The Week in Reviews, Op. 495: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Joshua Bell

April 9, 2025, 11:59 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 Anne Sophie Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis. Photo by Mao Xinlin.

Anne-Sophie Mutter performed in recital with pianist Lambert Orkis at Carnegie Hall.

New York Classical Review: "For all Orkis’s fluent technique, crisp attack and musical insight, his playing was, as it were, printed in smaller type than his partner’s. That left Mutter floating serenely above it all, displaying her undeniably marvelous tonal range and artful phrasing, but bereft of the kind of sparks that fly when two musicians really mix it up."
San Francisco Classical Voice ..and at Davies Concert Hall in San Francisco: "The programming may not have been groundbreaking, but the playing was plenty fresh."

Frank Peter Zimmermann performed Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Dima Slobodeniouk.

Boston Classical Review: "Throughout, the German violinist, back with the BSO for the first time since 2016, demonstrated an electrifying rapport with the ensemble. The pairing’s articulations and balances were always carefully dispatched, and, despite the concerto’s sometimes-thick textures, no harsh projections marred the solo line."
Boston Musical Intelligencer: "Going from one extreme limit of the fingerboard to the other, the bespectacled violinist reached the depths of human expression."

Joshua Bell, soprano Larisa Martinez and pianist Peter Dugan performed the premiere of "Tennessee Songs," which was written for them by John Corigliano, at the Tucson Desert Song Festival.

Tucson.com: "It’s probably not hyperbole to say that the classical music world has been waiting for decades to see composer John Corigliano reunite with arguably his biggest muse (- Joshua Bell)."

Juliette Kang performed Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Bach Track: "Kang not only met but vanquished every challenge with supreme artistry, delivering one of the best concerto performances of the season."

Kala Ramnath performed Reena Esmail's Concerto for Hindustani Violin with the Albany Symphony and David Alan Miller.

The Times Union: "Early on, the violin solo and the orchestral strings blended so well that it was tough to discern one from the other, and that could have been a deliberate message of kinship. With a presence that supersedes music, Ramnath wasn’t ever totally lost in the mix. She also sang in the last movement."

Alina Ibragimova performed Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor Op.47with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Dinis Sousa.

Arcana: "Most notable were Ibragimova’s fusing of the first movement’s central cadenza with developmental impetus, her building of cumulative momentum over the course of the Adagio or a final Allegro which, though this may all but have eschewed the ‘ma non tanto’ marking, exuded a drive and panache maintained through to the scintillating close."

Vilde Frang performed the Schumann Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski.

The Arts Desk: "Vilde Frang was the ideal match for Jurowski and the LPO here. Her double-stopping entry, startlingly resonant, equalled what Jurowski had projected from his players in the cutting intent of the unison opening, explosions and pauses of the first few Coriolan bars."

Members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performed works by women composers.

Violinist.com: "In the second movement (the quartet) brought out the interaction inherent in Fanny (Mendelssohn)'s writing with exciting motion. They kept tempos right on the brink, lending to the excitement and commanding attitude, that feeling that they were "going for it" and also nailing it."
San Francisco Classical Voice: "LACO assistant concertmaster Tereza Stanislav and pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald combined for a solid, understated, and elegantly balanced performance of Clara’s popular Three Romances, Op. 22 (1853)"

John Storgårds performed Keith Jarrett's "Elegy for violin and string orchestra" with the Dallas Symphony.

MSN: "In both this and Beethoven’s Romance No. 2 Storgårds dispensed silvery tone and elegant detail within sure overviews. Occasionally waving his bow or violin, with some nodded help from concertmaster Alex Kerr, he effectively coordinated the orchestra."

William Shaub performed in the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's Concertmaster Series.

Arts Knoxville: "The opening virtuosic pieces, picked by Shaub to both impress and whet the listeners’ appetite, were delicious musical morsels that amazed with technique and interpretation."

Daniel Cho performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg and James Conlon.

Bach Track: "Bruch’s quiet opening seemed to be caressed out of the silence by both the orchestra and soloist, so rapt and gently did it come across, before the swirling centre point of the first movement swept all before it."

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Christian Lesniak

April 11, 2025 at 04:08 AM · Is this a year of Clara Schumann's 3 Romances, or am I having a Baader-Meinhof off? I bought the sheet music a few weeks ago, then I saw Benjamin Beilman play them live, and I keep seeing them pop up all over classical reviews. I'm getting the impression that they are getting programmed a lot in the last year or so. Great pieces, btw!

I really wish Mutter would come to Denver so I could hear her live.

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 495: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Joshua Bell

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