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The Week in Reviews, Op. 442: Joshua Bell; Philippe Quint; Nicola Benedetti

March 26, 2024, 1:22 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 Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields .

• South Florida Classical Review:"His vaulted singing tone was as potent as ever but he also exhibited an impulsive streak. Unafraid to speed up or slow the tempo as the spirit of the music resounded, Bell’s interpretive choices were always musical and well considered. He phrased the movement’s secondary subject with a rounded grace reminiscent of a bygone generation of violinists."
• Orlando Sentinel: "Bell has exquisite technique in jumping from sweet notes to a commanding sound with maximum dramatic effect. And those high notes have a beautiful musicality; they don’t sound forced from his violin, they float from it. His original cadenzas hit the sweet spot of impressing technically while augmenting the musicality.">

Philippe Quint performed the U.S. premiere of Errollyn Wallen's Violin Concerto with the Kansas City Symphony and Matthias Pintscher.

• KC Studio:"The delicate lullaby in the second movement, just Quint and harpist Katie Ventura, was pulled from Quint’s childhood memories and a poignant remembrance of Jewish traditions within the lilting phrases...Quint is a giving performer, and his determined grin expressed the excitement of challenge with the piece."

Nicola Benedetti performed the Scottish premiere of Mark Simpson's Violin Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

• Edinburgh Guide:"It is always a pleasure to watch Nicola Benedetti play, and the Violin Concerto kept her busy. I found it a remarkably appealing piece of music, wanting to be optimistic but not able to be so until its final stages."

The Catalyst Quartet performed in recital at the Kennedy Center.

• Washington Classical Review:"The four musicians made a cohesive, warm ensemble sound together in the first movement (of Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major), where they were always willing to take time and cede the floor to one another."

Martin Davids and Edwin Huizinga performed with the Bella Voce Sinfonia.

• Chicago Classical Review:"Davids and Huizinga returned to center stage to close out the evening with a true masterwork of the form, Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043. The two violinists led their concertino teams with panache, trading lunges and ripostes both musically and literally in a bout of musical fencing. "

Isabelle Faust performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle.

• The Telegraph: "She could certainly dominate the orchestra when necessary, but not through sheer force...It was more to do with delicate exactness. One’s ear was seized by her decorative passage-work amid the triumphant din, the way one’s eye would be caught by a string of pearls seen across a crowded room. And she plumbed the emotional range of the piece in an unusually searching, thoughtful way. The mysterious section when the music ventures into some lonely, lost region has never seemed to eloquent. But Faust can rise to gleeful high spirits too, as the gypsy finale proved."

Randall Goosby performed Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

• BachTrack:"What you need in a soloist for the Violin Concerto No. 3 is suppleness and a sweet-toned richness of expression. This was amply provided by the evening’s soloist, Randall Goosby. His sense of impish playfulness was evident throughout the concerto, all good-humoured and at peace with the world."

Hilary Hahn performed Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 1 (in January) with the New York Philharmonic.

• The Strad:"The opening Andantino was elegant and refined – Hahn unafraid to play as softly as she liked. Her passagework had vivacity and flair without sacrificing sound quality; double-stops were like a caged animal – wild but contained. "

Violist Antoine Tamestit performed Jörg Widmann’s Viola Concerto (in January) with Berlin Philharmonie.

• The Strad:"Tamestit has performed Widmann’s concerto some 40 times since premiering it in 2015, roughly half of them with Daniel Harding conducting. Theirs is the art that conceals art: you could readily believe that the piece is being created in real time before your eyes and ears, and the aplomb with which Tamestit delivered Widmann’s unconventional writing defied criticism."

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

You might also like:

• The Week in Reviews, Op. 441: Philippe Quint, Lisa Batiashvili, Josef Špacek
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 440: Leila Josefowicz, Gil Shaham, Midori
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 439: Liza Ferschtman; Pekka Kuusisto; violist Tabea Zimmermann

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