PRESS

Find below the interview of Célia Oneto Bensaid on the set of TV5 Monde

5 DIAPASONS / JANUARY 2023

TTTT in Télérama

Duo in creation and friends in life, soprano Marie-Laure Garnier and pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid release a new album with the Hanson Quartet, "Chants Nostalgiques", title of a cycle of melodies by Charlotte Sohy.

The pianist's hands combine with the bows in a homogeneous, precise sound, filled with contrasts and reliefs when the score requires it: a display of fervor and virtuosity that rewards attentive listening to this richness.

Believe in the expressive power of French romantic chamber music… The young performers […] demonstrate this with passion or subtlety on the stage of the Opéra Grand Avignon. […]The six performers are rewarded with a LONG silence from the audience, a state of grace before the applause.Here are authentic ambassadors of French melody. Generous ambassadors since their encore rewards us with a playful melody, from La Bonne chanson by Gabriel Fauré – Winter has stopped.

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In the manner of a great fresco that turns out to be inspired and often exhilarating, it is indeed to a "Dantesque crossing" that the virtuoso invites us, who makes pages with obsessive accents like Call, or Luciferians like Sabbath, ardent moments, revealing a threatening Hell, with the theme of Dies irae permanently. Purgatory, between Presentiments, Languishing or Obsession, suggests the inner poetic struggle, almost philosophical, that Marie Jaëll's creativity delivers through a dazzling technique that often launches cries towards the light. This will be fully present in Paradise, in appeasement, tranquility or conclusive ecstatic contemplation. Here, introspection will dominate, with a tendency to sweetness, even effusion, which touches the listener to the depths of himself. […]This remarkable album, recorded in March 2021, benefits from the fervent and generous investment of Célia Oneto Bensaid. It brilliantly inaugurates a promising catalogue. We look forward to future publications that will open the door to other women's horizons, as rich and as exciting.

Sound : 9 Notice : 10 Repertoire : 10 Interpretation : 10

The young pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid dedicates her third solo recording to the composer Marie Jaëll, precisely to her cycle of "18 Pieces for piano after the reading of Dante". An album that inaugurates a new label entitled "Présence compositrices".

It is a record that has just been released on the label Présence Compositrices, and Célia Oneto Bensaid will play part of this program at the beginning of February at the Folle journée in Nantes and then on February 13, Salle Cortot in Paris.

On the occasion of the publication of her album dedicated to Marie Jaëll for the brand new label Présence compositrices, Célia Oneto Bensaid will be, this Tuesday, December 20 at 20h, the guest of the journal of the classic.

Composer Marie Jaëll has created a rare and fascinating body of work

A curious musician, eager for discoveries and committed to the revival of the female repertoire, Célia Oneto Bensaid has joined forces with the new label Présence compositrice, directed by Claire Bodin and Jérôme Gay, to record a rare and fascinating work by Marie Jaëll. Inspired by Dante, this extraordinary and formidable score evokes Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. We perceive the influence of Liszt whose composer and pianist was an ardent admirer, she who had all her piano music under her fingers.

Celia Oneto Bensaid will tell us more tonight tonight about this impressive work, whose duration (more than an hour of music) and technical requirements are real challenges for its interpreter and testify to the exceptional pianistic level as well as the richness of Marie Jaëll's writing.

Laure Mézan

TELERAMA – April 2022

In addition to Sophie Bourdais’ article, you can find an article and a video shot about the release of “Songs of Hope” here.


Le Journal du Classique by Laure Mézan – April 2022

On the occasion of the publication of their album Songs of hope, Marie-Laure Garnier and Célia Oneto Bensaid will be, this Thursday, March 31 at 8pm, the guests of the Journal du classique. Click here



Very nice review of “Songs of Hope” for Le Monde by Marie-Aude Roux- February 2022

“Messiaen’s ecstatic and sensual Collier, a true hymn to love, will be pacified by Poulenc’s tender Angel musicians, the tragic He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word, which Moses Hogan has dressed with an operatic aura, […] entrusting a long introduction to Célia Oneto Bensaid’s sororal piano. Lighter and more peaceful, the last part will consecrate the beautiful ten-year understanding of the partners: a Messiaen of all beauty (Prayer answered), to which will answer a Weepin’ Mary with “poulenquiens” accents. The two artists will definitely put the room in their pocket, after a last Wade in the Water on the borders of black vocality, with the tasty Amor, by William Bolcom, just to celebrate Valentine’s Day.”


To be continued – France Culture – June 2021

Pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid brings back to life composers forgotten by history. Click here to listen to his interview with Arnaud Laporte.


Morning France Music

To listen again to Célia, guest of Jean-Baptiste Urbain’s morning show on France Musique in May 2021, about “Metamorphosis”, click here


MAGAZINE PIANIST // September 2020 // Alain Cochard

FIGARO // July 2020 // Thierry Hilleriteau

Resmusica – Jean-Luc Clairet – September 2020

“Far from the traditional symphonic closing concert, the festival ends with a piano recital. Camille Pépin introduces Célia Oneto Bensaid, a pianist with an endearing commitment, who has designed a program From Ravel to Pépin. The path goes through Glass (we had noticed it the day before in The Road not taken), Pépin being part of this new generation of composers determined to work outside of any doxa. The pianist invites Glass on standby, her five Metamorphosis (the overwhelming melodic simplicity of the second always hits the mark) punctuating, like sound oases, the two Pepins (Number 1, inspired by Pollock and Nighthawks, transcribed from the harp, after Hooper) and Ravel’s five Mirrors. These Metamorphosis of 1988, a discovery for many, are hemmed, facing a room that holds its breath, with a freedom and a sense of nuance unprecedented that almost excludes them from the composer’s “repetitive” period. Ravel, Pépin, Glass: the filiations are clearly underlined by the virtuoso and limpid playing, without history, magnified by a piano with crystalline highs. The American composer opens and closes a concert that would conclude the festival in an impressive silence, were it not for three astonishing American encores of virtuosity: Joplin, Bernstein and Glass again, with the stunning Dance of the Second Act of Akhnaten.
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Open to the Public – Marie Anezin – August 2020

“The pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid brought a spring freshness tinged with mutinous charm to the blazing sun that was imposed at the 10am concert of the International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron. She masterfully and alacritiously imposed the only contemporary composer of this 40th edition: Philip Glass. Known for having brought his genius to so many film scores, theater or pop stars like Bowie, he remains the ambassador of a repetitive and minimalist music punctuated by micro-variations. A rigor and audacity that the American composer shares with his interpreter of the day Célia Oneto Bensaid. A sublime concert full of melody, sweetness, impertinences which was a sumptuous gift. Célia Oneto Bensaid chose a program related to theater with Metamorphosis, written in reference to Kafka and the Trilogy sonata of Glass/Barnes whose first opus was presented at the Avignon Festival by Bob Wilson.Entitled “Suspended Time”, this selection of Glass pieces evokes the parallel space-time in which Glass propels us and the confinement from which we emerge. A concert that illustrates the stubborn commitment of this young artist to make music in her time and at the heart of her news. She is also a fervent defender of the place of women in classical music. »
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Crescendo Magazine – Victoria Tomoko Okada – September 2020

“C

« Two mesmerizing recitals

On Sunday morning, August 10, Célia Oneto Bensaid gives a recital while Philip Glass ‘she herself describes as a “UFO” for this Festival. She called it “Suspended Time” and invites the audience to let themselves go by a time that is not measured by our daily criteria. She inserts the five Metamorphosis after Kafka between the three movements of Trilogy Sonata. This mesmerizing music, with which the pianist plunges us into infinity – even if a piece lasts only five minutes, it could continue for eternity! – even silences the cicadas, usually very noisy. She plays four encores. First Ligeti’s Der Zauberlehrling (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) as an extension of the program, then Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag (she takes the microphone to explain the origin of the Cake-walk), Number One, the first solo piano work by Camille Pépin (born in 1990) and Mozart’s La Tartine au beurre. Here is an original and “suspended” morning, which the public was delighted with. »
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La Croix newspaper – Emmanuelle Giuliani – September 2020

“During her recital dedicated to the American Philip Glass aptly called Le Temps Suspendu, the graceful Célia Oneto Bensaid played the sweet enchantresses, suddenly bringing out the musical tension of a bed of roses.
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Concertclassic – Alain Cochard – June 2020

“We let ourselves be taken by the acting stillness of Metamorphosis 2 during which the very subtle sound palette of the pianist works wonders. With Camille Pépin’s Number 1 – a recent piece (2020) that marks the beginning of a cycle by the French composer in tribute to Jackson Pollock – the hues are much more vivid, the relief is accentuated and Célia Oneto Bensaid suggests the gushing of color with perfect rhythmic acuity.”
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Bachtrack- PortraitJean Landras – February 2020

“Passionate about the classical repertoire but also about creation, by both European and American music, Célia Oneto Bensaid is one of the young pianists whose career is booming. Holder of five prizes from the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP), she is a laureate of numerous competitions and several foundations (Francis Poulenc International Competition 2013, Gabriel Fauré 2014, Piano Campus 2015, Society of Arts of Geneva 2017 …). She is particularly distinguished in the art of melody, winning in 2018 the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Competition with soprano Marie-Laure Garnier. The duo is preparing a tour in China in April… But in the meantime, it’s near Les Halles, in Paris, that I find Célia around a brasserie table. She calmly looks back on the stages of her career and enthusiastically communicates her passions and projects.
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Concertclassic – Gaelle Le Dantec – August 2019

“Célia Oneto Bensaid boldly launches her “American Keys”, an American program (Gershwin/Bernstein) of a first recording released last […] fall transcriptions force admiration – and Célia Oneto Bensaid obviously puts a lot of herself into it Gershwin’s Three Preludes are sensitive miniatures that she has magnificently defended, just like Bernstein’s […] Touches, which inspired the title of her album and her concert.”
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Articles from May 2019 // Tour in Japan organized by Piano aux Jacobins


Bachtrack – Jean Landras – April 2019

“Burning heart, cold head” liked to say the pianist Heinrich Neuhaus. This is a maxim that the evening artist could make his own. Benefiting from the good sound of the place and the instrument, Célia Oneto-Bensaid revealed her double talent: daring creator of shimmering transcriptions for piano of works of deeply orchestral essence and interpreter with astonishing expressiveness.”
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Classicagenda – Frederic Hutman – November 2018

“The Great Uncles of America by Celia Oneto Bensaid.”
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On Mag – Jean Pierre Robert – November 2018

“Celia Oneto Bensaid plays these pieces with as much conviction and zest as she moves in the art of transcription
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ENA Review Outside the Walls – November 2018

“After I got rhythm by pianist David Lively, Célia Oneto Bensaid also decided to honour two great American composers. Indeed, for her first recording, this young pianist, with an eloquent record, offers us works by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) and George Gershwin (1898-1937). However, if she performs pieces written for the piano, she does not hesitate, through transcriptions, to transport us in the universe of West Side Story or An American in Paris. The challenge is great, as these works combine orchestral colors and percussion power.

Thus, the West Side Story Symphonic Dances bring us back, to our delight, some of the great themes of the musical. From prologue to final, no less than nine musical moments decline the different feelings of the original work. With its ruptures, its degingandairair, its contrasts and its accompaniment in pumps, this transcription of the Prologue places particular emphasis on its influence of ragtime. As for the whistle calls and snapping fingers, which could pass for anecdotal, they create as much surprise as the restitution of the hectic life that runs through Bernstein’s work. In the same vein, the unbridled Mambo is enamelled with “Mambo” proclaimed with energy by Celia Oneto Bensaid, firming the piano stops. Moreover, the Cha-cha introduces on tiptoe the theme of Maria before fading in front of a piano ginning its notes with delicacy. Timeless moment that this one, filled with the grace of subtle and refined harmonies! Finally, Somewhere declines a symphonic piano deploying the silk of its arpeggios. Here, the performer plays on multiple sound planes with surprising fluidity.

Symphonic is also the work of Gershwin An American in Paris. In this respect, legato and pedal give the illusion of hearing strings. The brilliance of the brass is achieved by a staccato of remarkable precision. The whole is mixed with rubato and an unspeakable “swing” that radiates all the musical discourse with sensitivity and majesty? Moreover, Célia Oneto Bensaid plays masterfully on the ridge line between the music of the piano “tappers” of the saloons and the refined elegance of the salon virtuosos? Moreover, as a metaphor for this dual ancestry between scholarly and popular music, our talented pianist includes in her program Three Preludes by Gershwin and Touches by Bernstein, a set of pieces whose elaborate language is reminiscent of Debussy or Ravel. That’s probably the American touches!”


Le Figaro – Benjamin Puech – October 2018

Célia Oneto-Bensaïd interprets electrifying West Side Story plays transcribed by her. And convinces us that there is indeed something sacred that is transmitted in classical music. The audience gets carried away by the tunes of the rogue Manhattan of the 1960s composed by Leonard Bernstein. A mother stifles her son’s cry, determined to show his enthusiasm, too. No matter, the evening is warm.
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Mediapart – Frederick Casadesus – September 2018

“To music lovers in France, Navarre and the universe, we can’t help but recommend American Touches, a pretty cool record, combining Gershwin and Bernstein, a great success published on the label Sigh Editions. Let it be said, Miss Oneto Bensaïd is at the dawn of a very nice journey.”
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Concertonet – Simon Corley – August 2018

“After the brief intermission, it is precisely Bernstein composer that we find, with the Overture of his Candide (1956) transcribed in a rather bluffing way by Célia Oneto Bensaid. ”
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Bachtrack – Julien Hanck – November 2017

“Celia Oneto Bensaïd deftly pulls out all the stops in the Quintet. Endurance and control are the key word of his performance. The young pianist does not hesitate to bring out some sharp edges out of her phrasing, while showing a remarkable stylistic homogeneity. ”
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Zibeline – Jacques Freschel – August 2017

“The trio (Bertrand Laude, clarinet, Manuel Vioque-Judde, viola, Célia Oneto Bensaid, piano) presented a formation emerging from the traditional violin/cello/piano. With artistic personalities with an obvious aura, it is the musical ensemble that has most marked the spirits with Pieces for viola, clarinet and piano op.83 by Max Bruch: clarinet of rare sensitivity, princely viola (in the future assured!) and the beautiful piano guaranteeing the cement necessary for these rich and complementary timbres.”
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Progress – 2017

“It was a new event relocated as part of the Summer of the Building. On Tuesday, the two musicians Elsa Moatti (violin) and Célia Oneto Bensaid (piano) made a stop at the priory of Pommiers, a place full of history, both atypical and picturesque. The stones were aneed on their clothes of light for this talented duo who offered a melancholy, poetic (sometimes dark) and intimate atmosphere.”


Zibeline – Jacques Freschel – August 2017

“The trio (Bertrand Laude, clarinet, Manuel Vioque-Judde, viola, Célia Oneto Bensaid, piano) presented a formation emerging from the traditional violin/cello/piano. With artistic personalities with an obvious aura, it is the musical ensemble that has most marked the spirits with Pieces for viola, clarinet and piano op.83 by Max Bruch: clarinet of rare sensitivity, princely viola (in the future assured!) and the beautiful piano guaranteeing the cement necessary for these rich and complementary timbres.”
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Culturebox – 2016

She is an orchestra in her own right ”
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