The Week in Reviews, Op. 237: Jennifer Koh; Joshua Bell

September 11, 2018, 2:15 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.

Jennifer Koh.

Jennifer Koh performed Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

Los Angeles Times: " No. 1 is usually relegated to complete recorded surveys. Koh’s forte these days is in contemporary music...and she brought a modern, edgy and sometimes aggressive tone quality to Mozart that was a bit much at times. She provided her own cadenzas for all three movements, each more suspenseful and intriguing than the one before it."

Joshua Bell performed the Sibelius with the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

South China Morning Post: "Bell’s obvious familiarity with the Finnish composer’s towering Violin Concerto in D minor allowed him to demonstrate his dazzling technique as well as the warm vulnerability in his sound when hovering high above the Hong Kong Phil’s shimmering, icy introduction."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Chinese violinist Sheng Zhongguo died in Beijing on Friday at age 77.

Global Times: "'Playing Butterfly Lovers, one should combine the decorative and formal beauty of the West and the Chinese ink painting aesthetic that combines poetry and painting,' Sheng once said."
The Strad: "Sheng Zhongguo...was one of the first Chinese violinists to become successful on the international stage....He was recognised as a cultural ambassador by the government of Japan following the disastrous Kobe earthquake of 1995, when he toured the worst-hit areas to offer encouragement and inspiration to those affected. In 1979 he performed the Bach ‘Double’ Violin Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin, during the latter’s first visit to China; of all Menuhin’s performing partners during the visit, he said that the best was Sheng, who subsequently became known as the ‘Chinese Menuhin’."

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