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For the Record, Op. 351: Viktoria Mullova; Goldmund Quartett; Sirius, Benda and Arneis Quartets

September 18, 2025, 2:33 PM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.

Beethoven Sonatas Op. 12 No. 2 and Op. 96 No. 10
Viktoria Mullova, violin
Alasdair Beatson, piano

Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson perform Beethoven’s Sonatas 2 and 10 on historical instruments. Mullova plays her 1750 Guadagnini strung with gut strings and using a classical bow, and Beatson plays a 1805 Walter (a Viennese fortepiano) for the Op. 12 No. 2, and he plays a copy of a Graf from 1819 for the Op. 96. This recording is part of a cycle of Beethoven sonatas recorded by Mullova and Beatson. BELOW: Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 12: I. Allegro Vivace

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 517: James Ehnes, Gil Shaham, Julian Rachlin

Laurie Niles

September 16, 2025, 10:02 PM · 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. Click on the highlighted links to read the entire reviews.

James Ehnes performed Bernstein's Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" with Sinfonia of London and John Wilson at the BBC Proms.

The Guardian: "Wilson has made this orchestra one of the UK’s best, Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade featuring violinist James Ehnes boasted a vast colour palette, from ambivalent nattiness via melancholy, diaphanous textures to vibrant surges of strings. Ehnes was an ideal musical interlocutor: entirely poised, his tone lucid, even as the ringleader of the final movement’s urbanely folksy dance."
Seen and Heard International: "Violinist James Ehnes proved an ideal soloist, his silvery tone and unforced virtuosity drawing the listener in from the outset. The opening ‘Phaedrus – Pausanias’ combined nobility with rhapsodic freedom, Ehnes shaping the long lines with a sense of quiet intimacy."
Bach Track: "It’s a work that’s difficult to love, but James Ehnes has it comfortably under his skin. His silky playing across its five movements (and seven poets) ranged from serenity and profundity to the jazzy inflections of the Alcibiades section to close."
Broadway World: "After such a masterful performance from Ehnes, it was only right that he returned to the stage for an encore - even if he admitted to having selfish reasons for doing so, after being given the opportunity to play an Alard Stradivari at this concert (“I think that this is, in fact, its Proms debut”, he joked). The fourth movement (“Allegro assai”) of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata No. 3 in C major was a delightful way to close the first half, sending the audience into the interval all abuzz."

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Review: LACO Sets the Standard with Impressive Season Debut

Laurie Niles

September 15, 2025, 7:24 PM · Beethoven's Fifth Symphony - eye roll. How many times have I heard this piece? Played it? Written about it?

Enough times to wonder if I really need to hear it again.

Yet on Saturday night the music crept into my bones had me on the edge of my seat. Anticipation, wonder, triumph, exuberance - why was I feeling it so strongly? Why was I smiling anew at the brilliance of it all?

A simple answer: the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Yes, I went to LACO's season-opening concert on Saturday night at the Colburn School's Zipper Hall, and I found musical excellence aplenty. The program featured cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, who played Schumann's Cello Concerto in A minor, as well as Haydn's Symphony No. 82 and - as mentioned - Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.

There is plenty of spark from inside this orchestra, from their longtime principals like concertmaster Margaret Batjer and cellist Andrew Shulman to the newer additions such as the dynamic Yura Lee as principal violist. And within the sections are reliably familiar faces - veteran musicians playing together with unified purpose. No one here is asleep at the music stand.

Director Jaime Martín, who has served as Music Director since 2019, is both showman and musician's musician, conducting with joy, precision and the ease of someone intimately familiar with his work - someone who clearly loves it.

LACO also is where you are likely to discover a gem of a soloist who somehow is known to the rest of the world but who has seldom or never played in the giant metropolis of Los Angeles. Such was the case with the French-German cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, who was making his Los Angeles debut with this performance. What's more, this season LACO will bring to town a number of other such soloists, including German violinist Anthony Marwood - as well as the pianist/composer Fazil Say and others. (See their full season here.)

Saturday's concert opened with Haydn's Symphony No. 83 in G minor "The Hen," not a piece played every day, but it was quite dramatic right from the beginning, with fabulous energy interrupted by tidy silences. Keep reading...

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V.com weekend vote: Do you like your local symphony hall?

Laurie Niles

September 14, 2025, 1:13 PM · Acoustics, aesthetics, accessibility - a great concert hall can make all the difference, when it comes to experiencing symphonic music. Based on everything you've ever experienced in a concert hall, what would you want, in the ideal concert hall?

One of the reasons this is on my mind is that the Colburn School is in the process of building a new concert hall (Terri and Jerry Kohl Hall) which will be the new home for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, which has been a bit of a roving band, playing at halls throughout the city.

Imagine, a new concert hall!

I thought this would make a good idea for a vote - are you happy with your symphony's current hall? Do you like its acoustics? The way it looks, inside and out? The way it feels to be there? The parking and/or transportation situation? Do you like its location, and is it close to restaurants or other amenities? If you play there, do you like the backstage areas?

For the vote, just choose the hall that is closest to your life - it can be where you play, or where you most frequently attend concerts, etc. And after voting, please tell us in the comments all about your local symphony hall, what you like and what you would change to make it the "ideal."

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