The Week in Reviews, Op. 388: Robert McDuffie; Maria Dueñas; Aisslinn Nosky

February 22, 2023, 6:54 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 Robert McDuffie.

Robert McDuffie performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Nippertown: "At speed, McDuffie dazzled, precise even in blinding-fast runs; in slow passages, he charmed, but with a mature beauty far from the merely pretty. He knew what the music was saying, and he told us."

Maria Dueñas performed Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole with the Toronto Symphony in Carnegie Hall.

Ludwig van Toronto: "We speak sometimes of an artist who has it all. Here is a case of someone who expands our sense of the things an artist can have. Of course the basics of articulation, velocity and projection are present, but also an instinct for the fiery intensity of a phrase and an ear for the picturesque."

The Aisslinn Nosky performed J.S. Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos with the Handel and Haydn Society.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer: "The group pulled off the marathon concert with aplomb, shining with delightful liveliness."

Randall Goosby performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the New World Symphony.

South Florida Classical Review: "Soloist Randall Goosby displayed comprehensive technical ability in his performance Friday night. His work in the uppermost registers of the violin, both in lyrical and virtuosic passages, was at once beautiful, evocative, and sonorous."

Paul Huang performed a recital series with Camerata Pacifica.

Violinist.com: "Huang and (pianist Gilles) Vonsattel were beautifully aligned when the music was parallel in both parts, and they played together like clockwork when the musical wheels spun in many directions. "

Gil Shaham performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, in West Palm Beach, Fla.

South Florida Classical Review: "Shaham brought brilliance and extroversion to the opening of the last movement, blasting out chords and bouncing his bow from string to string with authority and jocular humor."

Jennifer Pike performed Khachaturian's Violin Concerto with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra.

The Courier: "I don’t think I’ve witnessed a concerto with such taxing demands, and I’ve probably never seen a soloist like Pike whose ability to conquer them was proved in outstanding fashion."

James Ehnes performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Impacxt: "Ehnes showed such a range of musical techniques, scalic melodies nearer the start of the piece, repeating trills, and more comforting and melodic moments."

Patricia Kopatchinskaja performed in recital with pianist Joonas Ahonenwith at Milton Court for a Barbican spotlight series.

The Guardian: "It was dazzling stuff, if not for the Beethoven purist perhaps, and encores were inevitable."

Andriy Tchaikovsky performed Thomas de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Maine Public: "It was the venue's biggest classical-music crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020...The UMass Fine Arts Center billed it as the American premier of the piece, which has striking relevance today amid Russia’s invasion; De Hartmann wrote it in 1943 as a response to the Nazi occupation of Ukraine."

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 388: Robert McDuffie; Maria Dueñas; Aisslinn Nosky

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