The Week in Reviews, Op. 214: Janine Jansen; Ray Chen; Hilary Hahn

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.Janine Jansen performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

• The New York Times: "Her performance was so probing and lucid, and so matched by the refined playing of the orchestra, that this popular piece sounded fresh and bracing."

Ray Chen performed the Beethoven with the Pacific Symphony.

• San Diego Reader: "When Ray Chen played his first solo line, I thought, 'Hmm. This must be what it sounds like to live inside a violin.' That is hardly an exaggeration."

Hilary Hahn performed the Mendelssohn with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

• Music OMH: "Hahn’s performance was complementary to all of this – full of gossamer-light playing (the little arpeggio flicks at the opening of the third movement were whispers of sound), bringing out the sweetness of her instrument, and supplying a little power where needed. She avoided cloying romanticism (allowing only the merest hint of schmaltz in the first-movement cadenza) reminding us that, while Mendelssohn may be seen as a Victorian composer, Schumann’s comment about him being ‘the Mozart of the nineteenth century’ holds true.

Nicola Benedetti performed the Beethoven with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

• Dallas Morning News: "Benedetti played fabulously, with wholly sympathetic collaboration from Runnicles and company."
• Texas Classical Review: "Benedetti’s clean trills and passagework, tossed off with serene ease, built inexorably toward a passionately delivered climax: in collaboration with pianist Petr Limonov, Benedetti has created her own enthralling cadenza based on Beethoven’s cadenza for the piano transcription of this concerto, nicely incorporating the timpani obbligato from the piano version."

Pinchas Zukerman performed and conducted Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

• Palm Beach Daily News: "Zukerman’s performance, as conductor and soloist, radiated a laid-back sense of ease."
• South Florida Classical Review: "Zukerman is an old hand at soloing and leading Mozart concertos. In the 1970's he recorded an outstanding set of all five Mozart violin concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra. His technique is still strong and intact, his tone rich without overdoses of sugary excess."

Andrew Sords performed Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

• CarolinaCurtainCall.com/:"Sords displayed extraordinary precision in the frenzied energy of the Allegro Aperto, tossing back and forth the main motif to the orchestra (with two oboes and two horns), and the rapid-fire ascending and descending of pointed melody and double and triple stops with fiery intensity and richness."

Please support music in your community by attending a concert or recital whenever you can!