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The Week in Reviews, Op. 398: Joshua Bell; Christian Tetzlaff; Julian Rachlin

May 2, 2023, 1:26 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.

Joshua Bell performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony.

• San Francisco ChronicleDatebook: "In Bell’s hands, the concerto’s poignant opening melody seemed to waft into the air like so much gossamer. It’s an effect that many violinists aim for and not many achieve, but Bell let the music float into the hall with perfectly disembodied grace."

Christian Tetzlaff performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic.

• The New York Times: "...his expert handling of Joseph Joachim’s first-movement cadenza — with playing that varied in its timbral effects, from rough-hewn to silvery to robustly expressive — showed an invention that had been missing for a stretch of time in the broader ensemble playing."

Julian Rachlin performed Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No 1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

• The Guardian: "His deliberate, careful phrasing at the very beginning set the tone for a performance in which nothing was thrown away, not even in the most frenzied episodes, which Mäkelä drove hard and fast. In the long lines of the final movement Rachlin’s violin continued to sing out even as the orchestral sound swelled behind him; by the end he seemed unvanquishable."

Arabella Steinbacher performed the world premiere of Georges Lentz's violin concerto "...to beam in distant heavens..." with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

• Limelight: "It opens with a Mahlerian death hammer blow and Steinbacher playing unaccompanied off stage through the open side door...Steinbacher made her way on stage and started a long unaccompanied passage full of double stopping, cross bowing and vertiginous runs – pinpoints of light – all delivered impeccably with an ethereal quality, as if traversing a vast distance."

Masumi Per Rostad performed Jessie Montgomery's viola concerto "L.E.S. Characters" with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

• Violinist.com: "(Rostad) is a complete natural with this instrument, playing a flurry of triplets and making the viola seem like the most agile of instruments...Certainly, "L.E.S. Characters" was different from any other viola concerto I've heard, and a joyous and vibrant addition to the viola repertoire."

Noah Bendix-Balgley performed his own "Fidl-Fantazye. A Klezmer Concerto with violin and chamber orchestra" with members of the Berlin Philharmonic.

• Boston Intelligencer: "It tips the hat here and there to 20th-century modernism, but is basically a straight-on celebration of the klezmer ethos, as mediated via this concert hall, art-music setting. The composer-soloist, who grew up with klezmer music in his ears took to the piece like a duck to water."

Anne-Sophie Mutter performed Thomas Adès' "Air" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

• New York Times: "Mutter, who gave the world premiere of “Air” at the Lucerne Festival last year, played at Carnegie with a platinum tone, densely concentrated. The orchestra drew mesmeric circles around her, conjuring a world of glass, as Mutter’s sound irradiated a childlike innocence full of whispered awe."

Mandolinist Avi Avital performed works by Bach, Vivaldi and Avner Dorman with members of the Toronto Symphony.

• mySCENA: "In (the Vivaldi lute) concerto and throughout the concert Avital was both soloist and conductor and did wonderful work in both capacities....In the hands of an artist like Avital (the mandolin) is capable of playing lyrical melodies, chords, rapid passages and exciting strumming effects."

Michelle Kim, performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor with the Apollo Orchestra.

• Washington Classical Review: " Her high notes excelled especially, beautifully in tune and either floated or played with force."

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

You might also like:

• The Week in Reviews, Op. 397: Rachel Barton Pine and Jessie Montgomery; Paul Huang; Anne Sophie Mutter
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 396: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Hilary Hahn, Emerson String Quartet
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 395: Gil Shaham, William Shaub, Joshua Bell

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