“Vesti” on “Tabula Rasa“
"…Improvisations on a “blank slate” combined in them supreme skill of all ensemble members with the finest taste, sensation of form and sense of humor…” “…Brener`s renderings of classic works cannot be labeled as simply “jazz arrangements”. They are in no way just “swinging around” some popular classical tunes, but rather deep and thought-through compositions in which at times it would take an expert to actually identify and appreciate the original source…” (Vladimir Mak, 2006
THE BUFFALO NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008 Aviv String Quartet performs splendidly By Herman Trotter NEWS MUSIC CRITIC EMERITUS (on String Quartet Nr.1) “…For the listener, then, the evening’s main pleasure was in the quartets by Schulhoff and Brener…” “…Brener (b. 1974) is a Russian-born emigre to Israel. His five-movement Quartet No. 1 is built around a slow central Lullaby largely resting on slow ostinato patterns over which a yearning plaint slowly unwinds. It features angular, bubbling minor-mode lyricism, with slower counterthoughts and a lot of punctuating stressed attacks, while the jumpy and propulsive Scherzo also has heavy stresses with almost clock-like regularity. Its concluding movements are a slashing Fugato and a wandering Finale that seems to seek a resting place but is ambivalent about having found it…”
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2008
Concert review By Matti Edén, November 25, 2008 (on String Quartet Nr.1)
“…..The verge introduction to a color-saturated String quartet no.1 by a thirty-four-year-old Israeli Uri Brener is a concentrated non-vibrato. It is being followed by an enterprising chord flow with a rhythmically profiled melodic line in Shostakovich’s spirit. Brener studied as a child in Moscow and later in Germany, and, like Shostakovich, Brener uses Jewish folk-like intonations in his music. The intensity is increased by sudden silence breaks. The music is original despite its clear references…”
November 25, 2008 (on String Quartet Nr.1)
J.F.M Internet tidning Malmö Sweden, 26 Nov 2008 by Fredrik Sieradzki
“…Those who did not attend the culture ministry’s concert tonight missed a genuine artistic and at the same time an absolutely crazy experience… Uri Brener, a composer in kippa — who had written music for the project “Night at the Cinema 2008” especially for the Aviv quartet and top-trombonist Elias Faingersh, joined us on its world premier in Malmö… I believe no one in the auditorium has ever experienced anything similar neither in a live performance nor in recording… One could do nothing else than stand up and applaud “Bravo!” to a glorious eclectic experience full of humor and playful blessing…”
26 Nov 2008 by Fredrik Sieradzki
Plus ca change by Uri Epstein
“…Uri Brener displayed originality and a well-developed sense of artistic form and development. Brener gave shape to emotionally genuine introversion and agitation in the intellectually controlled piano pieces “Reverie”(1998) and “Light” (1995)…”
The Jerusalem Post, November 24th, 1998
Concert Reviews BY Max Stern
“The Sinfonietta 2007-2008 season opened with refreshing energy in an impressive collage for piano and orchestra by Uri Brener, the new resident composer and soloist… Overall, the nearly half hour work holds one’s attention. It is a telling contemporary commentary about being human, holding on to sensitivity, and spiritual survival in a cruel and violent world…”
The Jerusalem Post, Nov 1, 2007
“Music of words” By Ben Shalev
“….In the album, Brenner’s love for jazz, his enchantment with the music of the Middle Ages and his tendency to create “sound pictures” in the spirit of ambient music are also evident. Even the clearly “classical” pieces in the album testify to Brenner’s tendency to blur boundaries between various musical worlds in a productive way…”
HAARETZ 04/11/2007 on “A Walk” solo piano album
“Mr. Brener appreciates the ease with which a violin and a cello can be made to sing… the work really comes to life in its central scherzo, “Discussion”, a lively, humorous movement in which traces of Shostakovich’s accent and energy show Mr. Brener’s Russian roots.”
The New York Times, July 10th, 2007 on “Triptych”
Special Award for operatorio “Shunamit” at a competition in Boston. Opera(torio) composed by Yuri Brenner, a libretto written by Esther Ettinger, was selected for performance at the Boston Metro Opera
Haggai Hitron 06/19/2014 15:12
The Violin Concerto by Uri Brener
… is if proclaiming without fear of it`s accession to the line of great Romantic concertos, those by Brahms , Tchaikovsky , Sibelius…
(Haaretz 19.02.2016)
The road taken, by MAXIM REIDER
“Composer / pianist Uri Brener has walked a long, winding road to get where he is today. He’s traveled far, both physically and spiritually. And it shows in his music. Brener released his debut album, A Walk, filled with piano reflecting his wide-ranging sound… A delightful solo piano blend of modern and ambient jazz”