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The Week in Reviews, Op. 94: Chloe Hanslip, Alina Ibragimova, Joshua Bell

August 11, 2015, 11:15 AM · In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.

Chloe Hanslip performed the Williams with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

• The Guardian: "Chloë Hanslip was the feisty soloist..."
• The Independent: "Chloe Hanslip was the soloist in Vaughan Williams’s Violin Concerto in D minor, Concerto Academico, which, although a minor work, was wonderfully lit up by her artistry."

Alina Ibragimova performed the Mendelssohn with the Academy of Ancient Music.

• The New York Times: "She did her part beautifully, with consistent purity of tone and utter ease of motion, sounding every bit as comfortable with Mendelssohn as she had with Prokofiev. And Mr. Gardner, who is the outgoing music director of the English National Opera, proved as fine an accompanist as you would have expected."

Joshua Bell performed the Glazunov with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

• Boston Globe: "It was nice to hear Bell taking up a score less commonly heard, and his playing boasted its customary warmth and tonal richness."
• The Republican: "Have you ever heard a violin sing? That might sound silly - until you've heard Joshua Bell play a violin. He's one of those rare musicians who can magically make his instrument sound absolutely sublime, whether he's playing in a concert hall or a Washington, D.C. subway station pretending to be an anonymous musician."

Leonidas Kavakos performed the Sibelius with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

• The Boston Musical Intelligencer: "Although usually framed by a halo of strings, Kavakos choose a variety of commanding, growling timbres, featuring the lower, throaty range of his 1724 'Abergavenny' Stradivarius. By turns muscular and lyrical, his playing was reminiscent of his Gramophone Award-winning recording contrasting this version and the original (longer) version of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, the first complete recording of that work."

Isabelle Faust performed Mozart's Violin Concerto in D major with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

• The Sydney Morning Herald: "...from the start Faust brings a wired intensity to the sound, along with a studied lightness of touch."

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