The Week in Reviews, Op. 28: Anne Akiko Meyers, Hilary Hahn, Regina Carter in concert

Written by Robert Niles
Published: April 22, 2014 at 9:51 PM [UTC]

In an effort to promote the coverage of live music, each week Violinist.com brings you links to reviews of notable violin performances from around the world. We'd love to hear about any recent concerts and recitals you've attended, too. Or just tell us what you think about these reviews!

Anne Akiko Meyers performed the Bates with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

• Chicago Tribune: "The music is cannily tailored to Meyers' musical personality, and it put to the test her ability to draw floods of sweet tone and shape the quasi-bluesy and jazzy riffs from her priceless fiddle. She passed the test splendidly."
• Chicago Classical Review: "Meyers performed with a sweet tone, fitfully overdoing the vibrato, and made much out of the main lyrical theme that later morphs into full silver-screen luxuriance. She also brought daunting fire and intensity to the virtuosic closing section, which provided the requisite fireworks, garnering an instantaneous standing ovation by the audience."

Hilary Hahn performed in recital with pianist Cory Smythe in Albany, NY

• Times Union: "Her sound is always solid, sometimes warm, though not particularly radiant. The descriptors that keep coming up are thoughtful and intelligent. Maybe those adjectives should apply more to interpretation than to sound, yet there's a smart integrity to each note she plays."

Augustin Hadelich performed Previn's "Tango, Song and Dance" with pianist Joyce Yang and guitarist Pablo Villegas

• Washington Post: "Hadelich is a lovely, sunny soloist with a warmth and sparkle in his playing that translates to his stage persona. I can well understand his desire to explore different and perhaps more immediate ways of connecting with the audience. This performance wasn’t quite it, but it certainly offered some great music-making."

Regina Carter performed for the Symphony Center's jazz series in Chicago

• Chicago Tribune: "Carter, however, remained the centerpiece of all of this, her violin giving voice to songs reflecting the convergence of cultures that built American music from the start. You could hear African-American chant, traditional Scottish and Irish melody and much more in this repertory, Carter slip-sliding around pitches and improvising on dance rhythms much as our forebears once did."

The Takács Quartet performed works by Bartok

• Violinist.com: "The combination of these players and this repertoire made for what was probably my favorite quartet performance to date."

On the pop beat, Lettice Rowbotham is causing quite a stir on Simon Cowell's Britain's Got Talent show

• UTV News: "Described by judge David Walliams as 'the poshest contestant we've ever had on the show,' Lettice wowed the panel by performing a medley of current tunes on her violin."
• Hello! Daily News: "After her audition Simon Cowell said: 'Lettice, not only are you brilliant, you have a fantastic personality as well, you are one of the people I am going to remember coming away from this.'"
• Metro: "The 24-year-old impressed the BGT judges on Saturday night’s show but it would seem she and Cowell may have crossed paths before now."

And on the book beat, Mayra Calvani reviewed Laurie Niles' The Violinist.com Interviews: Volume 1

• BlogCritics.org: "In one word, this book is: fascinating. If you love listening to violin music, or are a violinist yourself, you’ll relish the inside information into the lives of these incredibly talented soloists and their ups and downs as they travel the world and make personal sacrifices in order to play live concerts, sometimes as many as a hundred or more a year."

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