘expressive’ and ‘perfectly balanced’: he was completely aware of every intention of Jessye Norman and was a perfect partner.”
***STUTTGART ZEITUNG
“The pianist Mark Markham was a grand collaborator with Jessye Norman.”
***EL MUNDO Madrid
“Mark Markham was the excellent pianist whose playing was eloquent and masterly and in perfect harmony with Jessye Norman.”
***LE SOIR Brussels
“The ovation at the end of the recital was equally for Mark Markham, the extraordinary and infallible pianist who accompanied Jessye Norman.”
LA JOURNAL Mexico City
“Mark Markham was her pianist, and at every ovation Jessye Norman made a large display of thanking him. He played with exquisite sensitivity.”
***LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Jessye Norman has an astute and sensitive pianist in Mark Markham, who rippled delightfully through Duparc’s ‘L’Invitation au voyage’ and was not afraid to match her grandeur in the bigger numbers.”
THE TIMES London
“Ravel’s ‘Shéhérazade’ was quite marvelously played by the young American Mark Markham, with a melting touch that created more colours than many solo pianists manage. And while he was nothing if not discreetly supportive, he sustained the mood of each song, and with it held one’s attention.”
***THE INDEPENDENT London
“Pianist Mark Markham played not only with assurance but true fire, showing the temperament to bring this music (Wuorinen’s ‘A Winter’s Tale’) to vivid life. This listener for one would happily pay top dollar to hear him step into another era to play Liszt’s ‘Les Années de Pèlerinage’.”
***THE STAR-LEDGER
“In the Dickinson songs of Aaron Copland with soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Markham’s piano playing was amazingly perceptive, sensitive and tonally appealing.”
***HOUSTON POST
“This is an excellently performed recital that is more satisfying for its artistry that for the bulk of its repertoire. The centerpiece is Charles Wuorinen’s hefty ‘The Winter’s Tale’ sung by Phyllis Bryn-Julson. Mark Markham is an exceptional pianist in his own right, almost stealing the show in the Wuorinen.”
FANFARE
“Though neither the Duke String Quartet nor the fine pianist Mark Markham, nor the charismatic string bass, Ron Carter, had individual items, they regularly provided the biggest contrasts of all in their accompaniments, when the wild, upbeat items, blazing the gospel, gave way to the songs of meditation.”
***THE GUARDIAN London (The Sacred Ellington with Jessye Norman at the Barbican)