The Week in Reviews, Op. 454: Virgil Boutellis-Taft, Joshua Bell, Veronika Eberle

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.Virgil Boutellis-Taft performed in recital with pianist JuYoung Park at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.

• New York Classical Review: "this sonata performance (of Janácek’s Violin Sonata) was both superb and expressively right...Boutellis-Taft and Park brought great vitality to the music.... The violinist seemed altogether more extroverted, confident, and even irreverent from the start, thumbing the secondary pizzicato phrase of the opening movement even before the full performance began."
• BlogCritics: "'Incantatory' is exactly the word for the first piece on the program, the 'Kol Nidrei' by Max Bruch. In this gripping performance we heard right away the honeyed, pillowy tone Boutellis-Taft can draw from the 1742 Domenico Montagnana violin that he plays. He and it are capable of a variety of contrasting effects too, as we heard later."

Joshua Bell performed "The Elements" (a work by five composers) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

• Chicago Classical Review: "Although Joshua Bell is as much of a household name as there is in classical music, his playing was never overly showy or ostentatious but was in service to the music at all times. By lending his star power to this inventive work and touring it around the world, he sheds welcome light on five of America’s leading composers."
• Bach Track: "A new work for orchestra and solo violin masterminded by the superstar violinist Joshua Bell, shows that one way such a many-cooks piece can succeed is to line up composers of similar sensibilities, using similar forces....Bell savvily selected composers whose styles naturally mesh."

Veronika Eberle performed Beethoven's "Violin Concerto" with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "This 21st-century echo of Beethoven themes elevated a beautiful version of the composer’s violin concerto...into something much more grand. The thanks goes to Eberle’s U.S. premiere of three new cadenzas — each movement re-imagined in miniature by composer Jörg Widmann. Even more impressive? The cadenzas flowed naturally from Beethoven’s music, seamlessly updating his work with a modern twist."
• EarRelevant: "Widmann’s cadenzas (add) contrabass and second violin, elaborating further, well outside the realms of classical authenticity, deliberately stamping them with a 21st-century character. Unfortunately, that clashed with Beethoven’s style rather than creatively extending it, so they came off as change for change’s sake rather than adding insight into one of the major concerti in Western music — although they were well-played."
• ArtsATL: "It felt as though soloist and ensemble alike were afraid to fully commit to the concerto’s underlying intensity."

Christian Tetzlaff performed Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the Grant Park Orchestra.

• The Classical Review: "Tetzlaff was fully inside this score, often bringing out expressive shadings and elements that one didn’t even know were there. In addition to handling the daunting technical demands with ease, from his first entrance the violinist brought out an essential fantasy quality."
• Hyde Park Herald: "Tetzlaff was up for all the challenges, and delivered a robust performance full of both energy and nuance."

Anne-Sophie Mutter performed John Williams' Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg.

• Bach Track: "What dazzles...is the writing for the solo instrument....this is most definitely a display vehicle for Mutter. She remained the centre of attention throughout, not just in the many cadenza-like passages... but in releasing the reserves of abundant and eloquent energy in the solo writing."

Vadim Gluzman, Paul Huang, Danbi Um and Njioma Grevious and others performed on Days 2 and 3 of the North Shore Chamber Music Festival.

• Violinist.com: "With pianist Alessio Bax joining clarinetist Ilya Shterenberg and violinist Paul Huang, (Bartok's 'Contrasts') was a real treat - arguably the artistic pinnacle of the festival."

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

Interview with Joshua Bell: Creating 'The Elements' Violin Concerto with 5 Composers

Interview: Violinist Virgil Boutellis-Taft to Perform at Carnegie Hall

The Week in Reviews, Op. 453: Anne-Sophie Mutter; Joshua Bell; North Shore Chamber Music Festival