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“Matthew Schellhorn’s total command of this virtuoso piano part was never more aptly apparent than in the cadenza at the end of ‘Joie du sang des étoiles’ [in Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie] – totally breathtaking! This was a special evening and one that all involved should be proud and hold dear to their hearts for a long time. A great achievement.”
Malcolm Ball, www.oliviermessiaen.org (March 2008)

“Matthew Schellhorn's second concert on the venerable but splendid Blüthner in St Paul's Cathedral, Dundee, on Saturday was in part to demonstrate and exploit its potential. This it certainly did, in music of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. In Mozart's D major Sonata (K311) there was no doubting Schellhorn's superb control and his mastery of phrase and tone, which does not come easily on an old piano. Mozart's fun, wit and humour were aired as effectively as his elegance and charm. Schellhorn has made a special study of the late Olivier Messiaen... These difficult, evocative pieces were stunningly played, with the clarity that marks Schellhorn's playing. A passionate Chopin's Scherzo No 4 in E major as finale saw the piano take on a new warmth of tone.”
Dundee Courier, UK (October 2007)

“An interesting mixture of familiar and new music (including some previously unheard Messiaen) performed by promising young artists in the Jacqueline du Pré Concert Building [in Oxford] – the prospect was more than gratified. This was a wonderfully inspiring concert by two young consummate musicians totally in tune with each other and playing music that they clearly love. ... Matthew's teaching by Messiaen's widow helped his understanding of this great composer. ... All in all this was a marvellous recital. ... One of the best concerts that I've ever been to!”
David R Dunsmore, Seen and Heard, UK (June 2007)

“Although the season of Saturday lunch-time concerts in St Paul's Cathedral, Dundee, has only just started, the standard of performances is impressively high. Pianist Matthew Schellhorn continuted the trend with a terrific performance of ability, technique and, at times, notable power. ... Robert Schumann's wonderful Carnaval, a glorious sequence of twenty-one musical caricatures, where brought to life in marvellous fashion by Matthew. This is a wonderful musical tapestry, and an interpretation such as Matthew's made it utterly compelling.”
Garry Fraser, Dundee Courier, UK (January 2007)

“In works prompted by so many birds Messiaen did far more than reproduce the songs he so carefully notated. In both the music and his programme notes he described the surroundings at the various times of day that he heard them; and he included the songs of other birds who may also have been present. Whereas the Vingt Regards, his other great keyboard cycle, can be performed as a whole, that is impossible with the Catalogue d'oiseaux, his longest piece apart from St François d'Assise. Besides time, there are the extremes of virtuosity demanded. So on 6 April Matthew Schellhorn gave dazzling accounts of single items from Books 1, 2, 5 and 7, following after the interval with the grand Postscript of La Fauvette des jardins in which the songs of no less than 17 of the birds from the Catalogue are heard again. Schellhorn possesses a seemingly perfect and complete piano technique for such things and his readings, always vivid and dramatic, were deeply satisfying. Here, as in the rest of his output, Messiaen created a world of his own and though he was widely influential I cannot easily imagine music from other sources in a programme like this. Yet I should be interested, as a matter of curiosity, in hearing Schellhorn in quite different repertoire. How would he deploy his searching intelligence and magnificent technique in other causes?”
Max Harrison, Musical Opinion, UK (May 2006)

“[The Presteigne Festival] is not alone this year in celebrating the centenary of Michael Tippett's birth, even if few performances elsewhere of his first two Piano Sonatas will match those by Matthew Schellhorn, who characterised their diverse materials with wonderful sharpness and stunning virtuosity.”
Roger Nichols, Hereford Times, UK (September 2005)

“Matthew Schellhorn is one of Britain’s most exciting young pianists—a brilliant musician.”
Natalie Wheen, Classic FM, UK (August 2005)

“A superb performance of Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du Temps was for me the highlight of the series. So well established in the repertoire as it is now, I greatly appreciated how fresh and devoid of routine their performance sounded, its true chamber music ethos characterised by intimacy and sensitivity rather than overprojection and individual display.”
Andrew Thomson, Musical Times, UK (November 2004)

“As the longest single span of music written by Messiaen for the piano, La Fauvette des jardins is an extraordinary challenge for any performer. At no point during Matthew Schellhorn’s stunning performance was there any hint of the fearsome difficulties posed by this music. Rather, as Messiaen wished, Schellhorn captured the distinct characters of each of the feathered protagonists, relishing the interplay and moments of drama between them. Crucially, he was able to convey a magnificent sense of space to Messiaen’s canvass, so that the depictions of the ‘blue lake’ never felt hurried. This sense of calm, the ability to find a genuinely slow tempo even after several pages of high-octane, adrenaline-fuelled virtuosity, is the mark of a pianist in tune with Messiaen’s intentions. Add to that Schellhorn’s vibrant range of colour, thunderously resonating climaxes and some exquisite diminuendos that were judged to perfection and it is easy to see why this performance will remain a cherished memory for those privileged enough to experience it.”
Christopher Dingle, BBC Music Magazine, UK (July 2002)

“The programme pianist Matthew Schellhorn chose made heavy demands, all of which he could surmount. The technical skills he displayed were truly virtuosic, while his emotional stamina built an atmosphere of heart-breaking intensity. The last section of Scriabin’s Ninth Sonata was executed brilliantly.”
Malvern Gazette, UK (August 2002)

“Tremendously lyrical playing. It was as if the heavens had opened and daylight had shone through the hall.”
Maria Chiara Bonazzi, La Stampa, Italy (June 2001)