THE ISLAND PACKET (Jane Shaw)
Hilton Head Island, SC
December 14, 2000

“…. There are moments in the course of a concert-going experience that seize the mind’s ear and stay there long after the performance has ended. Pianist Petronel Malan’s encore at Monday’s Hilton Head Orchestra concert was one. The charismatic young soloist, winner of the orchestra’s 2000 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, offered a wonderful arrangement of Schubert’s “Heiden Roslein.” The highly polished performance was illuminated by infinite variety and enhanced by a musical maturity that belied the artist’s youth.
Malan’s featured work was the Tchaikovsky’s mighty Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat….. The young artist summoned a dark, powerful sound chiefly due to the splendid 9-foot Bosendorfer imported for the occasion. Malan, aided by a meticulous horn entrance, delivered the opening crash of D-flat major chords with everything the listener could have anticipated. The second movement’s delicate, chamber-like passages were executed with clarity, precision and finesse. And Malan imbued the final climax with impressive breadth and grandeur.”