The Week in Reviews, Op. 465: Leonidas Kavakos with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, and more

September 3, 2024, 1:25 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.

Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and Leonidas Kavakos

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax and violinist Leonidas Kavakos.

Leonidas Kavakos, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax performed Beethoven and Brahms at Royal Albert Hall.

Bach Track: "...while the middle register of the piano and parts of Yo-Yo Ma’s cello playing were lost in the huge space, the achievement of holding such a huge audience in rapt, silent attention speaks volumes for their musicianship."

Cellist Anastasia Kobekina performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic at the BBC Prom 49.

Bach Track: "Kobekina came refreshed, with a musical intensity that was plain to see. Her feathery articulation came to the fore in many pin-drop moments, reserving force for key passages and providing a persuasive searching quality throughout."
The Arts Desk: "In the second movement, she worked well with the orchestra and produced a fine sound, but the outer movements left doubts."

Leila Josefowicz performed Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D major with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "With the assuredness of a keen-eyed marksman, Josefowicz attacked the chord (which begins each movement) with a bowstroke like a rifle-shot. Thank goodness for the Bowl’s enormous, stage-flanking video screens, because if there is a violinist more fun to watch than Josefowicz, I don’t know who it is. Her technical arsenal is vast, but so is her musicality and facial expressiveness."

James Ehnes performed Chausson's "Poème" and Ravel's "Tzigane" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.

Boston Musical Intelligencer: "Tzigane is unique in Ravel’s catalog as being a brilliant showpiece from beginning to end, having on its mind only the desire to astonish the listener. In that sense, Canellakis and Ehnes met their goal."

Charlotte Scott performed Debussy’s Violin Sonata in G minor with pianist Katya Apekisheva at North York Moors Chamber Music Festival.

The Hutch: "In a piece where you never quite know where the composer is going next, Charlotte Scott’s violin and Katya Apekisheva’s piano were alive to the many moods of the opening Allegro vivo."

Shaun Lee-Chen performed Pisendel’s Violin Concerto in D major with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

State of the Art: "Pisendel’s Violin Concerto in D major features two horns, some chiaroscuro-like shifts between major and minor, and a few showstopping improvisations by Shaun Lee-Chen on violin. Only the slow movement of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in G major, is performed. But it gave Lee-Chen an opportunity to showcase the silvery tone of the Baroque violin."

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 465: Leonidas Kavakos with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, and more

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