The Week in Reviews, Op. 501: Anne Akiko Meyers; cellist Johannes Moser; Francisco Fullana

May 20, 2025, 9:23 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 Akiko Meyers. Photo by Chris Lee.

Anne Akiko Meyers performed Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending" and Eric Whitacre's "The Pacific Has No Memory" with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

BlogCritics: "Meyers’ performance revealed the glorious singing tone she and her violin, the 1741 Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù, are known for....(Eric Whitacre) had devoted many months to a different realization of Meyers’ commission, but switched gears upon witnessing the wildfires and conceiving a pungent new melody....If the solo violin is lamenting the destruction of homes and neighborhoods, the orchestra is contextualizing that lone voice into a chorus of community."

Cellist Johannes Moser performed the world premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s "Before we fall" cello concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and Dalia Stasevska.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "Thorvaldsdottir’s new cello concerto, Before we fall, is a banger, sonically and intellectually, dense with ideas and meriting repeat hearings...German Canadian cellist Johannes Moser played throughout with both thrilling splendor and fierce intimacy."

Francisco Fullana performed Arturo Márquez's "Fandango" Violin Concerto with the Phoenix Symphony and Thomas Wilkins.

Bach Track: "Fullana dazzled with a limber, flexible bow technique, playing in nearly continuous motion."

Cellist Seth Parker Woods performed the world premiere of Julia Adolphe’s "Chrysalis" for cello and orchestra with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "He gave the piece a soulful, technically impeccable, and affectionate reading that injected a needed narrative impulse into what is a somewhat amorphous and static tone poem."

Carolin Widmann performed her brother Jörg Widmann’s second violin concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Jörg Widmann.

The Guardian: "Carolin Widmann’s playing was virtuosic and plush – a broken string and the exchanges with first desk violins managed like sleight of hand – and always with the utter conviction of being the piece’s very inspiration."

Robert Mealy and Juilliard415 (Juilliards Early Baroque Ensemble) performed at Corpus Christi Church in New York.

New York Classical Review: "This was a colorful, and often fascinating, melange of Italian, Spanish, and specifically South American styles.....This was a robust, refreshing experience, with enthusiastic performances."

Akiko Suwanai performed Alban Berg's Violin Concerto "To the Memory of an Angel" with NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo.

Bach Track: "Suwanai plays with a delicate beauty enhanced by the lush sound of her 1732 Guarneri instrument, which was lost at times in the brass-heavy sonorities of the orchestra. Still, she managed to lend an emotional quality to music that doesn’t seem to have any. "

Anna Chen da Silva performed Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

CBR City News: "...otherwise known as founding member and co-leader of the exceptional Alma Moodie Quartet (on top of her regular gig with the ACO)...(Anna Chen da Silva) gave an exhilarating performance serving both flair and precision, uncommon sweetness in even her topmost notes."

Cellist Pablo Ferrández performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Strad: "There was a sense that Ferrández approached the piece as a giant work of chamber music....He displayed technical and musical mastery on his 1689 Stradivari ‘Archinto’ cello, which projected Elgar’s range of colours sweetly through the concert hall."

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Replies

Richard Pairaudeau

May 21, 2025 at 04:15 PM · Writing about the Berg violin concerto, Bach Track's critic speaks of Akiko Suwanai lending "an emotional quality to music that doesn’t seem to have any." This surely qualifies for a Cloth-Eared Academy award.

Laurie Niles

May 21, 2025 at 10:44 PM · It definitely reveals the reviewer's mindset!

Richard Pairaudeau

May 22, 2025 at 04:51 AM · Ironic, Laurie, that Berg quotes Bach extensively!

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