The Week in Reviews, Op. 343: Ray Chen; Tai Murray; Baiba Skride

March 1, 2022, 4:51 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 Ray Chen.

Ray Chen performed Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in his debut performance with the New York Philharmonic.

New York Times: "Charismatic and expressive, he took up the work like a Romantic hero while Honeck maintained a modest, if indistinct, accompaniment in the orchestra."

Tai Murray performed Bernstein’s Serenade with Parlando chamber orchestra.

New York Classical Review: "Murray’s violin softly, then soaringly, sustained the love song of Agathon, letting in a touch of Romantic portamento and pealing out the fervent double stops at the movement’s climax."

Baiba Skride performed Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1 in A minor with the the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Boston Musical Intelligencer: "Skride and Nelsons were at peak in (the second) movement, building beautifully in dynamics, intensity and expressivity. The big solo restatement of the theme in octaves near the end was Skride at her best, both arresting and moving."

Gil Shaham performed the Barber Violin Concerto with the Arkansas Symphony.

Arkansas Democrat Gazette: "Every note on Shaham's 1699 'Countess Polignac' Stradivarius sounded as clear as the proverbial bell, even in the fiendishly difficult 'Presto in Moto Perpetuo' finale."

Gidon Kremer performed a 75th birthday concert with cellist Giedre Dirvanauskaite and pianist Georgijs Osokins.

TheArtsDesk.com: "Only a few days ago, Gidon Kremer had changed the programme for his 75th birthday concert at Wigmore Hall, to include a short section of pieces by two Ukrainian composers. 'The whole world is focused on the dramatic events in Ukraine,' said Kremer. His performance of the first of the two pieces, a four-minute Requiem for solo violin by Igor Loboda, could not have been more deeply soulful."

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