The Week in Reviews, Op. 520: William Shaub, Augustin Hadelich, Anne Akiko Meyers

October 7, 2025, 12:58 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. Click on the highlighted links to read the entire reviews.

Violinist William Shaub. Photo by Eli Johnson, Photography.

William Shaub and pianist Kevin Class performed a recital for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's Concertmaster Series.

Arts Knoxville: "Shaub chose four pieces that ran the gamut of spice, intrigue, and delicious substance, all with entertaining violin virtuosity thrown in."

Augustin Hadelich performed a solo recital at the University of Georgia’s Hodgson Concert Hall .

EarRelevant: "From Telemann’s elegant Baroque fantasias to snapshots of contemporary jazz and blues idioms by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Hadelich demonstrated both technical mastery and an almost narrative sensibility, bringing life to a repertoire that demands the performer sustain musical interest entirely alone, without the support of piano or other instruments."

Anne Akiko Meyers performed with pianist and radio host Lara Downes for a a KDFC Sky Concert in San Francisco.

Strings Magazine: "('Paris (1932)' from Blue Electra) is full of hot jazz and champagne, a fizzy, energetic romp that showcases Meyers’ dexterity and obvious delight in its vivacious spirit. It’s inescapably fun, and both performers lean into it."

Daniel Bernard Roumai performed works by composer Jlin (Jerrilynn Patton) with dancer Leonardo Sandoval and members of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Twin Cities.com: "Roumain’s violin playing startled in its creativity. He performed on an acoustic violin, but through different effects made it sound electric. At times he played lyrically, evoking a classical sound; at others, he held his bow between his teeth and strummed his violin like an electric guitar — making it sound like one as well."

The Ehnes Quartet performed a recital for Music Toronto.

Toronto Guardian: "(Beethoven's String Quartet No. 7 in F, O. 59, No. 1 is) quite lengthy, there are complicated progressions across multiple keys – but it’s deeply rewarding for the engaged listener. The highlight, again, is its mournful slow movement, which gave Mr. Ehnes himself an opportunity to shine in its cadenza-like passages."

50 pianos were assembled at the Park Avenue Armory in New York for musicians from Vienna based Klangforum Wien as well as local musicians, to perform "11,000 Strings" by Friedrich Haas.

Bach Track: "It was a 75-minute sensation, but so is a circus. It was episodic, some motifs lasting under a minute. Some moments were genuinely surprising, moments which might have been developed but worrying about that would have amounted to over-intellectualizing while something else was already happening. Plinks, pulses and pounds spun around and interrupted themselves. At times it sounded entirely electronic and occasionally I felt slightly dizzy, off-balance, my brain trying to track the activity."
New York Classical Review: "If that implies being in the eye of a storm, that was very much the experience Tuesday night, and it was full of fascination. With this setup, the sound swirls around, through, and over the audience."

Daniel Lozakovich performed Schumann’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony in a concert honoring the group's former Leader, Laura Samuel, who recently died at age 48.

The Times: "...the 24-year-old Swedish violinist...played it with a blazing conviction and focused brilliance that the work only occasionally receives. He brought to it surging lyricism and galvanising confidence that would win over even the work’s most sceptical critics, leavening this with melting sweetness in the slower music and bringing beauty even to the galumphing polonaise of the finale."

Dmytro Udovychenko performed Berg’s Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw Belgium.

KC Classical Central (translated from Dutch): "His violin whispered fragilely, almost timidly, as if each note had first been allowed to breathe. The hesitant motifs and bitonal tinge of the first movement allowed it not to blossom, but to wither—a vulnerability that did not weaken, but spoke. Each glissando was a tentative gesture toward the unspeakable, a whisper of unprocessed pain."

María Dueñas performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major (and dealt with a broken string) with the National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin) and Hans Graf.

Back Track: " Dueñas filled the Larghetto with a hushed pianissmo, caressing each phrase with loving care. Her tone glowed from within, never forced, never sentimental. The final Rondo sparkled with angelic purity, its radiant tone floating above Graf’s more earthy, rhythmically robust orchestral textures."

Simone Lamsma performed Britten's Violin Concerto, Op. 15 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

Bach Track: "Simone Lamsma met every demand with a rendition that was not only masterful, but transformative....It was immediately clear that Lamsma brought not just technical prowess, but a fully formed vision. "

Christian Tetzlaff performed Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Gemma New.

Bach Track: "Tetzlaff conveyed a sense of being in character, as actor as well as virtuosic musician, while New fully illustrated her musical vision."

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Replies

Richard Pairaudeau

October 7, 2025 at 05:20 PM · Difficult to recognize the Berg concerto in the account of Dmytro Udovychenko's performance, but maybe something was lost in translation!

Christian Lesniak

October 7, 2025 at 05:51 PM · Richard, classical music reviews have to be, as a genre, the worst writing ever committed to pixel. The style of LLM output must have been trained on classical review datasets.

Pauleen Dexter

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 520: William Shaub, Augustin Hadelich, Anne Akiko Meyers

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