Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)- Opere per pianoforte e orchestra
Notiziario Sound and Music, ottobre 2006

La ARTS presenta una bellissima silloge di opere pianistiche interpretate da Andrea Bacchetti, un pianista genovese non ancora trentenne affermatosi giovanissimo. ... Un disco di grande bellezza, da ascoltare assolutamente.

Bacchetti nel doppio ruolo viaggia con Mendelssohn
La Repubblica, 3 novembre 2006 - (Roberto Iovino)

...da anni un nome di rilievo nel panorama pianistico non solo nazionale, oltre ad un'intensa attività concertistica Bacchetti vanta una ricca produzione discografica, che lo ha visto ad esempio incidere due autori cronologicamente lontani fra loro e da lui particolarmente amati, quali Bach e Berio. Recente è, invece, l'uscita di un nuovo CD in cui il giovane artista si presenta nella doppia veste di direttore della Prague Chamber Orchestra e di pianista per un interessante viaggio nelle composizioni di Mendelssohn ...  Tecnicamente inappuntabile, Bacchetti, ben seguito dal complesso orchestrale, assicura una lettura approfondita e quanto mai duttile nella ricerca del suono, confermandosi pianista completo, dotato di di una rara sensibilità interpretativa. ...

Take this man into your arms!
tokafi.com/newsitems/cd-feature-andrea-bacchetti-mendelssohn/view
November 16^th, 2006  by Thomas Fischer

On Andrea Bacchetti's homepage, next to an endless list of trophies, competitions, prizes, medals ... there is a page with pictures of him as he meets some of his fans and idols: Sviatoslav Richter, Luciano Berio and harpist Marielle Nordman (seemingly uncertain about who is giving an autograph to whom here). But the most expressive foto by far is the one which features, him with out-of-the-ordinary American pianist Uri Caine, Uri holding his copy of Bacchetti's "Berio" CD into the camera and embracing tiny Andrea as though he were his son. Quite instinctively one senses that there is something about this man that makes you want to take him into your arms.
As an alternative to perusing the web for more such visual treasures, you could simply listen to his latest recording, his second on the fine German label ARTS and a collection of Mendelssohn's works for Piano and Orchestra. Bacchetti handles conducting duties as well on this, which is of special interest as we are talking about a live recording, taped in Milano in early 2004 with the Prague Chamber Orchestra. This multiple role of soloist, metronome and inner ear is a hard one, a fragile balance between conflicting interests and even more so with Mendelssohn, whose music can easily be played to pieces by the piano or superficially sugarcoated by an overly enthusiastic ensemble. Remarkably enough, the result is none of the above and instead thus perfectly executed that one has the simultaneous sensation of being seated in a huge concert hall and inside an intimate circle of friends. Bacchetti, too, keeps the duality of the pieces alive, their sudden leaps from unfettered optimism into sighs of sadness, from happiness into defeatism, from major to minor and from near-silence into jubilant exultation. The euphonous approaches of many of his colleagues towards this composer are certainly not entirely ill-advised, but it is refreshing to listen to someone without the typical flatline-vision, especially when it is delivered with such zeal and zest. It all comes together in the two-part B major Serenata, with its bittersweet opening and a rhythmically moved, playful finale - Andrea's smooth and clear intonation, his seamless. Keyboard sprints and his unique touch between the directness of Baroque and the dreaminess of Romanticism. You'd sometimes wish for the applause to be cut a little later, so you can join in.
There is something simultaneously fragile and extremely powerful about this disc and that is maybe a good picture for the artist as well. Bacchetti knows what he wants and how to get it, but behind this determined mask he is still a boy with a childlike curiosity, in constant search for the perfect sound and with the orchestra his gang of mates, out to conquer the world together. You just want to take him into your arms for that.

Bacchetti suona e dirige
il giornale della musica, 12-2006 - (r.i.)

... nella doppia veste di direttore della Prague Chamber Orchestra e pianista, Bacchetti - tecnicamente inappuntabile e ben seguito dal complesso strumentale - assicura una lettura approfondita e quanto mai duttile nella ricerca del suono. ...