RELEASED IN THE U.S.A IN AUGUST 2006!
SELECTED REVIEWS FOR “TRANSFIGURED MOZART”

Alan BECKER
American Record Guide

"Transfigured"  is correct, for most of these pieces are anything but simple transcriptions of the composer's music. At almost 30 minutes, Max Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart as arranged by Karl Salomon, is the longest of the works here. With the distinguishing orchestral colors missing, the music can become a bit of a trial, but South African-born pianist Malan, following up her effective debut album, "Transfigured Bach", makes a feast of it. A lot of this is owing to Salomon's always interesting pianistic writing, but let's give credit also to the rich palette of colors conjured up by some exceptional pianism.
Glinka's Mozart Variations uses the glockenspiel solo from Magic Flute as its point of departure. Following the theme are three variations and a coda-all in the space of six minutes. Since Glinka's original score was lost, this is a reconstruction by his sister Lyudmila Shestakova. She had to be a reasonably good pianist to handle the splashy variations. Hummel obviously knew what he was doing when he wrote his Fantasina on a Theme of Figaro. This free fantasy based on 'Non piu andrai' is both imaginative and great fun to listen to. Malan sounds like she's enjoying every bit of it, and her playing sparkles with sunshine and wit. Opera is also the source for Joachim Raff’s Souvenirs de Don Giovanni. The ever popular Don is the subject of yet another fantasy that draws freely on Mozart's thematic riches. This potpourri is always musical in presentation and avoids most of the empty rhetoric that one finds in Thalberg's fantasies. Malan copes without difficulty with the technical writing that does not stray too far from the tunes. Thalberg, on the other hand, is on his best behavior for the 'Lacrimosa' from the Requiem. His very respectful transcription declines any embellishing of Mozart's sublime writing.
Alkan's Andante from the Quartet 18 is pretty straightforward and not at all what one might expect from his other piano writing. Ignaz Friedman's tinkering with the Romance from 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' and the Minuet from the Divertimento with two horns burdens the music with arpeggios, key changes, tweaked harmonies, and lots of romantic rubato. If you can accept that, it all works very well in the hands of the comely Petronel, who seems to imbue everything she plays with conviction and style. Given the fine sound and excellent notes, this should be another hit for the pianist.

International Record Review, December 2006
Mozart: A final anniversary survey of CDs by Peter Branscomb

"... As indeed for a more experience aficionado would "Transfigured Mozart", a 2005 recital by South African pianist Petronel Malan, who has had the challenging notion to build a programme of transcriptions of Mozartian themes made by Hummel, Glinka, Thalberg, Alkan, Raff, Ignaz Friedman and Reger (an arrangement by Karl Salomon of the Variations and Fugue, Op. 132). This generous, closely recorded CD shows Malan and her Blüthner to excellent advantage."

Petronel Malan (Hänssler Classic) **** (4 stars)
GAUDISC ABC de las Artes y las Letras, September 2006

It lacks, in an epoch of encredulity and irreverence, to add another release to the Mozart anniversary year - but this includes laborious hours from the most diverse transcribers.... There is a lot of curiosity in this program of "transfigurations" interpreted by the South African pianist Petronel Malan who seam to be a specialist in this type of adventures and praised by previous releases of the works of Bach.... One realizes, as was said by Max Reger "we need Mozart as much as possible" and yet, for that reason, the Theme and Variations, Op. 132 for orchestra in a solo piano version (which is already a transcription of a transcription) crowns this brilliant recording of Petronel Malan.

MUSICUS MAGAZINE Volume 3 - 4.2.06 - A South African Journal for Music Teaching, National Magazine, South Africa

".... With Petronel Malan's recent nationwide tour, she proved once again what a unique musician she truly is. Her simply astonishing technical abilities fall in conjuction with her musicality..... The recording was made at the Blüthner Piano Factory in Leipzig, Germany and the sound quality is uniquely natural...."

Louis Heyneman
Die Burger, Cape Town

MALAN EXHIBITS FULL COLOUR PALETTE OF THE GRAND PIANO

The first time I saw Petronel Malan in action was at the Hennie Joubert Competition in Wellington. She was not quite 12 years old. Her technical abilities stunned everyone and her musical insight was already very mature for her tender age. Some years later, when she won the SABC Music Prize - the most sought after piano competition in South Africa at the time - no one was surprised. Last year, her début album, Transfigured Bach, was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards, including "Best Instrumental Solo Album." And suddenly the rest of the world knows what music lovers in South Africa knew a long time ago: Petronel Malan is a talent of world caliber.
Her second album, Transfigured Mozart, was recently released during a tour of her home country of South Africa. The Mozart-transcriptions of Liszt, Godowski and Busoni are all very well known and thus not included in this recording. The seven selections were carefully chosen - mostly her own research - to present lesser-known yet interesting works. Stylistically the works span more than 150 years, from the development of the piano as the delicate "Hammerklavier" to the modern grand piano. There are works of Hummel (a student of Mozart), Alkan, Thalberg, Glinka, Friedman, Reger and Raff.
The company, "Hänssler Classic" also emphasizes to the listener that Malan uses Blüthner pianos for her recordings. For the layman it might sounds like unnecessary information, but for the connoisseur it is an enormously important point because the most delicate sound palette is created through a determined philosophy and technique: In most pianos, the hammer hits three standard upper strings - but the Blüthner pianos uses a 4th and raised string for these upper notes, named "Aliquot." This "floating string" gives the pianos an exceptional singing tone, a noticeable different character than the brilliant, piercing sound of a Steinway. Not necessarily better, just different.
It is clear that Malan possesses an exceptional affinity for die Blüthner sound. With her brilliant articulation, attention to timbre and balance of sounds and colours, each work is a discovery. Her interpretations are sometimes individualistic, but never uninteresting or without musical merit.
Sigismund Thalberg's uncomplicated transcriptions of the heart wrenching Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem becomes a polished sound-creation where all the emotions of the orchestra and choir are combined. The balance between the soft bass-sounds and the singing melodic line in this performance is just right.
One of the works where the sound-palette are most obvious, is Joachim Raff's (1822 - 1992) Souvenirs de Don Giovanni - a dramatic work based on themes of Mozart's opera with the same name. It is striking how she manages to actually create two different sound-palettes at the same time! The growling bass-register strikingly carries the dramatic character of Mozart's darkest opera and the bell-like upper register emphasizes the playful elements.
Ignaz Friedman's elegant transcription of the Romance from "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" requires that the pianist executes five or 6 string parts at the same time. The album concludes with the monumental "Variations and Fugue on a theme of Mozart" by Max Reger - based on the opening theme of Mozart's Piano Sonata in A major (K. 331). Mozart's original composition is also a set of variations, but Reger transforms the theme in a completely different manner. It was originally composed for both orchestra and two-pianos by Reger and Karl Salomon adapted it for solo piano.
It is a work of extremes where the performer's technical abilities and musical intellect are pushed to the utmost in the large architectural structure of the work. The illusion of 2 pianos are kept through-out the piece and creates enormous challenges for the solo performer.
The first challenge already appears in the first variation where the inner-melodies within the multi-motivic texture, must continue seamless singing. The 5th Variations with is altering, multi-faceted material often happening at the same time, is a technical nightmare - while the persevering melodic line of the subtle 8th variations sounds deceivingly simple, but in truth requires great musical insight.
The work ends with an unforgiving fugue which builds almost to breaking point, has a slightly calmer middle-sections, only again to slowly build to a great and stately climax. Here, the glory of the modern grand piano and it's sound pallet is fully exhibited.
All that one can add at this point, is “BRAVO!”

James E. Leonard
All Media Guide

Mozart?” Yes, indeed, transfigured Mozart. Eschewing either original works or the best-known arrangements, South African pianist Petronel Malan has chosen transcriptions which radically transform, nay, transfigure Mozart’s music. From Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s brilliantly post-Classical “Fantasina on a theme of Figaro” through Sigismund Thalberg’s austerely reverential “Larcrimose tiré du Requiem de Mozart” to Reger’s massively virtuosic “Variations and Fugue on a Theme by W. A. Mozart” – the theme, by the way, is Mozart’s theme for the set of variations that open his famous A major Piano Sonata – Malan has unearthed works which allow us to hear Mozart with wholly new ears.
And in every case, Malan performs them with commanding technique – no easy thing in Reger’s gnarly fugue – comprehensive tone (everything from the most hushed pianissimo to the thickest textures sings with full-throated ease), and unstinting generosity; Joachim Raff’s “Souvenirs de Don Giovanni” may not be the greatest music ever composed but you’d never know it from Malan’s sympathetic performance. Released in the Mozart year of 2006, “Transfigured Mozart” will be a relief to those who already have enough recordings of the standard Mozart repertoire and a delight to those who cherish great piano playing.
Hänssler’s recording of Malan’s sweet-toned Blüthner grand is the next best thing to sitting next to her on the bench.

Nominated for three Grammy Awards !

The Complete Bach Transcriptions of Béla Bartók, Dinu Lipatti, and Ignaz Friedman.
Internationally released in 2003.

SELECTED REVIEWS FOR “TRANSFIGURED BACH”

Classical Voice of North Carolina: Marvin J. Ward: April 2007

This CD, her recording début, was nominated for three Grammy awards: best instrumental soloist performance for Malan; best engineered album, classical and producer of the year, classical... It was recorded at the renowned Skywalker Sound studio in Nicasio, CA.

The list of transcribers is a bit deceiving, for there are only one each (albeit the longest works on the CD) by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti all ten others, mostly less than five minutes long, are by Polish pianist-composer Ignaz Friedman. Three of the works have here their world première recordings. This one is in some ways a "Bach's Greatest Hits" recording, since it presents so many of his best-known melodies, but it has a pleasing freshness nonetheless. Malan's sensitive touch, always varied to suit the individual piece or section thereof, and always exploiting fully the potential of the instrument to showcase the music, is well-nigh astonishing. It is easy to see why this superb recording earned her a Grammy nomination.

Peter J. Rabinowitz
Fanfare Magazine Jan/ Feb 2004
…Malan’s impressive debut disc is filled out with respectful (indeed, nearly anonymous) transcriptions by Bartok and Lipatti. Seriousness of purpose is a prominent feature of Malan’s disc… Not that she eschews flamboyance entirely (her performance of the Toccata and Fugue is especially dramatic in its variety of color and articulation). Nor is she incapable of elegance (especially in the Lipatti transcription) or ravishing simplicity... her tone is more uniformly full-bodied, her structural highlighting (both her accentuation and her rubato) more emphatic, her demeanor more methodical, her attention more steadfast…”

Paul Boekkooi
Rapport Magazine September 2003
Petronel Malan's Stunning Debut
”…The voice of the master of masters, Bach himself, comes through in each selection. Petronel Malan illuminates the perspective of the three giants who lived two centuries after Bach… Malan's musical intuition and rock-solid conviction, she ensures that none of this pain dissipates into mere vanity or musical prettiness. She lets the Friedman sound go its own way, as in the opening part of the Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, where she powerfully masters the nearly molto perpetuo quality of the music and its cunning changes. She can also dream, as in the two different versions of “Wachet auf,” or in the slow romantic approach to “Nun kommt…” Lipatti's ethereal, purely pianistic language in the Pastorale in F stuns, while the genius of Bartok magically transforms the three-voiced Trio Sonata No. 6 in G Major into a typical mid-European piano idiom. Elements such as balance, phrasing, and timing are in excellent hands with Petronel Malan. Her musicality is infinite while still expressing a distinct pianistic personality...”

Matthias Lange
www.klassik.com  July 2003
jizz party, ebony blow, daughter fuck dad, nude housewives housewife, gay butt sex, sex toys are fun, karaoke disc the asshole song, black fetish, forum sylvia saint, tattoo of chinese symbols, index of bbw, hardcore movies, amateur wife pictures, gang vention, 14 year old tits, gay bitch, blonde sucks dick, clip cum free group oral rimjob share, submitted wives, shemales from brazil, male cocksuckers, , online adult dvd rental, son fuck mom, old military manuals, girl gang, happens during the female orgasm, free xxx long movies, wet teen pussy, ass like that mp3, loose asshole, hustler dvd cover, incest stories preteen kiddy pics, live zoo camera, hentai gifs, gay muscle hairy men, latina reality nudes, amature sex videos, celeb paparazzi pictures, shemale dom, wife swap movie porn, female celebrity feet, anal asian girl, raven pornstar, mariah carey hardcore, ear get her pierced, clit lick pussy, anime cumshots, the violet boot, butt penetration, nude women in showers, bdsm instruction, free porn peep shows, , scat movie samples, mature sex stories, big cock domination, fat girl naked, spanking naughty schoolgirls, bdsm slave wanted, busty girls asian, thumb nail picture teen, pee face, hot teens in micro thongs, 519 community center trans parenting 2, fisting tribe.net, free cartoon pussy, free teen upskirt, reality blow job, hardcore mom, well hung stud galleries, topless coeds, young gay teens, kwik off nonacetone nail color remover, pornstar pictures, gay men swallow cum, acrobatic nymphetts, young naked teens, quit smoking sites, sex stories bisexual, tattoo designs of pitbull dogs, briana lingerie, free mature sex clip, loony toons xxx, long beach ca, 'anal creampie, anime nurses fucking, coed hottub, sex web cam, online dating plano, free ethnic cumshot, celebrety cruise lines, male to female surgery, cheerleader xxx, boob patrol, forced hot water heat system, amateur movie, bbw asses, tawny roberts hardcore, upskirt schoolgirls uniforms, couples fucking video, extreme games to play, indian orgasm, jenny mccarthy gangbang, photo pierced pussy, executive office suite london, free ebony hardcore, sexy lingerie online shopping, bikini celebrity paparazzi, milf office, lesbian dildo action, a strip party, bondage spanking, pissing black models girls legs, outdoor recreation major jobs salary, vet silicone to treat knee injuries, shemales with big dicks, hot videos of brunettes, enormous dildo, best lesbian movie, /girls fisting, free fisting mpegs, cheerleader accidental upskirt, latin female models latin models, , bdsm punishments, , fun sex toys, office masturbate, gay teen porn, dick head shemale ethnic site asian back deeper fell find, busty chick, asian bikini model galleries, dennis leary asshole lyrics, amon ra the lion at milwaukee county zoo, spanking otk, cheerleaders naked legs, butt bunnies, busty amateur boobs, homemade sex toy, brittney skye & swallow cum, guaranteed loans for military personel, tas trans bus, gangbang tgp, instructions on beastiality, maj tit melons, blonde doggy style, liter erotica, wet shaved, final fantasy hentay, son and mom incest, sleazy coed, mouth ejaculation, effects of quitting smoking, latino pussy, hairy chested guys, free cfnm clips, surgical nurse fetish, males kept in chastity, restless leg syndrome treatment, milf phone sex, hairy pussy getting fucked, dad and mom sex, asshole by denis leary, j lo's ass, free teen blowjobs, tiny dancer tim mcgraw, shanghai acrobatic, speculum insertion movie, , young gays, free beastiality movie clips, young party girls, jayna cum on her face cohf, forced to be a adult baby, double penetration mpg, erotiarty, cheerleader fetish, linda handjob, dad touch son, scat fans, womens butt, tommy lee's cock, free anal movies, indian sex free, public cum humiliation, tiny tach, transvestite lingerie, young big boobs, teen redhead lesbian, , womens sexy boots, shemale cum shemale fucking, schoolgirl tease, olson twins nude, gay sex toys, soft cock, hacked porn passwords, adolescent masturbation, wet mom, best orgasm, tickling female feet, wife bedroom photos, swap pictures of my wife, female cumshots, , fuck cams, xxx ffm, cartoon and disney porn, dad fuck daughter, celebs in bondage, janine reynaud porn films on dvd, extreme midget sex, free celebrety porno, shaved brunette, free hardcore porno, brutal facials, nylon handjob, old ebony, asian public nudity, spring break chicks, cfnm femdom stories, ethnic blow jobs, swallow head give mouth jizzz, real female orgasm, dick docking, young naked boys, how much do legal secretaries get paid, celebrety slips, skinny breast, funny dirty cartoons, gay play dad, coby dick, asian boob, horny lesbian sluts, schoolgirl spanking video, cute latina maid, fat anal sex, cartoon chicks, teen bitch, latina sexy feet, hot naked buff studs, bbw in leather, skinny dipping movies, free spanking video clips, nylon fetish lesbians, reality porn, erotieep show web cam, bdsm comics, skinny girl nudist, toon cock, barraquer wire speculum, my slut wife, gang nail plate, desperate housewives season miere, sucks to be you, hentai digimon, redhead tranny, persistent sore throat, ffm 1, bikini model galleries, busty teen brunette, automatic sex machines, pregnant pee, punishment for schoolgirls, closeups of clean-shaven vulva, sick and twisted cartoons, fantasy baseball cheat sheets, tranny ejaculation, spanking positions, extreme computers inc, chubby teen thumbs, hula girl tattoo, sylvia lyrics, free double penetration pics, , free rape fantasy stories, asian nude gallery, first time video clips, jennifer aniston tits, lesbos fisting, beach bags, ice dildo, college cum sluts, tit and nipple clamps, spanking school, naked chubby/plumdhead women, hentai cheerleader, group tits, fat twat, jordan pornstar, women who fuck men, ball cock bondage, latin school girls, young boys in shower, diagram of a vagina, flexible lick pussy, ani difranco untouchable face, erotic boots, pregnant after vasectomy, male rape military, creampie sharing, pantyhose shemale, male sex, dildo worship nyc, my friends hot mom porn, naked girls blog skinny, audobon zoo katrina, midget getting fucked, stud dog matingbasset hound, black gay cock, persistant sore throat, group jacking off, lesbians in public, zeeland public schools, horny tanned slut, asian forced, amateur nude couple, dickies medical uniform, gangbang outdoors, sexy incest mom and son, belly dance erotica, free photo speculum, acrobatic team, acrobatic gymnastic, tee shirts youth hockey, ladies mature and sexy, natural redhead pubic hair, pregnant rapid belly expansion, , trannie domination, female masturbation tutorial, adult steakandcheese, lesbian sisters porn, audio sounds of women orgasm, orgy videos, world war 2 music clips, daughter spanking, bareback jizz lovers, really big tits, engine swaps for mgb, paris hilton mpeg, ass lick movie rimjob, gay dvd rentals, jizz eater, flexible spending account maximum, pinay celebreties videos, couple erotica, big cock movies, metal retro sign, portland dating, 39 weeks pregnant, , horny college coed, chubby vagina, swallows horse, outdoor incest, enormous gallery sagging tit, shaved pits, yankee suck, 15 year old sluts, oral sex clips, vagina preg, silicone self adhering self bonding deterioration time, , hard cock closeup, skimpy bikini chicks, cheerleaders being fucked, male sex machine, facial exercise, anals, black bisexual sex, bisexual teen, dads and sons having sex, teeny thongs, text messages sexy flirty dirty, hustler taboo website, creampie eating galleries, tiny slit, women who fuck men, free private voyeur pics, milf elizabeth, smile now cry later tattoo, free hotties galleries bikini lingerie, extreme red heads, crying rape, gang symbol tattoos, kinky blowjobs, marlin model 60 peep sight, gothic maternity clothing, male midget porn, oral creampies, nba live 2004, define flexible budget, lesbian bitch, gay facial cum, busty french maid, gang bang office, tranny tiny, young upskirt girls, lesbian ass lickers, gallery male body builder, free porn thum nail, female domination denial, naked couples, teenie blowjob, rape murder immunity, cum covered faces, upskirt venus williams, celeb free nude paparazzi, international youth soccer tournament 00, blonde cum, lesbians gang bang, voyeur short skirts, live nude free webcams, dirty asian girls, group spanking, milk maid sex, beach penis, big boobs secretary, drunk sex party, free playboy videos, free hardcore pornstars, shaved teens, cfnm hand jobs, daughter suck, , online dating richardson, gallery nude girl, extreme situation, free ass movies, slightly chubby women nude, beast sex toons, sylvia saint free gallery, puffy nipples small tits, midget teens, the swap sheet, discount airfare flexible dates, superman hentai, beastiality movies, , dirty smileys, frameless sliding shower door, melon size boobs, avril lavigne pussy, brazil playboy mag, young tiny girl sex, muscle twink, celeb hardcore, huge cock deep throat, girls feet lick clips, dirty sanchez fucking on the dance floor, kids having sex, constant throat clearing, naked asian men, scrapbook die cut machine, cfnm image, adult sex comix, flintstones hentai, facial free info jizz personal remember, bite me mouth guards, gothic women in porn, stockings suspenders view under the skirt, anal asian girl, bisexual facial, totally free dating, , young hotties, 8 inch dick, young hotties, gay nipples, brunette models legs, white tranny, twink sex movies, chubby pantyhose, live sex web cams, cigar smoking girls, red head fuck, retro pay, asheville nc zoo, busty toon, happy birthday dad poems, kelly clarkson butt, housewives fuck, gay anal sex pain, math educational toys, oops paparazzi pic, pillow masturbation, girls locker room voyeur, celeb pussy slips, vampire sex, gothic dildo, forced existence, oakwood military cemetery, nurse fetishes, xxx blowjobs, dvd rape movies for sale, big cock fuck, group anal, teen nipples, brazil insertions gallery, jessica simpson oral, disney dirty toons, female realistic feet silicone latex, big fat bitch, double penetration mpegs free, secretary having sex, west coast gangbangs, hot blonde milf, female slaves, spanking asian school girls, indian hardcore sex, silicone pornstar torsos, exploited indian teens, young lesbian xxx, men caught naked, , free baby video clips, scat cum, webcam twinks, group massage vaginal, granny gangbang videos, taking off stockings, best pussy closeups, black lesbian porn, incest recovery inpatient centers, ethnic women sex, beastiality stories, pics of girls in thongs, vouyer cams, japanese masturbation, petite fuck, dildo enormous movie, sexy uniforms high heels, youngest free nudes on the web, daddies vs twinks, teen titan sex, gay mature men, amateur pantyhose nylons feet toes, most teenage girls wear thongs, nude beaches brazil, bobcos handjobs, bbw moms, vega nitro touring boots, balloon fetish video, gay son and dad, gay navy men, free teen thumbnail galleries, forced milking lactation machines, school handjob, tiny nude chicks, beach penis, plump butts, shaved cameltoe, paris hilton giving head, briana banks rimjob videos, hardcore ebony blowjobs, , naked hot studs, tranny tricks, legs stockings fetish, anatomy of a vagina, xxx the movie, fuck me harder, amateur male models, nylon 0-80 socket head cap screw, vintage trans am racing, the treaty of paris, hot tanned nude babe, enormous gallery sagging tit, vienna sex peep, shemale slave, lingerie ddd breasts, slut wifes, blonde college coed, tanned horse hide, free farm fetish porn, twins fuck, sexy naked cartoons, over the top movie clips, flower closeup, bi housewives, smoking fetish movies, women in fishnet stockings, sexy naked blondes, victim of duke university rape, free , erotica female, latin bj, asian clit girl, clit free huge pic, fuck oral suck, large female feet, fat girl pics, clit licking pic, sylvia saint free nude picture, hustler video clips, , natural tits mature, reality porn vids galleries, aroused vagina, hot ebony black chicks, sexy feet tanned blonde doggy, britney spears paparazzi pics, daughter suck, ffm cum face, female pubic hair, free ass to mouth gallery, buying outdoor advertising colorado, cute teen boys, history behind police uniforms, cute sluts, child fetish, adult swap wife, domination rape forced sex stories free, , sexy crossed legs pictures, xxx pierced, jizz on faces, bikini and swimsuit models, 54 cadillac trans swap, adult dvd rental uk, xxx scat, index of nipples, lesbian pee, , sexy office lady, sure peep sight, hustler movie downloads, youth baseball camps, hip leg pain, lesbian rimjob video, youth retro air jordans, caught nude, mom sex shower, huge asian melons, free sexy nurse movies, free hairy naked men, tiny teen melons, free fantasy football cheat sheet, ashland youth hockey association, retro set tv, gay latin boyz, katie price xxx, look like paris hilton, hubby watches wife fuck, what does bdsm mean, voyeur hunter, A Courageous Debut with Bach Transcriptions
“…Malan has taken risks for her CD debut and has been remarkably successful, as this courageous disc proves... Strength & Grace: Pianistic Personality. Petronel Malan has found her own path through these scores… With the variety of musical perspectives present on this disc, Ms. Malan always places emphasis on sound over structure -- an approach that actually permits a further insight into the structures in Bach’s music. Malan has an excellent understanding of the melodic fabric and the inner pulse of each piece, which is always reflected in her phrasing. These are not hollow “sequels” of the original works – their fundamental pianistic quality is always in evidence. Her expressive range spans the distance from stormy, passionate outbursts to extraordinarily tender, intimate moments… an altogether smooth, and balanced tone production. Malan finds surprising solutions again and again in her expression of the music’s dynamics. On closer inspection, Ms. Malan further reveals musical microcosms, with iridescent shifts in color and a “cantabile” sense of phrasing to develop a sense of organic unity. This is the extremely successful debut of an artist whose further development we will follow with interest -- and whose programming and musicality hold great promise.”

Rupert Mayr
The Herald newspaper December 2004
Fine CD debut by SA pianist
”Malan selected an exceptionally interesting program that she entirely devoted to transcriptions of works by J.S Bach… It needs a pianist like Petronel Malan to brilliantly master the fiendish difficulties of some of the works. Every now and then, passages widely spaced over the entire keyboard closely resemble a texture one normally associates with piano duets. Often, further demands are added by the complexity of a contrapuntal idiom that requires a clear separation of individual lines.
Malan’s impeccable technique, however, merely provides the basic tool for taking the listener on a highly enjoyable journey through a cleverly arranged succession of widely different styles and moods. After an exciting rendering of Bach’s Toccata, she next concentrates on music of a lyrical character, paying lovely attention to the ongoing interaction of melodic lines typical of Friedman’s transcription technique. An always perfect blend of dynamic subtleties, phrasing, ever varying touch and sound qualities helps to convincingly convey even a message originally entrusted to a singer.
Thus she makes us see the pastoral scene of “safely grazing sheep”, hear the watchman’s call to “Wake up” and sense the joy of the “faithful heart”. In the same way she later conveys the full tragedy of the Heavens’ Savior. She finally crowns her program with yet another great work: the Organ Sonata No.6 in Bartók’s highly demanding transcription. An album that can be highly recommended to any music lover.”

Piet Meiring
Music column for “Kruispunt” Johannesburg March 2004
Hooray for Charlize and Petronel!
”Apart from Charlize Theron there is another South African conquering the world with her charm and professionalism… This recording, in all aspects is a winner. The music is grippingly beautiful and Malan, with her fine-tuned sensitivity and overwhelming talent, respects and honors the original music of Bach all the way. It is the type of recording one can listen to day after day without tiring. A word of advice to all the Charlize-admirers who queued up to see “Monster”, do yourself a huge favor and listen to Transfigured Bach. It is an equally huge accomplishment.”

Farhan Malik
International Record Review January 2004
“Friedman's transcriptions are worth a listen. At times they can sound a bit overblown, but the chorale and cantata arrangements are quite beautiful. The two transcriptions by Bartok and Lipatti are, surprisingly, very faithful to Bach's originals. Malan generally prefers a crisp, dry sonority, which works well in the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor. When Malan employs more pedal and legato, as in her performances of Bach's Siciliano and "Mein gläubiges Herze" from Cantata BWV 68, the results are delightful.”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
July 5, 2003
Sure pasture
”…Malan chose from the long list of illustrious Bach-transcribers, three East-Europeans. With her varying articulation and colors of tone, with her energy and brilliance, Malan unfold the layers of sound in this colorful painting so clearly that Bach himself, do not disappear…”

John Phillips
www.musicweb.uk.net   February 2004
”…All of the transcriptions on this disc are very expertly done and Miss Malan plays very competently with a well-rounded tone (and delivers) a recording, which is of good quality… This is a disc, which will provide a good reminder of Miss Malan’s undoubted gifts, and Hänssler is to be complimented on taking the risk with such repertoire with a new up and coming artist.”