The Week in Reviews, Op. 429: Hilary Hahn, Johan Dalene, Christian Tetzlaff

December 13, 2023, 10:07 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 Hilary Hahn. Photo by Chris Lee.

Hilary Hahn performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Chicago Classical Review: "The soloist immediately commanded attention with her arresting entrance and Hahn’s gleaming tone remained a consistent pleasure throughout. Her playing brought firm dramatic cut yet drew out lyrical passages with a tender, searching expression."

Johan Dalene performed the U.K. premiere of Tebogo Monnakgotla’s "Globe Skimmer Surfing the Somali Jet" with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The Guardian: "...it’s a violin concerto in five continuous sections inspired by the annual migration of a dragonfly...The details of that programme don’t mean a great deal in performance, other than to identify the solo violin with the dragonfly’s darting, shimmering flights – brilliantly projected by Dalene – while the orchestra evokes the shifting clouds through which it travels."
Financial Times: "For once, the inspiration of a new work could clearly be heard in the music, fluttering through the instruments with airborne lightness, wispy trills and translucent clouds of texture, while a solo violin, played impressively from memory by Johan Dalene, represents a single dragonfly coasting the air currents."

Christian Tetzlaff performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Violinist.com: "It was clear from that moment that this violinist was all in, aiming straight at the listener with the uninhibited energy and physicality of his playing, the heart in his vibrato and the clarity of his musical message."

Kerson Leong performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Samy Moussa's Violin Concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

The Winnepeg Free Press: "Leong is also a player who knows exactly what he wants to say and how to express it with palpable conviction. He proceeded to unleash his full arsenal of pyrotechnics in the subsequent Scherzo: Vivacissimo, ripping through lightning-speed runs and tossing off treacherous double stop passages with aplomb."

Ilya Gringolts performed André Tchaikowsky's Concerto Classico for Violin and Orchestra with Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Edinburgh Guide: "What we heard could almost have been chamber music with Ilya Gringolts' violin weaving in and out, sometimes intimate, other times sharp and jarring."

Gabriel Croitoru performed on the c.1725 "George Enescu" ‘del Gesù’ violin, in recital with pianist Horia Mihail at London’s Romanian Cultural Institute in October.

The Strad: "Enescu traded in a Stradivari to buy it, but after his death in 1955 the violin gathered dust in the composer’s home-turned-museum in Bucharest. In 2008 Gabriel Croitoru won a competition which gave him the right to play the instrument, and 15 years on he knows how to draw from it an uncanny, almost baritonal sweetness of tone."

Diana Adamyan performed in recital with pianist Renana Gutman at the Longy School of Music.

The Armenian Weekly: "Adamyan and Gutman’s interchange was noteworthy for its grace, unity of purpose and communicative character. Their effortless, technically brilliant performance in the Allegro molto movement (of Saint-Saens’s Sonata No. 1) brought to close a very rewarding concert program."

Théotime Langlois de Swarte performed in recital with harpsichordist Justin Taylor at London’s Wigmore Hall in October.

The Strad: "There were subtleties of phrasing, dashing string crossing, double-stopping virtuosity and occasional rich, thrilling sound. Corelli’s La folia ended the programme in fine style, with de Swarte’s impeccable technique and musicality, and his close partnership with Justin Taylor, in full flow."

Lindsey Stirling performed her "Snow Waltz" show in in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Local Spins: "Whether she was flying high above the stage performing aerial stunts or nailing flawless ballerina spins in her sparkly, heeled boots, Lindsey Stirling never missed a note on Tuesday, proving to the audience that playing violin has become second nature to her."

Hermitage Piano Trio performed in recital in Montreal.

La Scena Musicale: "the Hermitage Piano Trio delivered a lush, fiery, deeply felt and utterly breathtaking performance for their Ladies’ Morning Musical Club debut."

Soloists of the Kronberg Academy performed at London’s Wigmore Hall in Octoboer.

The Strad: "This was a premiere-league school concert, with four string players already trailing prizes (violists Noga Shaham and Weronika Dziadek and violinists Hans Christian Aavik and Dmytro Udovychenko) all advanced students at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, accompanied by pianist Ita Navon."

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 429: Hilary Hahn, Johan Dalene, Christian Tetzlaff

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