The Week in Reviews, Op. 230: Isabelle Faust; Joshua Bell; Patricia Kopatchinskaja

May 15, 2018, 10:34 AM · 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.

Isabelle Faust performed the Robert Schumann Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Chicago Tribune: "...she made Schumann’s problematic opus succeed despite itself."

Isabelle Faust. Photo by Felix Broede.

Patricia Kopatchinskaja performed Ligeti's Violin Concerto with the Aurora Orchestra at the Southbank Centre’s Ligeti in Wonderland festival.

The Guardian: "And then there was Kopatchinskaja in the violin work, an astonishing force of nature, powering her way through its hair-raising difficulties as the orchestra conjured a half-remembered world that seems gradually to be slipping beyond recall, and throwing in a cadenza of her own for good measure, one totally consistent with Ligeti’s surreal world."

Joshua Bell performed the Bruch Concerto with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

The Columbus Dispatch: "Bell’s live performance has a visceral immediacy that his recordings sometimes miss beneath layers of studio engineering. Always honest, often tender, and occasionally a little raspy, the solo violin had a deeply soulful, nearly human, character."

Vadim Gluzman performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra.

The Columbus Dispatch: "Gluzman played with his usual abandon, sailing through technical passages and sustaining lyrical moments with unflagging line."

Cho-Liang Lin performed Lalo Schifrin's "Tangos Concertantes" with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.

News & Record: "Lin’s performance was exquisite: wonderful phrasing, impeccable intonation and a flexible rhythm that gave the music a quasi-improvised feel."

Renaud Capucon performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

EdinburghGuide.com: "A remarkable player, his nuances were superb. His top notes were unsurpassed."

Emmanuelle Boisvert performed the Berg Violin Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

The Dallas Morning News: "DSO associate concertmaster Emmanuelle Boisvert gave this challenging work a commanding performance, of technical precision but also emotional warmth. Whether skittering or meandering, even in double stops, pitches were pinpointed with laserlike acuity."

Susanna Perry Gilmore performed the Berg Violin Concerto with the Omaha Symphony.

Omaha World-Herald: "Concertmaster Susanna Perry Gilmore gave a fantastic and earnest performance as the concerto’s soloist. Her connection to the orchestra throughout such unique and complex material was admirable."

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Replies

Elisabeth Matesky

May 17, 2018 at 04:34 AM · Having attended the premiere of Schumann's Violin Concerto performed by my good friend and Violinist colleague, Henryk Szeryng, w/the RPO in London's Royal Festival Hall, it might well have proved intriguing to hear Ms. Faust's 'take' on this can-be dreary Violin Concerto! When the then-Ambassador from Mexico Szeryng performed the Schumann the first time, he exuded true joy - most probably for having 'discovered' this 'sleeper' violin concerto, rather than its emotionally deprived & less than spiritual musical content by its hailed for Centuries Composer ...

Respectfully received by the infamously hard to please RFH (Royal Festival Hall) audience & serious music critic press, it seemed Henryk Szeryng was the most enthusiastic supporter of Schumann's work! He did record this Violin Concerto under, I believe, the Phillips Record label umbrelled by Polydor to some modest recording sales success. Actually record sales sometimes are a bit inconsequential compared to an inward feeling of discovery & addition to violin concert repertoire. I do think Henryk Szeryng felt the latter about 'his' Schumann!

Chicago Tribune critic, John von Rhein, the highly respected music reviewer, gave Ms. Faust fine praise despite the soggy Schumann Violin Concerto & Chicago Symphony Orchestra + accompaniment he so aptly described! Kudos go to von Rhein, a sensitive accompanying CSO & Ms. Isabelle Faust!

*Elisabeth Matesky / Chicago

*Ms. Matesky held membership in Sir Georg Solti's mighty

CSO on a respite from her international concert soloist tours.

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