Polina Osetinskaya is her name… She studied at the Moscow Central Music School, well-known for producing prodigious talents, as well as the Moscow and St. Petersburg conservatories. She learned well…
Osetinskaya gave evidence of technical poise and, most importantly, an inquisitive musical mind… revealed a flair for expressive shading and rhythmic plasticity… The performance had character, depth, theatricality… Everything was carefully prepared and thought through; the music was conceived as one grand arch, not a set of independent pieces…
Although the world does not lack for talented pianists, this one should be able to make an impression (her fashion-model looks will not hurt in these marketing-driven times). Even if some of her phrasing sounded a little self-conscious, calculated, Osetinskaya never fell into the by-the-numbers, cookie-cutter mold of so many conservatory grads. She had something personal to say and the means to say it.