| His playing is intense, sharp and
powerfully rhythmic. |
All Music Guide USA |
| … the brilliant Richard Lester
vitalized his playing of sonatas by Scarlatti and Soler…. |
Daily Telegraph |
| … virile and crystalline playing.
|
Records and Recording |
| Revealing light on an attractive
oeuvre. |
The Gramophone |
| A brilliant and splendid recital ...
very exciting |
Hi-Fi News |
| …. a virtuoso player bringing
great understanding and artistry on a beautifully assertive
instrument. |
Harpsichord and Fortepiano
magazine |
| ‘…passion, sweep and excitement’
|
Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio Three
CD Review |
| Lester punctuates Haydn's
well-defined sonata forms with sharp little flourishes at the
sectional junctures, and in the slow movements, where sustained,
natural Italianate melody is made to seem perfectly comfortable on
the fortepiano keyboard.. musically persuasive all the way through. |
Dilettante |
| Spectacular repertoire, spectacularly
well played……a landmark series |
Musicweb International |
| Lovingly prepared… scholarly
performances.... consistently impressive. He scores memorable
successes in some of Scarlatti’s most syntactically uncomfortable
sonatas. K.157 is a marvellous example. Fortepiano playing in K418
is magically galant….giving literally hundreds of pieces their first
really convincing performances. |
Eighteenth Century Music Magazine |
| ‘…amongst the greatest Scarlatti
players of this or any other time’ |
International Piano Magazine |
| Hugely interesting and enjoyable. |
International record review |
| An extremely formidable player |
George Malcolm |
| After hearing Lester play at
Dartington, the famous Spanish/American harpsichord virtuoso
Fernando Valenti famously quipped “I think I’ll give up and go sell
ice-creams for a living.” |
Fernando Valenti |