Excerpts from concert reviews of pianist Maria Kihlgren

Carl Tillius, Göteborgs-Posten, 1971
Already at the age of sixteen she plays with a technical assurance that astonishes, and even better, she interpreted Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 with a maturity that is rare indeed. She plays with a naturalness that created purity and clarity in the finest Mozartean style. The future belongs to her.

B. Börjeson, Östgöta Correspondenten, 1972
The highlight of the concert was undoubtedly Beethoven's piano concert, rarely does one hear a young musician interpret a great master with such mature artistic understanding. There was beautiful lyricism in shifting nuances, temperamental outbursts in furious passages, and finely considered articulation and phrasing.

Arbetet, Gothenburg, 1984
Schumann's Piano Concerto, with the young Maria Kihlgren as soloist, was a most delightful experience. The soloist proved to be a fine technician with strong musicality. Her shaping of the solo part revealed a confident musical taste.

Ulla-Britt Edberg, Svenska Dagbladet, 1989
Maria Kihlgren's strength lies in her genuine musicality, in an interpretation marked by supple sensuality and tenderness toward every note and phrase. Seven short pieces by Arthur Honegger confirmed Maria Kihlgren's great qualifications and in these compositions her weasel-like agility and quick intellect. It was also a great pleasure to hear Ravel's Sonatine performed with such congenial vitality.

Per Åberg, Uppsala Nya Tidning, 1991
After the intermission came the most demanding work, Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49, from 1849. Not least challenging is the piano part, but Maria Kihlgren showed complete mastery at the keyboard. Trio Musica gave the audience a truly festive musical experience.

Lars-Gunnar Sundberg, Arbetarbladet Gävle, 1992
(Grieg's Piano Concerto) Maria Kihlgren presented us with an overwhelmingly lyrical version of Grieg's masterwork, filled alternately with sparkling, vibrant temperament and finely shaded nature poetry. For example, the opening of the second movement: a sunny summer day in the mountains expressed in tones. A full Folkets Hus Theatre expressed its gratitude with long applause, generously acknowledged with a movement from a Grieg sonata music with a distinctly Nordic tone, here brought to life by sensitive fingers.

Lennart Wikström, Bohuslänningen, 1992
The highlights were Swedish music by Lars-Erik Larsson and Russian music by Modest Mussorgsky. Maria Kihlgren played brilliantly in the distinguished and cyclical work Pictures at an Exhibition, Mussorgsky's "ten pictures." Kihlgren's fine personal interpretation and performance clearly indicated that this great and noble piano work was thoroughly studied.

Hasse Svensson, Nya Åland, 1992
The highlight, however, was Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Maria Kihlgren handled the highly demanding piece in an admirable manner and succeeded excellently with its dramatically varied and complex music.

Björn-Olle Pettersson, Hälsingekuriren, 1992
When Maria Kihlgren struck the first note, time itself seemed, for a moment, simply to cease to exist. Thereafter, more than a hundred listeners were treated to a musical journey beginning in the sixteenth century and ending in our own. In playing of liberating lightness, in evocative passages, in joy and seriousness, Maria Kihlgren, with her incredible skill, completely enchanted her audience. Grieg, Ravel, Chopin, Mozart, Scarlatti, and Mussorgsky came alive in her interpretations.

Åke Hanaeus, Sundsvalls Tidning, 1995
Above all, she developed great power in her playing. She demonstrated this from the very beginning as she struck the opening chords of Beethoven's "Pathétique" Sonata. She emphasized interpreting Beethoven's intentions: the alternation between strength and tenderness, lingering on resonances while allowing unrest to form in the persistent bass lines.

Pipsa Juhlin, Nya Åland, 1996
Sergei Rachmaninoff's three Preludes No. 2 in c-sharp minor, No. 5 in g minor, and No. 12 in g-sharp minor were, for me, the absolute highlight of the evening. One could almost see and feel the music in one's own hands. The pianist painted images and colors with enormous skill.

Jens Runnberg, Dalarnas Tidning, 2009
The main work came before the intermission in another large-scale chamber work, Beethoven's "Spring" Sonata. The humor in the short scherzo was wonderfully conveyed. There was an appealing, tender softness alongside fiery bite, with truly virtuosic elements. In the second movement, the adagio, Andersson and Kihlgren dared to whisper so softly that the rain on the skylight could be heard.

Bodil Proos, Arbetarbladet, Gävle, 2011
It was Maria Kihlgren who shone in her solo pieces. She demonstrated a gentle touch,indeed an overall softness of technique, that emerged with great clarity in Liszt's two compositions. The common denominator of these was "rippling." Scarlatti's sonatas were composed for harpsichord, but the advantage of the piano is its capacity for nuance, which Kihlgren employed with great sensitivity. She truly gave the pieces a distinctive character.