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.

Tai Murray
Tai Murray. Photo by Julia Wesely.

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

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

James Ehnes performed the Strauss with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Please support music in your community by attending a concert or recital whenever you can!

Replies

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.

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!

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).

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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