THE CAPE TIMES (Deon Irish)
Symphony concert
Nico Malan Theatre, Cape Town
November 2, 2001

"Petronel Malan burst on the local scene as a 12 year old of enormous promise. That promise has translated into instrumental and musical capability of the first water, demonstrated in convincing fashion in a performance of Rachmaninoff’s ever-popular Variations on a Theme of Paganini. Miss Malan has an attractively unfussy attitude to playing the piano, all of her energies being seemingly concentrated in fingers which demonstrate remarkable strength and dexterity.
Her athleticism aside, however, she approached these engaging variations with an impish sense of humour and an assurance of the contribution. Considering that Gueller is no slouch in accompaniment, either, the result was an ensemble as seamless as a recording. No mean feat, given the delightfully quixotic changes of tempi with which both artists invested this performance."