The Week in Reviews, Op. 149: Elmar Oliveira, Joshua Bell, Rachel Barton Pine

By Laurie Niles: 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. Elmar Oliveira premiered a new violin concerto by Richard Sortomme, with Savannah Philharmonic.

• Do Savannah: "The concerto’s themes echoed influence from Arnold Schoenberg to Felix Mendelssohn to John Cage, a cacophony of strange beauty...Oliveira brilliantly manufactured a host of sounds and tones ranging the length of the violin’s reach. Lonely, broken solos of strumming oscillated with excursions into a high range of staccato notes were as refreshing as they were nearly painful at times."

Joshua Bell performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tchaikovsky with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Lubbock Symphony Orchestra.

• The Buffalo News: "Bell has his own unique approach. It is a kind of understated directness. He doesn’t overthink the music. He calls it as he sees it, is the impression I get."
• Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Bell can grip a melodic line in the most solid and ineluctable way, but, particularly when the orchestra is silent and the sound carried by the violin alone, he can hold the musical thread loosely, nearly letting it slip away in quiet, deliciously slow, high notes that send the mind in mazelike loops."
• Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: "Bell’s performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major was of such phenomenal and individual quality that the orchestra could have reserved the hall for hours of curtain calls..."
• Medicine Opera: "Bell plays the violin like Usain Bolt runs the 200 meter sprint. His whole body is involved and the result is spectacular."

Rachel Barton Pine performed Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the West Virginia Symphony.

• Charleston Gazette-Mail: "Barton Pine’s playing was dynamic, never forced, but richly colored and incisive."

James Ehnes performed the Beethoven with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

• Regina Leader-Post: "Ehnes was mesmerizing — it was impossible to take your eyes off him. He demanded your undivided attention and his expertise made sure he got exactly that."
• Winnipeg Free Press: "Every concert that features the award-winning artist feels like a homecoming, with his rapt listeners welcoming him to the stage with loud cheers and foot stomps as though a red-hot rock star."

Anton Miller performed the Barber with the Lincoln [Neb.] Symphony Orchestra.

• Lincoln Journal Star: "Miller’s approach was one of seasoned concentration in a display of his solid technique and reasoned emotional approach to Barber’s American masterpiece."

Please support music in your community by attending a concert or recital whenever you can! You might also like:

• Interview with Elmar Oliveira
• Rachel Barton Pine's 'Testament' to the Music of Bach
• Interview with James Ehnes: Four Seasons and No Apologies