"A New Look at the Winners: As in the competition, the audience remains favoring the Taiwanese pianist, Ching-Yun Hu. After the 4 hands of Schubert Fantasie and Stravinsky’s Petroushka, Hu played with mesmerizing, magic touch in the Chopin Barcarolle, and even more so shown in the Ravel Gaspard de la nuit. And the transcription of the Strauss Blue Danube, like a marvelous ‘dessert,’ was played with great virtuosity."

“It is almost mysterious to see how the pianist - Ching-Yun Hu - can dominate the podium entirely with her flexible and spirited reading of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit, and the next day transforms into a casually dressed young woman – radiating with simplicity and discretion from the deepest of her being. In her birth country, she is being acclaimed already 'Taiwans glory". With a cheered recital in Alice Tully Hall, which she broke through two years ago at the hypercritical public of connoisseurs in New York, the doors to Carnegie Hall opened themselves."

“Ching-Yun Hu is already a remarkable pianist. In Tchaikovsky’s fearsome Piano Concerto No. 1 she demonstrated brilliantly and with great feeling for musical line that this concerto also has delectable inner voices which are all too often overlooked. Shimmering pedal effects, delicate washes of notes and being expressively convincing is still more important to her than granitic power in, say, chord playing. The Finale, very fast and brilliant, gave way to the big tune which was broadened at the end in the most convincing way.”

"Audience couldn’t wait to applaud
A capacity audience was entranced by the pianist, Ching-Yun Hu, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with such charm and intuition it was easy to realize we were in the presence of one of the world’s greatest performers. With the musicians moving from one triumph to another, there clearly came a time when the audience simply could no longer contain their delight. Hu wowed the audience with her dazzling performance of the Beethoven; such was her enthusiasm that she was almost dancing to the music. Her appearance was something of a coup for Maidstone audiences, sine the rest of the international starlet’s programme takes her to Brazil, Holland, the USA, South Africa, Taiwan and Hungary."

“Ching-Yun Hu is the key to success.”

"...gossamer in her Ravel, outwardly romantic in Chopin’s Third Sonata, Shostakovich’s First Sonata was a show of red-blood brilliance."

"Judging from the semi-finals, the Rubinstein Piano Master Competition already has a winner. It is Taiwanese Hu Ching-Yun, the only semifinalist with a real ‘spark.’ that elusive superstar quality that everybody looks for. Musical, energetic and full of flair, she gushed through Beethoven’s Concerto No. 1 and drove some of the audience to give her a standing ovation."

“It is almost mysterious to see how the pianist - Ching-Yun Hu - can dominate the podium entirely with her flexible and spirited reading of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit, and the next day transforms into a casually dressed young woman – radiating with simplicity and discretion from the deepest of her being. In her birth country, she is being acclaimed already 'Taiwans glory". With a cheered recital in Alice Tully Hall, which she broke through two years ago at the hypercritical public of connoisseurs in New York, the doors to Carnegie Hall opened themselves."

"Ching-Yun Hu gave an overwhelming impression as she changed drastically from Eusebius and Florestan in the Schumann Kreisleriana. The interpretation was beautifully done."

“Ching-Yun Hu is the key to success.”

"Ching-Yun Hu displayed the maturity to infuse El Amor y la Muerte, from the Goyescas by Granados, with a profound depth of emotion in a beautifully-shaped, expansive perfromance. She followed it with Chopin's relatively unfamiliar E-flat Rondo, Op. 16, negotiating its fast-flowing passages with cool control, elegance and ease. To conclude, she offered a highly accomplished account of Rachmaninov's Second Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 36, the dramatic opening of the Allegro agitato compelling attention, while the concluding Allegro molto was the ideal showcase for Hu's virtuosity as she propelled the movement to an emphatic climax."

"...gossamer in her Ravel, outwardly romantic in Chopin’s Third Sonata, Shostakovich’s First Sonata was a show of red-blood brilliance."

"Ching-Yun Hu displayed the maturity to infuse El Amor y la Muerte, from the Goyescas by Granados, with a profound depth of emotion in a beautifully-shaped, expansive perfromance. She followed it with Chopin's relatively unfamiliar E-flat Rondo, Op. 16, negotiating its fast-flowing passages with cool control, elegance and ease. To conclude, she offered a highly accomplished account of Rachmaninov's Second Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 36, the dramatic opening of the Allegro agitato compelling attention, while the concluding Allegro molto was the ideal showcase for Hu's virtuosity as she propelled the movement to an emphatic climax."

"Audience couldn’t wait to applaud
A capacity audience was entranced by the pianist, Ching-Yun Hu, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with such charm and intuition it was easy to realize we were in the presence of one of the world’s greatest performers. With the musicians moving from one triumph to another, there clearly came a time when the audience simply could no longer contain their delight. Hu wowed the audience with her dazzling performance of the Beethoven; such was her enthusiasm that she was almost dancing to the music. Her appearance was something of a coup for Maidstone audiences, sine the rest of the international starlet’s programme takes her to Brazil, Holland, the USA, South Africa, Taiwan and Hungary."

“Listen to the dramatic thunder storm of the Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2, and energitic keywork of the Leighton Fantasia, Hu's playing is especially shown when she played two well known Mozart works. Her playing expands from strength to the most deeply felt moments of almost inaudibility; to the soul and pianistic bliss. It is like the way of scultures. Her way of music is to find the essential at the core of the composition's fullness.”

"Hu’s staggering fingerwork in Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody was tamped by her hallmark of visceral virtuosity allied to breathtaking clarity. A foretaste of Hu’s outstanding pianism came in the opening work in which Schubert’s amazingly fecund imagination inspired the Sonata in C minor, D. 958. With stamina sapping demands, Hu’s all-embracing playing never faltered. A towering talent, and in one so petit!"

“Ching-Yun Hu reveals a deeply original and imaginative personality, supported by extraordinary technique.”

"The Chopin Rondo in E-flat, Op. 16 was played with elegance and flabbergasting fingerwork. Speaking in terms of sheer technical brilliance, I don’t recall being as amazed even by Horowitz’s performance of the same work."

"Audience couldn’t wait to applaud
A capacity audience was entranced by the pianist, Ching-Yun Hu, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with such charm and intuition it was easy to realize we were in the presence of one of the world’s greatest performers. With the musicians moving from one triumph to another, there clearly came a time when the audience simply could no longer contain their delight. Hu wowed the audience with her dazzling performance of the Beethoven; such was her enthusiasm that she was almost dancing to the music. Her appearance was something of a coup for Maidstone audiences, sine the rest of the international starlet’s programme takes her to Brazil, Holland, the USA, South Africa, Taiwan and Hungary."

"Judging from the semi-finals, the Rubinstein Piano Master Competition already has a winner. It is Taiwanese Hu Ching-Yun, the only semifinalist with a real ‘spark.’ that elusive superstar quality that everybody looks for. Musical, energetic and full of flair, she gushed through Beethoven’s Concerto No. 1 and drove some of the audience to give her a standing ovation."

“superbly effective” [on Kenneth Leighton's Fantasia Contrapuntistica]

“Ching-Yun Hu is already a remarkable pianist. In Tchaikovsky’s fearsome Piano Concerto No. 1 she demonstrated brilliantly and with great feeling for musical line that this concerto also has delectable inner voices which are all too often overlooked. Shimmering pedal effects, delicate washes of notes and being expressively convincing is still more important to her than granitic power in, say, chord playing. The Finale, very fast and brilliant, gave way to the big tune which was broadened at the end in the most convincing way.”

"Hu’s staggering fingerwork in Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody was tamped by her hallmark of visceral virtuosity allied to breathtaking clarity. A foretaste of Hu’s outstanding pianism came in the opening work in which Schubert’s amazingly fecund imagination inspired the Sonata in C minor, D. 958. With stamina sapping demands, Hu’s all-embracing playing never faltered. A towering talent, and in one so petit!"

“Listen to the dramatic thunder storm of the Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2, and energitic keywork of the Leighton Fantasia, Hu's playing is especially shown when she played two well known Mozart works. Her playing expands from strength to the most deeply felt moments of almost inaudibility; to the soul and pianistic bliss. It is like the way of scultures. Her way of music is to find the essential at the core of the composition's fullness.”