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“I remember first hearing Claire Huangci's blazing Paderewski Concerto (Berlin Classics) and being knocked out by her dexterity as she nimbly switched gears to draw out the brief waft of late-night melancholy towards the start of the first movement's cadenza. The same responsiveness to differences in mood and colour characterises her first solo recital on her new label, Alpha Classics. The paradoxically edgy concentration of the Barber Fugue, the honeyed sultriness of Earl Wild's take on Gershwin's 'Lady be good', the naive Roaring Twenties zest of Rhapsody in Blue, the crushing desolation of the Funeral March in the Beach: all register vividly.”

“Maurice Ravel's piano concerto is on the programme, and very quickly one senses: Ravel suits her. Jazz too. As expected and well deserved: thunderous applause. […] To call the piece and Huangci's playing virtuosic would be an understatement.”

“Pianistic brilliance goes hand in hand here with musical intelligence. The result is quite simply breathtaking. Not only does the pianist master the at times circus-like showpieces of these works with ease, she does so with an intensity and joy of playing that are positively infectious. […] An exceptionally exciting recording!”

“Whether it is the deeply pondering, weighty Barber or the unceremoniously brilliant Gershwin tossing about jazz harmonies and jazz rhythms, Claire Huangci plays it all fantastically. […] She masters [Barber's] demands effortlessly, while at the same time giving the complex composition as much structure as drive, and shaping the impressive slow movement with incredible intensity. An exciting, by turns moody and profound stroll through 50 years of American music history.”

“Claire Huangci, born in Rochester on Lake Ontario and at home in Germany for many years, masters all of this not only brilliantly but also with effortless swing and, where appropriate, thunderous force.”

“With her latest album entitled 'Made in USA' the fabulous Claire Huangci returns to her Philadelphian roots. […] Masterfully, Huangci makes the windowpanes rattle. Her reading of Amy Beach's Variations op. 60 sounds tenderly cantabile in the touch, coloured in a high-Romantic manner.”

“The result is an optimistic, sweeping album that puts you in a good mood, with music that still sounds absolutely fresh and modern 100 years later. It is a wild ride through American Classics that is great fun and invites you to discover musical treasures.”

“Already George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' is played by her so famously with effect and verve, with all the emotional depths between melancholy Broadway bliss and a famous show virtuosity, that one's breath is taken away. […] A coherent concept and brilliant interpretations from a wonderful artist.”

“Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, brought to life by the American pianist Claire Huangci with much drive and great clarity of touch. Moments of suspending pause were here too, in the harp solo of the first movement woven entirely without transfiguration, in the apparent halting of time, which the pianist (born 1990) excellently suggested at the start of the second movement. Her perfectly percussive finale was followed fittingly by her encore, the finale from Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata op. 26.”

“The American pianist Claire Huangci devotes her latest album 'Made in USA' to composers of her homeland: Gershwin, Amy Beach, Samuel Barber, Earl Wild.”