The Week in Reviews, Op. 519: Alexi Kenney; Leila Josefowicz; violist Timothy Ridout

September 30, 2025, 2:21 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 Leila Josefowicz performing Saturday with the New York Philharmonic and David Robertson. Photo by Chris Lee, courtesy of the New York Philharmonic.

Leila Josefowicz performed Szymanowski's Violin Concerto no. 2, Op.61 with the New York Philharmonic and David Robertson.

Bach Track: "Leila Josefowicz delivered a dazzling rendition of the rugged, astoundingly difficult solo part....the American-Canadian violinist successfully conveyed its ebullient, rebellious spirit. She was most impressive in the vital cadenza connecting the two main sections."

Alexi Kenney performed Sibelius' Violin Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Bach Track: "the violinist delivered impassioned playing and blazing pyrotechnics, colored by a stylistically appropriate use of vibrato. The sumptuous melodic line in the central slow movement provided a peaceful contrast to the blistering passions of the beginning....The rollicking main theme was given with lively character, punctuated by rhythms sharp as a whip crack."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Kenney’s playing was taut and dramatic, and he gave a highly stylized account of the first two movements that led the ear to certain phrases and pitches with a commanding logic."

Violist Timothy Ridout Mark Simpson’s "Hold Your Heart in Your Teeth" with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Times: "Exploding into existence, the concerto runs the gamut from outraged frenzy to desolate lamentation....it feels very much like a concerto for our times: vulnerable and tender, fiery and frustrated. Ridout rose to the occasion brilliantly, carrying conviction at every turn."

Bach Akademie Australia performed works by Vivaldi, Leclair, Handel, Telemann and Bach in a concert entitled "The Art of Violin."

Limelight: "(Bach's E major concerto) made a glorious end to this celebration of an instrument which is so often praised for having the expressive range and beauty of the human voice."
State of the Art (Sydney): "Fittingly, last was Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042. It was one of the best performances of this piece I have heard live. The first movement was expressive, vibrant and faultless, and the second was deeply moving."

Xiao Wang performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra.

TAPinto Westfield: "After presenting the Adagio, the emotional heart of the work, Wang performed the finale, filled with fiery spirit and rhythmic drive, complemented with a lively, dance-like character drawing on folk influences."

Andrés Cárdenes and pianist Ian Hobson performed music of Robert Schumann in a recital at the Tenri Cultural Institute in NYC.

New York Classical Review: "The performance of Violin Sonata No. 1—one of Schumann’s finest works and one of the great violin sonatas in the repertoire—was superb. Starting immediately with the simple and urgent melody, Hobson and Cárdenes let the drive in the music carry them forward."

The Vega Quartet and cellist Zuill Bailey performed at Northwest BachFest.

The Spokeman-Review: "These artists are all masters of their instruments. There is nothing that can be done on a violin, viola or cello that they cannot do. They could certainly be soaking up the fees and applause that come from performances of concertos by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and others, but they have rather committed themselves to acquiring yet another – and perhaps higher – skill: that which allows them to fuse themselves so completely with their fellow artists, as well as with the ideas and wishes of great composers, that the narrow boundaries of personality are transcended."

Lawrence Power performed in recital with pianist Ryan Wigglesworth at Wigmore Hall in London.

The Times: "(a) wonderfully assured, ardently romantic account of Enescu’s Concertstück for viola and piano, and even more with a lush, sweetly lyrical account of Brahms’s Viola Sonata in E flat."

Simon Zhu performed the first movement of Paganini Violin Concerto No 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra in a gala attended by King Charles, celebrating the cultural relations between London and the Italian city of Genoa.

: "Zhu performed the first movement from Paganini’s first violin concerto on an 18th-century violin dubbed Il Cannone (The Cannon), which was named after its explosive sound and inspired many of Paganini’s compositions."

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 519: Alexi Kenney; Leila Josefowicz; violist Timothy Ridout

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