The Week in Reviews, Op. 248: Joshua Bell; Rachel Barton Pine; cellist Matthew Linaman

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.Joshua Bell performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Assured and confident, his singing sound carried over the orchestra with ease in a brilliant performance."

Rachel Barton Pine performed Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

• Town Topics: "Barton Pine flawlessly executed Paganini’s technical demands, including left-handed pizzicato and demanding double stops, but easily conveyed the lyrical and lilting bel canto aria solo line of the second movement."

Cellist Matthew Linaman premiered Richard Marriott's Ghost Ship Concerto with the Oakland Symphony, in memory of victims of the 2016 "Ghost Ship" fire.

• San Francisco Classical Voice: "The cello solo was played with spirited intensity by the accomplished young performer Matthew Linaman, who teaches at San Francisco Conservatory....Sometimes uplifting, sometimes jaunty, sometimes elegiac, it seemed both to delve into the tragedy and to pull away from it, reverting to a romanticized lyricism. The solo cello itself seemed overladen with dramatic roles — among them, passion, terror, anger, and sorrow."

Carolin Widdman performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

• UckfieldNews.com: "The German violinist gave a truly memorable performance of her countryman Felix Mendelssohn’s outstanding Violin Concerto in E Minor and then added Ralph Vaughan Williams’ quintessentially English The Lark Ascending for good measure."

Ning Feng performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

• The West Australian: "Conductor Karina Canellakis was both intense and expansive as the piece unfolded, moving from grand gesture to micro management with effortless grace. Ning Feng was equally agile, switching seamlessly from pizzicato to sonorous bowing to frenzied fiddling."

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