The Week in Reviews, Op. 488: Christian Tetzlaff; Veronika Eberle; Gil Shaham

February 19, 2025, 4:58 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 Christian Tetzlaff. Photo by Giorgia Bertazzi.

Christian Tetzlaff performed Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and David Afkham.

Chicago Classical Review: "The soloist was at his most communicative in the Adagio, Tetzlaff bringing great lyrical warmth to this expressive music and drawing out the lingering final phrases in a hushed and confiding fashion."
Splash Magazine: "Tetzlaff was a joy to watch and to hear, giving voice to melancholy, to praise of nature, dripping with emotion yet never saccharine. "

Veronika Eberle performed Berg's Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic and Karina Canellakis.

New York Classical Review: "Youth’s defiance of gravity was evident in the dancing folk tune that closed the concerto’s first part. This idyllic scene made the explosion of grief that opened the second part all the more shocking. The violinist responded with cadenza-like passages, slashing and marcato at first, later more tender and flecked with left-hand pizzicato."
Bach Track: "Eberle has tremendous facility; there were times during her performance that I had to remind myself that playing the violin is difficult! It was only the second half of the concerto that caught fire and transcended technique, however."
New York Times: "The violinist Veronika Eberle, making her debut on the Philharmonic’s main subscription series, was better suited to that cool, measured wariness than the more heated music that follows."

Gil Shaham performed Dvorák’s Violin Concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and John Storgårds.

Cincinnati Business Journal: "He summoned a glorious romantic sound on his violin from the opening bars of the first movement. His playing was seamless as he tackled technical feats, one after another, with effortless control and beauty of tone. Most impressive was the way he communicated with Storgårds and every musician in the orchestra, turning for lively exchanges and moving to the music as he played. He was not so much in front of the orchestra as he was a part of it."

Esther Yoo performed the premiere of Raymond Yiu’s Violin Concerto with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Jaap van Zweden.

My News: "Yoo’s thought-provoking, contemplative take on Yiu’s embellished transcription of a 1974 solo erhu recording he discovered on a visit to Hong Kong was a true highlight. Her playing turned fiery in the movement’s Animato section, whose frenzied rhythms express exile and loss."

The Lyris Quartet performed in Melodia Mariposa's benefit concert for victims of the Eaton Canyon Fire.

Violinist.com: "This was virtuosic quartet playing, with Grieg requiring - and Lyris giving - over-the-top energy right to the victorious end."

Richard Tognetti performed Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Bach Track: "Tognetti, supremely confident in both his technique and artistic concept, used silky, tender sounds in the soft passages, such as in the subdued soliloquy of the slow movement, yet elsewhere more luscious (at times even overly fast) vibrato than the rest of the ensemble applied."

Danny Jin performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Lakeview Orchestra and Nicholas Koo.

Chicago Classical Review: "The violinist dazzled throughout the concerto, painting Bruch’s broad melodies with a keening lyricism and radiant clarity through the cadenza-like transition into the second movement, the beating heart of the work. "

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 488: Christian Tetzlaff; Veronika Eberle; Gil Shaham

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