The Week in Reviews, Op. 499: Pekka Kuusisto; Baiba Skride; Lisa Batiashvili

May 7, 2025, 1:21 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 Pekka Kuusisto. Photo by Bård Gundersen.

Pekka Kuusisto performed Bryce Dessner's Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Bach Track: "The idea of ceaseless, peripatetic journey manifested itself in Kuusisto’s relentless solo duties: from the moment Salonen gave the downbeat, he never rested his bow, traveling across octaves and hurtling from a whisper to a scream."
San Francisco Classical Voice: "Dessner’s Violin Concerto, written for and dedicated to Kuusisto, was heavily geared toward the Finnish violinist’s affinity for folk music and is all the better for it....Kuusisto unleashed a torrent of moto perpetuo folklike fiddling that buzzed and fizzed for many minutes. The piece is a throwback to traditional concerto form and works as a thoroughly accessible, energizing bit of contemporary music."

Baiba Skride performed Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Boston Musical Intelligencer: "...her fluid, organic interpretation combined virtuosity with clarity."
Boston Classical Review: "Baiba Skride... was the soloist the last time the ensemble assayed (and recorded) the score three years ago...her take on this brooding masterpiece hasn’t changed much in the interim: it remains broad, lyrical, and tends to miss the forest for the trees."
Boston Globe: "Skride, who will appear in Leipzig with the BSO, landed her bow on the strings for the violin concerto’s sleepless Nocturne with the silent fluidity of an owl on the hunt, and the electrifying restlessness only intensified through the grotesque carnival of the Scherzo."

Lisa Batiashvili performed Schnittke’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the National Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda.

Washington Classical Review: "Beyond her limpid legato playing, heard in the climactic cadenza, Batiashvili’s incisive, fierce tone cut through the massed orchestral sound."

Alena Baeva performed Barber's Violin Concerto, Op.14 with The Hallé and Marta Gardolinska.

Bach Track: "Baeva dazzled with her virtuosity as if releasing the tension that had built up in the previous movements. Utterly exhilarating!"
Left Lion: "Baeva took the expected approach and went at it full throttle."

Alette Williams won the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's annual Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition.

NBC Dallas-Fort Worth: "'Her performance of the Vieuxtemps Concerto was technically beautiful,' DSO Education Manager Sarah Hatler said, 'but then also, the artistry that she brought to it just moved the judges.'"

Haik Kazazyan from Armenia won the top prize at the Classic Violin Olympus in Dubai.

MSN.com: "The 42-year-old played his way to the title with stirring renditions of Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Beethoven and Alexey Shor, impressing judges with his unusual encore piece, inspired by a recording of Frank Peter Zimmermann he found on YouTube."

The Alexander String Quartet performed its final Bay Area concert.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "(It was) one more chance to appreciate the quality of the Quartet’s music-making. Indeed, to my ears, the ensemble has gradually grown tighter and sturdier in performance over the years."

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Replies

Sparsh Dabholkar

May 8, 2025 at 11:48 AM · Thank you for sharing! Can you also share the link of James Ehnes’s performance of the Tchaikovsky on May 3rd with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra? I would like to see the reviews because I was there.

Laurie Niles

May 8, 2025 at 02:00 PM · I didn’t see any reviews for that, but please share the link if there are any.

Sparsh Dabholkar

May 8, 2025 at 11:50 PM · I also couldn’t find it. Thanks for sharing the reviews!

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