“Geniushene is clearly a solid and substantial musician. Her performances of Brahms’ Op. 10 Rhapsodies and Beethoven’s Op. 33 Bagatelles were magical.”

“Patience was the operative word in Anna Geniushene’s Brahms Ballades, Op 10, where her marble-tinged sonority and authoritative projection kept reminding me of Emil Gilels. Her outstanding Bartók Sonata was both grounded and mercurial. This sounds paradoxical, yet these qualities are better experienced than described. And for all the steely precision of her rapid octaves in the third movement, Geniushene never banged. In short, this was a distinctive set from a serious pianist.”

“I was nonetheless completely taken with Anna Geniushene’s (Russia) performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major Op. 15. It was probably her touch that first made me sit up and take notice. She seems to effortlessly produce a beauty of tone that I hadn’t heard from any of the previous four contestants. And her phrasing was shapely and compelling every time she touched the keys. And the vivacity of the last movement had to be heard to be believed. This was a wonderful performance.”

“Her approach to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major was light on its feet and sparkling with wit. Her well-shaped runs flowed like oil, as Mozart liked to say, and her soft wrist action produced smooth lines of weightless legato chords.”