The Week in Reviews, Op. 524: Itzhak Perlman, Clara-Jumi Kang, Viano Quartet

November 4, 2025, 6:55 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 Itzhak Perlman. Photo by Masterclass.com, courtesy Primo Artists.

Itzhak Perlman presented "An Evening with Itzhak Perlman" with pianist Rohan De Silva at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

We Write About Music: "Forget everything you think you know about classical music performances. Perlman, accompanied by pianist Rohan De Silva, created something that felt more like a one-man documentary than a traditional recital....The format worked brilliantly....This was a master storyteller who just happened to be one of the greatest violinists alive."

Clara-Jumi Kang performed Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 77 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Ryan Bancroft.

Seen and Heard International: "Her performance of the Shostakovich (his First Violin Concerto) was nothing short of staggering, both in terms of intensity, technique and passion."

The Viano Quartet performed their Celebrity Series debut recital at Groton Hill Music Center’s Meadow Hall outside Boston.

Boston Classical Review: "To say they play well together is to state the obvious. What makes them captivating is subtler, harder to pin down. They check all the requisite technical boxes: practically perfect intonation, responsive phrasings, unified articulations, carefully calibrated dynamics. But the tetrad —violinists Lucy Wang and Hao Zhou, violist Aiden Kane, and cellist Tate Zawadiuk — also understands how to translate technique into expression."

Bomsori Kim performed Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden at Carnegie Hall.

Bach Track: "The central Andante evolved naturally, with a flowing cantilena of gentle beauty and poignant feeling, but it was the quicksilver finale – where Bomsori displayed an appealing sense of lightness and fun, and the woodwinds sounded especially lustrous before building to a satisfying culmination in the frenetic coda – that most impressed."

Daniel Hope led and performed Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" and other works with the New Century Chamber Orchestra.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "With Music Director Daniel Hope as concertmaster and a powerful soloist in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Thursday’s concert at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley showcased the marvelous unity of purpose and the vibrant sound that the musicians of New Century Chamber Orchestra command."

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Stéphane Denève.

The St. Louis American: "Szeps-Znaider took a restlessly lyrical solo violin part and really made it sing. This violin part begs to be scored for voice – you have a ready-made opera here, just add the words. I was not surprised to read in his Playbook bio that Szeps-Znaider conducts opera on the side."

Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen performed all six of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos to open the London Festival of Baroque Music.

Bach Track: "Led by their charismatic director Jonathan Cohen, the team set about their mission with an energetic exposition of their characteristic traits: an almost telepathically-transmitted style of ensemble born of innate artistry; rhythmic vibrancy; matchless phrasing; electrically-charged virtuosity; and, most tellingly, the impression that it was all effortless. A dazzling expression of concentrated creativity."

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 524: Itzhak Perlman, Clara-Jumi Kang, Viano Quartet

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