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The Week in Reviews, Op. 538: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Christian Tetzlaff, Leonidas Kavakos

February 25, 2026, 2:16 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.

Anne-Sophie Mutter performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Karina Canellakis.

• Bach Track: "Mutter asserted complete artistic authority, embodying every hallmark of leadership: commanding stage presence, unshakeable poise and a tonal identity instantly recognisable. Her approach was steeped in a grand tradition, with generous vibrato, a consistently warm and rounded sound, her phrasing less concerned with razor-sharp contour than with saturated lyricism."

Christian Tetzlaff performed Ondrej Adámek’s "Thin Ice," Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 with Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Jonathan Nott.

• Bach Track: "It’s as if a standard concerto had been fed into a mechanical thresher that turned it into metal...And it’s glorious noise, wildly inventive, cleverly orchestrated and thoroughly refreshing....(Tetzlaff) handled it all with a masterful combination of skill and brio, deeply focused on every note, passionate in execution and totally unfazed by the technical challenges."

Leonidas Kavakos performed Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the New York Philharmonic and Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

• Bach Track: "Passagework was clean and rhythmically alert and the fleeting quarter-tone inflections near its close registered with quiet tension before a cadenza delivered with commanding assurance."

Vadim Gluzman performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the North Carolina Symphony and Carlos Miguel Prieto.

• EarRelevant: "He took the fast portions of the last movement so fast that Heifetz, by comparison, sounds somewhat turtlelike. At the same time, Gluzman also invested the last movement’s several slow passages with genuine soulfulness. Overall, his turned out to be an impressive performance."

Dylana Jenson performed Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with the Lakeview Orchestra and Silas Huff.

• Chicago Classical Review: "Jenson brought a gleaming tone to the melancholy opening melody, while the orchestral strings provided a quietly shimmering bed of sound underneath. After the heartfelt opening statement and luminous double stops, Jenson attacked the fiendishly difficult passagework with determination. "

Concertmaster Madeline Adkins performed John Adams’ Violin Concerto with the Utah Symphony and David Robertson.

• Utah Arts Review: "The outer movements in particular demand virtuosic playing and Adkins certainly didn’t disappoint, giving a tour-de-force performance that was stunning in its pyrotechnical displays as well as showcasing her expressive side in the slow middle movement. "

Alexi Kenney, performed Sofia Gubaidulina's "In Tempus Praesens" with the Houston Symphony and Juraj Valcuha.

• EarRelevant: "Making his Houston Symphony debut, Kenney offered a demonstrative—even theatrical—performance. His clear tone and impeccable intonation carried him through the concerto’s formidable technical demands with conviction and expressive commitment. The cadenzas unfolded with dramatic narrative shape. A master colorist, Kenney delivered an interpretation worthy of comparison with the finest recorded accounts."

Jennifer Koh performed in recital with pianist Thomas Sauer at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

• San Francisco Classical Voice: "A famed interpreter of new and recent music, the highlights of Koh’s recital were the two newest works by Tania León and Kaija Saariaho, and three bonbons by Lili Boulanger that opened the concert."

Jennifer Pike performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor with the Czech Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra and Daniel Raiskin.

• Bach Track: "It is some artist who can take a warhorse as familiar as this and sound as if she has just discovered the score and wants to share its delights with her audience. There was no exaggeration in her phrasing, or anything but the most subtle rubato, playing her solos quite straight but fresh and pure in sound."

The Attacca Quartet performed a concert at the Gardner.

• Boston Musical Intelligencer: "The Attacca Quartet rewarded an intrepid audience that dared to venture out in advance of an anticipated bomb cyclone with a compelling program that kept us all spellbound from first note to last. "

Himari performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden.

• WTTW News: "Himari’s performance...was superb. Following the lyrical opening by the orchestra came her beautiful, warmly emotional solo that was marked by her richly dramatic sensibility."

Henning Kraggerud, cellist Adrian Brendel pianist Imogen Cooper performed Schubert piano trios at London’s Wigmore Hall (in December).

• The Strad: "The evening was a total joy, often feeling more like eavesdropping on some relaxed music making between friends than a performance."

Please support music in your community by attending a concert or recital whenever you can!

You might also like:

• The Week in Reviews, Op. 537: Hilary Hahn's Return, with Philadelphia Orchestra
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 536: Alexi Kenney, Maxim Vengerov, David Kim
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 535: Augustin Hadelich, Randall Goosby, María Dueñas

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