The Week in Reviews, Op. 288: Leonidas Kavakos; Richard Tognetti; Tasmin Little; Friends of Lara St. John

September 11, 2019, 12:09 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.

Violinist Leonidas Kavakos.

Leonidas Kavakos performed Korngold’s Violin Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic at BBC Prom 61.

Financial Times: "Korngold’s Violin Concerto gave Leonidas Kavakos the opportunity to show off a silken thread of Hollywood lyricism against an iridescent orchestral backdrop, though little can be done to disguise the poverty of invention in Korngold’s finale."
The Telegraph: "Fortunately there was a musician on hand whose spellbinding virtuosity can always be relied on to lift any occasion: the Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos....Kavakos played this confection of hoary old clichés with such radiant purity of sound and tuning that one could almost believe it was a genuine masterpiece. "
Music OMH: "The detail and nuance to be found in his sound proved quite staggering, and he achieved a level of expressiveness that felt appropriate since it never saw the piece feel overly sentimental or mawkish."

Tasmin Little performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in its annual Benevolent Fund concert.

Daily Echo: "The audience gave a warm reception to soloist on the Violin Concerto, another good friend of the BSO, Tasmin Little. She is retiring from the concert platform and this was her penultimate performance with the orchestra."

Richard Tognetti performed Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

The Sydney Morning Herald: "This was yet another of the gifted musician's dusting-off exercises, bringing a tautness of outline and articulation to a well-loved concert favourite without crossing the line into eccentricity. "

Friends of Lara St. John performed "We Believe You: Solidarity Concert for Lara" in New York City.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: "10 musicians of all stripes...crammed along with listeners into Gallery MC for a succession of tributes and musical selections for the 48-year-old violinist," whose story about being sexually abused as a 14-year-old at the Curtis Institute was documented in a July article in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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