The Week in Reviews, Op. 203: Gidon Kremer; Patricia Kopatchinskaja; Maxim Vengerov

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.Gidon Kremer performed the Weinberg with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

• Los Angeles Times: "What it asks for is penetration beneath the surface notes, and that is what Kremer offers. He turned 70 this year (which can be over the hill for the average violinist) and he may no longer have the gleaming tone he once had. But he more than makes up for that with an intensity and command that makes him compulsively listenable. The violinist, moreover, led his young conductor profoundly into score, while she gave him youth."

Patricia Kopatchinskaja performed the Berg with the Utah Symphony.

• The Salt Lake Tribune: "...everything about Kopatchinskaja’s performance was unconventional but indisputably musical."

Maxim Vengerov performed the Brahms with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

• New York Classical Review: "Many fine musical ideas were covered up by slick rubato and syrupy phrasing,....And then, out of nowhere, the finale was absolutely brilliant: festive, triumphant, playful."
• Zeal NYC: "Vengerov’s playing is alternately fierce and tender—spectacularly so when he goes high and soft—and he certainly knows how to put on a show."
• The New York Times: "A rendition of Brahms’s Violin Concerto — with Maxim Vengerov as soloist — thrilled during some high-octane passages, but sometimes also sounded labored. The violinist favored a hard-edged tone, appropriate for aggressive, double-stop-strewn material in the first movement but less ideal during the Adagio."

Augustin Hadelich performed the Tchaikovsky with the San Antonio Symphony.

• San Antonio Express-News: "The Tchaikovsky, of course, is a waterfall of emotion, melodic beauty and orchestral color. This performance was the way to hear it: with a soloist this talented, playing on a 1723 Stradivarius that has a mellow, rich tone in the lower register and clean, crisp high notes."

Tessa Lark performed Corigliano's "Red Violin Concerto" with CityMusic Cleveland.

• The Plain Dealer: "Lark has fully mastered the daunting score, and her performance Thursday night was a marvel of emotional concentration, technical prowess and not a little showmanship."

Ray Chen performed Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

• Arts ATL: "Chen proved an impressive performer, offering up a bright, well-stenciled take on the concerto, engaging his whole body, especially in the virtuosic final movement."

Joshua Bell performed sonatas by Mendelssohn, Grieg and Brahms in recital.

• The Gazette: "Joshua Bell is peerless perfection on violin. His artistry knows no bounds."

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