The Week in Reviews, Op. 358: Anne-Sophie Mutter; Augustin Hadelich; Black Violin

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.Anne-Sophie Mutter performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with conductor Lina Gonzalez-Granados stepping in for Riccardo Muti, who was COVID+.

• Chicago Sun-Times: "Making the most of her lean, golden violin tone, Mutter shaped her solo lines into something extremely intimate."
• WTTW News:: "Mutter’s highest notes are at moments so delicate they are almost inaudible before she returns to a fuller sound and a formidable crescendo....Throughout, Mutter can be felt digging ever more deeply into this work."
• Third Coast Review: "in several cadence phrases...she perfectly stretched out the melody, playing notes ever more softly. As these phrases came to an end, she could barely be heard, but a rapt, silent audience allowed the notes to resonate through the air. The effect was breathtaking."

Augustin Hadelich performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra in San Diego.

• San Diego Reader: "At the 2019 festival, Hadelich performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra. It was one of the greatest performances I had witnessed. So too it was with the Mendelssohn."

Black Violin performed at The Ordway in St. Paul, Minnesota.

• Mshale: "Wil B and Kev Marcus took their years of classical training and turned it all on its head. The audience was treated to hip hop, fusion, jazz, and pop covers all played on violin, viola, a Korg KRONOS keyboard that rivaled a grand piano, a drum set wielded by Nat Stokes, and DJ SPS spinning discs."

Patricia Kopatchinskaja performed Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

• The Guardian: "the sheer intensity of her performance sometimes overshadowed the subtleties that she brought to the concerto – her virtually vibrato-less unfolding of the first movement, her phenomenal accuracy in the maelstrom of the scherzo, or her perfectly graduated build of intensity through the huge cadenza."

Isabelle Faust and pianist Alexander Melnikov performed Beethoven violin sonatas in recital at Wigmore Hall.

• theartsdesk.com: "Faust cultivated an even, direct and slightly husky timbre. Beethoven’s melodies were allowed to play out with their own logic. Developments, though, were more adventurous."

Cho-Liang Lin performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Apollo Orchestra .

• Washington Classical Review: "Lin’s solo playing sounded marvelous, with graceful phrasing pointed up by a clean, bright tone appropriate to the music...However, the performance overall would have benefitted from...a conductor."

Lisa Batiashvili performed works by Saint-Saens and Chausson with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

• WTTW News: "(Batiashvili played) Chausson’s 'Poeme,' with its pensive, lyrical opening enhanced by her beautiful, singing tone and the music’s heartbreaking quality that led to a burst of increasingly intense passion."

Andrew Haveron performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

• CBR City News: "His opening lines were mournful and beautifully measured."

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

• The Week in Reviews, Op. 357: Maxim Vengerov; Benjamin Beilman; Vadim Gluzman
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 356: Osmo Vänskä's final Minnesota concerts; Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider; Matthew Lipman; Tracy Silverman
• The Week in Reviews, Op. 355: Pekka Kuusisto; Veronika Eberle; Noa Wildschut