The Week in Reviews, Op. 525: Rachel Podger, Joshua Bell, Midori

November 11, 2025, 12:12 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 Rachel Podger. Photo by Broadway Studios.

Rachel Podger performed a show called "Brilliant Baroque" with Tafelmusik for Early Music Seattle.

The Strad: "From her first cue, Podger led with the easy buoyancy and collegial give-and-take that are her hallmark....Her calibration of a playful spontaneity with precision proved beguiling, ornaments flickering with an elegantly charming yet intentional ease."

Joshua Bell performed Thomas de Hartmann's Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic and Dalia Stasevska.

BlogCritics: "De Hartmann’s concerto begins with shifting, almost velvety chords. Bell’s lower register emerged with great songfulness. But quickly the music leaps into glowing dance rhythms. Here De Hartmann’s weaving contrasting traditions and textures together begins in earnest. Anguished dissonant clusters: Modernism. Mournful impressions: Romanticism. Warlike crashing, dark clouds. Virtuoso sixteenth-note passagework in the violin. Sublime melodicism and very high notes."

Midori performed Dvorak's Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer: "Midori’s interpretive mastery and deep engagement was on full display from the outset. "

Eunice Kim performed Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra .

The Minnesota Star Tribune: "Working with a smaller orchestra than customary for such a quintessential romantic-era violin concerto, Kim was able to draw out both the subtle and the intricate within her lines."

James Ehnes performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner.

The Reviews Hub London: "Soloist James Ehnes proves a perfect match for the orchestra, his playing seamlessly interweaving with the ensemble, particularly in the composed echo and responses. "

Elena Urioste performed Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto in G with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sussex World: "...she gave us a stunning performance...."

Guy Braunstein and cellist Zvi Plesser performed the Brahms Double Concerto with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Benjamin Zander.

Boston Classical Review: "As half of The Huberman Quartet, violinist Guy Braunstein, and cellist Zvi Plesser confidently leveraged their decades’ worth of experience into a masterfully coordinated performance of Brahms’ Double Concerto, which was the evening’s centerpiece."

Quatuor Ébène performed in recital at the Concertgebouw.

Bach Track: "As clear as glass, yet profoundly human, the Quatuor Ébène impressed from the start in the Concertgebouw’s Recital Hall, their sonority striking with an almost physical clarity. What set this performance apart was not only the Ébènes’ technical mastery, but the rare ability to make perfection sound spontaneous. It was a recital that redefined clarity: sound as light, control as emotion. Experiencing live performances by chamber ensembles such as Quatuor Ébène is not only a pleasure, but a privilege."

Alena Baeva performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Paavo Järvi.

Bach Track: "Most soloists can tickle the ear with the opening of the work’s Vorspiel, but Baeva offered another level of sweetness of tone and elegance of phrasing, which persisted through the whole work."

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Richard Pairaudeau

November 11, 2025 at 05:55 PM · Thomas de Hartmann's violin concerto is a fine work and deserves to be much better known. It's wonderful that Joshua Bell, one of the greats of our time, has espoused it.

Christian Lesniak

November 11, 2025 at 06:03 PM · I heard Paul Huang play Mozart's 4th Violin Concerto this past weekend with the Colorado Symphony. I cannot recommend checking him out enough!

He has a particularly beautiful sound that manages to be somehow bright and deep. If you've heard Zuckerman, it's akin to that kind of sound, where it immediately bowls you over, but it keeps you drawn in with its liquidity and nuance. His is a more romantic Mozart, but always really nicely shaped throughout. He appeared to have written his own cadenzas, since the cadenza in the first movement seemed only homeopathically related to the material of the movement; I would go back to the drawing board on that one. The other cadenzas seemed a lot more fitting.

I don't mean this in the least as in opposition to his thoughtful and expressive musicianship, but if you just want to hear how a violin can sound, go see Paul Huang in concert!

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 525: Rachel Podger, Joshua Bell, Midori

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