“Hiroko Sasaki, a young Japanese-born pianist, gave an unusually impressive debut recital. It took but a few exquisitely colored and authoritative-turned phrases of Haydn’s C Minor Sonata to establish the impression that we were hearing a true artist at work. Ms. Sasaki, a most distinctive musician, knows how to fuse Classical understatement with a more Romantic freedom.”

“exquisite proportion, rare poetic understatement, and a connoisseur’s in-depth grasp of many unusual textual options.”

“Pianist Hiroko Sasaki played with galvanic power in the Shostakovich, then turned around to treat the cascading runs in Mendelssohn’s music like so many strings of shimmering pearls. In its own way, this Trio is no less trenchant than the Shostakovich. But its restless heart is bathed in such warm, naturally sprung melodies that the effect is ravishing. The strings — sweeter and throatier-sounding here — sang those melodies eloquently, weaving effectively around Sasaki’s radiant playing.”