"LaDeur’s performance of Schumann’s monumental Fantasie is less volatile than some, emphasizing the music’s lyricism and poetry over its drama. This should not be taken to mean that it is in any way boring. LaDeur’s is the kind of performance that draws you in with its quiet poise, but when the climaxes come, they are powerful, in part because of the contrast. LaDeur’s playing exhibits a sensitive ear for color and balance: Melody, accompaniment, and secondary voices are all heard in perfect proportion. He has at his disposal a technique that allows for a wide variety of dynamics, particularly at quiet levels. He is not afraid to apply a significant degree of rubato, but never at the expense of the music’s arc. LaDeur’s ability to spin out a cantabile line makes one forget that the piano is actually a percussive instrument. In such a plentiful discography it is futile to assign a ranking to this new account, but clearly it belongs in the upper level of available recordings."
Henry Fogel, Fanfare [June 2020] To My Distant Beloved
" In a lustrous, moving performance of this widely performed cycle, Scharich and LaDeur pull off the alchemical wonder that a sequence of lieder can achieve. Here, in settings of eight Adalbert von Chamisso poems that survey love in multiple hues and aspects, this account of the great cycle is both exquisitely detailed and beautifully molded to the contours of its titular theme — a woman’s love and life. Words and music merge and seem inevitably joined. Singer and pianist commune. The sum effect is at once utterly natural and arrestingly fresh.... She and LaDeur conspire in the bewitching dream of 'I can’t grasp it, nor believe it' with a sly, furtive ease, enhanced by lithe rubato. It’s the art song equivalent of a dance in the moonlight. And so it goes. With the fifth song, a giddy strophic celebration of sisterhood on the eve of wedding, the cycle takes a short breather. What follows in the final three songs is truly remarkable, a feat of musical and dramatic transformation... LaDeur, sensitive and responsive throughout, gives the Schubertian piano lines a fitting, patient poignancy to frame this last glowing panel."
Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice [June 2020] To My Distant Beloved
"It’s easy to hear some of the influences here — Debussy and early Stravinsky chief among them — and pianist Jeffrey LaDeur’s superb rendition of two of the former’s piano etudes along with the latter’s “Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet” played by Bill Kalinkos underscored the point. But the Polish strain is equally important, as evidenced by piano music from Szymanowski — two excerpts from his Op. 50 Mazurkas that comment directly on Chopin’s models — and Paderewski."
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle [October 2019] Bard Music West: Grazyna Bacewicz
"…This was excellent programming and the execution was dazzling. Volume was made up for by subtleties and layering of tones, and thematic passages in the treble were crystalline. There was no excess in sound but always clarity of form and a joy in the interpretation.“
Sonia Morse Tubridy, Classical Sonoma [July 2019] Valley of the Moon Music Festival, Rausch piano (1839)
"In a brilliant program that celebrated the Debussy Centennial with all of his Études, put in perspective with Couperin's 25th Ordre and Chopin's F-minor Fantasie and Trois nouvelles études, what I admired most was his sensibility to gently coax that difficult room and boisterous Steinway to his gloves of silk...His Fantasie was deeply moving, probing, entirely felt as in the moment."
Eduard Laurel- Pianist, Writer, Critic [March 2018] Carnegie Hall Debut Recital
"I LOVED your concert on Sunday evening. You are a superb pianist, with a technique so sure the listener quickly forgets about all the technical problems your very demanding program presents to a performer. In addition, you have wonderful sense of color.
But it was the poetic side of your performance that really captivated me. I meant what I said when I called you a story-teller. As the program progressed, I realized I was hanging on your every note. I really wanted to hear what you had to say next.
If you’d like proof of your effect on the audience you may be amused to learn that I came straight home that evening and ordered a copy of the Debussy Preludes, to which I’ve given too little attention. They’re spectacular music and you ‘told us the music in a memorable way,’ to borrow Joel Krosnick’s wonderful phrase."
Bill McGlaughlin- Composer, Conductor, Peabody Award-winning host of Exploring Music [March 2018] Carnegie Hall Debut Recital
“… a masterpiece of understatement, simplicity and ‘old school’ chord playing where every note sings out with meaning.”
Jed Distler, Gramophone [January 2018] Debussy & Rameau: The Unbroken Line
“…LaDeur displays a transcendent technique, delivering fresh interpretations with striking clarity yet mellifluous tone. Here is a pianist who handles the virtuosic flair of 'Feux d'artifice,' the shimmering beauty of "Ondine," and the liquid tapestry of 'Reflets dans l'eau' with such natural ease and finesse that his playing is simply an extension of the instrument itself.”
Nicholas Phillips, Clavier Companion [December 2017] Debussy & Rameau: The Unbroken Line
"This inviting new release by Berkeley pianist Jeffrey LaDeur is at once a handsome and intimate performance of Debussy, and also a music-historical proposition — namely, that some of the music included here serves as a direct homage to Debussy’s Baroque forebear Jean-Philippe Rameau. It’s a captivating notion, and juxtaposing the relevant works does make a nice case for it... a languorous, sensually apt rendition of [Debussy's] “Images,” Book I, and a brighter and more detailed interpretation of the Preludes, Book II. Both sets benefit from the pianist’s delicate keyboard touch and rich expressivity."
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle [November 2017] Debussy & Rameau: The Unbroken Line
"... a pianist and musician of striking spontaneity, perception, and depth. The exceptional balance of emotion and intellect that defines his performances is as rare as it is reliable, embodying the type of artistry a discerning listener will always value most. "
Robert McDonald- Pianist, Chair of Piano at Curtis Institute [July 2015]
"...one of the most versatile and insightful artists before the public today"
Anton Nel- Concert Pianist [July 2015]
"...a pianist of extraordinary sensitivity, intelligence, and breadth of dramatic expression."
Derek Bermel- acclaimed composer, clarinetist [June 2015]
"...an exceptional, gifted young artist."
Robert Mann- Founding Member Juilliard String Quartet [September 2014]
"...tremendous flexibility in going from style to style and the sensitivity that comes from being an excellent chamber musician.
His ideas, while individual, are always grounded in logic, making him a joy to accompany in concerti."
Michael Morgan- Music Director, Oakland Symphony [June 2014]