The Week in Reviews, Op. 231: Chee-Yun; Ray Chen; Augustin Hadelich

May 21, 2018, 10:39 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.

Chee-Yun performed the Glazunov Violin Concerto with the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

Portland Press Herald: "(Conductor Daniel) Meyer proved a deferential accompanist, ceding the spotlight to Chee-Yun, a violinist with a rich, deep-hued tone and a good sense of how to make the showy solo line – including the lengthy cadenza, a fully packed survey of Romantic virtuoso moves – into poetry rather than mere display...Chee-Yun offered an electrifying performance of Fritz Kreisler’s unaccompanied 'Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice' (Op. 6) as an encore."

Chee-Yun. Photo by Youngho Kang.

Ray Chen performed the Sibelius with the London Symphony Orchestra, replacing Janine Jansen.

The Times: "Making a splash in the concerto was Ray Chen, as sparkling and elegant in his musicianship as his glittering Armani togs."

Augustin Hadelich performed the Dvorak with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Mr. Hadelich’s account of the first two movements (which are joined together by a brief transition) was gripping, the lyrical second movement particularly heartwarming. And then, oh then, a sublime dance through the finale — the violinist tossing off the nimble passagework with an air of simple, infectious joy."

Benjamin Beilman performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the London Chamber Orchestra, while synesthetic artist Jack Coulter painted along.

KCW Today: "The audience were spellbound by Benjamin Beilman’s sublime performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and they were amazed by the huge overhead projected screen showing Jack Coulter,
in his studio, making a transcript of the emotional music into a painting."

Chad Hoopes performed the Barber Violin Concerto with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Scenestr.com: "How to follow Hoopes, whose command of the violin was something so special, was the next question."

Jack Liebeck performed the Tchaikovsky with the York Guildhall Orchestra.

The York Press: "Liebeck is one of the young lions on the circuit. But allied to his astonishing virtuosity is an unusual sensitivity. He took both the opening themes in the concerto with a deceptive nonchalance; the first was leisurely, the second soulful. but these were mere softeners for the fireworks to come. Leaping double-stops – two notes at once – were even exceeded in bravura by a breathtaking cadenza."

Frank Almond and colleagues performed chamber music by Mozart and Brahms for the Frankly Music series in Milwaukee.

Shepherd Express: "Frank Almond has a long track record of bringing to town first-rate players for this series... This was a masterful, fresh-sounding account of the pieces....This performance would be treasured in any city in the world."

Mira Wang performed Torsten Raschs's Violin Concerto Tropoi with the South Carolina Philharmonic.

Free Times: "What the composer wished the violinist to play, and what Wang superbly played, was out of the realm of anything ordinary. But Mira Wang convinced the audience that what was happening was well worth listening to."

Jorge Avila performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Ridgefield Symphony.

The Ridgefield Press: "(Concertmaster) Jorge Avila played the solo part with spectacular aplomb, with lovely phrasing and a richly supported violin tone in the work’s lyric passages and impressive virtuosic agility elsewhere, especially in the concerto’s exciting scherzo movement."

Jennifer Pike performed the Tchaikovsky with the Dresden Philharmonic.

Cambridge Independent: "This was an astonishing performance, her instrument at times sounding almost human in its expressiveness. A deft but unshowy performer, her unaccompanied solo moments mesmerised. An intricately-worked rendition of Bach’s Sarabande in D minor was an encore bonus to round of the first half of the concert."

Sheku Kanneh-Mason performed three pieces for cello at the at the royal wedding of Meghan and Harry in Windsor.