The Week in Reviews, Op. 144: Tai Murray, Jennifer Koh, Arabella Steinbacher

August 16, 2016, 8:37 PM · 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.

Tai Murray premiered the Malcolm Hayes Violin Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

The Guardian: "...it’s scored for a relatively modest orchestra, and uses it even more sparingly, often allowing the violin to spin its high, nimble figuration without any support at all. It’s a piece about creating space, says Hayes, born out of the communities and landscapes of the Outer Hebrides, where he lived in the 1970s, in form of a set of double variations that is often exceptionally beautiful."

Tai Murray. Photo by Julia Wesely.

Jennifer Koh performed Saariaho's "Nocturne" with the Brentano String Quartet.

Portland Press Herald: "More about atmosphere than picture painting, “Nocturne” taxes a violinist’s resources, asking for single tones, bowed in a way that produces overtones that turn these notes into hazy chords, as well as the glassine sounds of artificial harmonics, and pitches that are more hinted at than asserted outright – as if they were electrical charges dancing around a power line. Koh gave the piece a focused, dazzling performance."

Arabella Steinbacher performed Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Los Angeles Times: "Arabella Steinbacher...was the focal point in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 (nicknamed “Turkish” for its militant, highly-rhythmic interlude within the Finale), of which she made a rather gracious recording for PentaTone, serving as soloist and leader. This time, faced with the more incisive Manze approach, she adjusted her bearings, quickening her tempos somewhat, applying plenty of sharp rhythm yet without forcing her tone."

James Ehnes performed the Strauss with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

WA Today: ..."that always-welcome soloist, James Ehnes?, returned to resuscitate Strauss' brilliant Violin Concerto in D minor, a product of the composer's teenage years but loaded with enough virtuosity to keep Ehnes busy and a rich-if-lumpy orchestration to back his efforts."

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Replies

Paul Deck

August 18, 2016 at 02:43 AM · Nowadays I guess reviews are meant to be erudite, educational affairs. Whether one thinks the violinist played well (or not) apparently is not always worth mentioning.

Laurie Niles

August 18, 2016 at 04:20 AM · It's a little strange, isn't it? Not all reviews are like that, but it seems a lot this week were!

Paul Deck

August 18, 2016 at 02:04 PM · Hopefully we're not meant to infer damnation by faint praise taken to its logical extreme (i.e., no praise at all).

Christian Lesniak

August 18, 2016 at 05:50 PM · Meh, most reviews are pretty canned, and reviewers are too scared or uneducated to call out a bad performance. Did you know that the Tchaikovsky violin concerto was originally called unplayable? Did you know that the third movement of the Barber concerto was originally called unplayable? Blah blah blah blah blah. I've heard some performers live who play inconceivably ugly, and whenever I read reviews, it's about how brave their performance was or something. Useless!

I'll get off my soapbox now.

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