San Francisco Classical Voice: Razzle-Dazzle From Anne Akiko Meyers and Jason Vieaux
Anne Akiko Meyers is a dazzling violinist with flawless technique, impassioned playing, a high-gloss violin, and even a voluminous Cinderella evening gown that easily covers a square yard of stage. She is impossible to miss.
San Francisco Classical Voice
Steve Osborn
Anne Akiko Meyers is a dazzling violinist with flawless technique, impassioned playing, a high-gloss violin, and even a voluminous Cinderella evening gown that easily covers a square yard of stage. She is impossible to miss.
To all that add an adventurous repertoire and a brilliant guitar accompanist, Jason Vieaux, and you have a surefire formula for a memorable evening. Such was the case on Saturday, when Meyers and Vieaux displayed their formidable talents to an appreciative audience at Sonoma State’s Green Music Center, playing works by Arcangelo Corelli, Philip Glass, Astor Piazzolla, Rentaro Taki, Antônio Carlos Jobim, John Corigliano, and Manuel de Falla.
Read more here.
Washington Classical Review: Cellist Julian Schwarz unearths fascinating rarities at Austrian Embassy
Julian Schwarz had a lot to celebrate on Friday night. The American-born cellist played a recital at the Austrian Embassy, presented by the Embassy Series, bringing together composers associated with the city of Vienna. In several amiable turns at the microphone between pieces, Schwarz explained that since his last performance here, in 2015, he had become an Austrian citizen and was now engaged to Marika Bournaki, the pianist sharing the stage with him.
Washington Classical Review
Charles T. Downey
Julian Schwarz had a lot to celebrate on Friday night. The American-born cellist played a recital at the Austrian Embassy, presented by the Embassy Series, bringing together composers associated with the city of Vienna. In several amiable turns at the microphone between pieces, Schwarz explained that since his last performance here, in 2015, he had become an Austrian citizen and was now engaged to Marika Bournaki, the pianist sharing the stage with him…
In Stutschewsky’s Legend, Schwarz drew from his Neapolitan cello, made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743, a gorgeous melody adorned with beautiful blue notes and folk music-like vocal cantillation. The Freilachs Tanzparaphrase, on a simple, joyful traditional tune, was also a delight.
Read more here.
Gramophone: Long Yu Cover
Keep an eye out for Maestro Long Yu on the cover of April’s issue of Gramophone! Also featured in the article is Shanghai Orchestra Academy, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Youth Music Culture Guangdong.
Gramophone
Keep an eye out for Maestro Long Yu on the cover of April’s issue of Gramophone! Also featured in the article is Shanghai Orchestra Academy, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Youth Music Culture Guangdong.
Preview the cover here. And read more about China holding “the key to the future of classical music” here.
The Times: Mahan Esfahani on why JS Bach is misunderstood
“Johann Sebastian Bach is my favourite figure in all of history: the master of masters, the big wig in the sky. But he’s also one of the most misunderstood. In my new show on Radio 3 I will be finding new ways to approach his music, as well as challenging some of the myths that have arisen about him. These are some of the keys to his life and work.” – Mahan Esfahani
The Times
Mahan Esfahani
Johann Sebastian Bach is my favourite figure in all of history: the master of masters, the big wig in the sky. But he’s also one of the most misunderstood. In my new show on Radio 3 I will be finding new ways to approach his music, as well as challenging some of the myths that have arisen about him. These are some of the keys to his life and work.
Read more here.
The New York Times: Yo-Yo Ma and Wu Man with Long Yu Play With Cinematic Sweep
“A Happy Excursion” had a fitting companion in Tchaikovsky’s emotive “Pathétique” Symphony. The [New York] Philharmonic musicians can probably play this overprogrammed piece in their sleep; in the past, it has occasionally felt as if they were doing just that. But under Mr. Yu’s baton, they summoned surprising extremes, leavened occasionally with the brisk lightness of a Tchaikovsky ballet.
The New York Times
Joshua Barone
“A Happy Excursion” had a fitting companion in Tchaikovsky’s emotive “Pathétique” Symphony. The Philharmonic musicians can probably play this overprogrammed piece in their sleep; in the past, it has occasionally felt as if they were doing just that. But under Mr. Yu’s baton, they summoned surprising extremes, leavened occasionally with the brisk lightness of a Tchaikovsky ballet.
Like Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, which the Vienna Philharmonic was playing on Wednesday evening at Carnegie Hall, the “Pathétique” has an unusual form of four movements in slow-fast-fast-slow progression. Mr. Yu seemed to approach it as program music, finding a long arc in the work’s adagio bookends.
Read more of the review here.
The Strad: Anne Akiko Meyers on traditional Japanese songs
A brace of traditional songs from Japan bring back fond memories and inspire a wealth of interpretations for the American violinist, Anne Akiko Meyers.
The Strad
Interview by Christian Lloyd
A brace of traditional songs from Japan bring back fond memories and inspire a wealth of interpretations for the American violinist.
“My grandmother’s favourite piece of music in the world was a Japanese song called Kōjō no Tsuki. I first heard it when I was a teenager and I understood straight away why she loved it so much; it’s a hauntingly beautiful, nostalgic piece that has an infinite amount of soulfulness and poetry within it.
I’ve always associated it with memories of my grandmother; when she heard me playing it in the house, or in my hotel room while I was touring, it would always move her to tears – and when I hear it now I find it very hard not to cry as well.”
Read more of the interview here.
San Francisco Chronicle Datebook: Anne Akiko Meyers at California Theatre
If anyone can make the parts cohere [in Barber’s Violin Concerto], it’s the brilliant and resourceful violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who joins conductor Tito Muñoz and the Symphony Silicon Valley as soloist. Also on the program is a new work by the young American composer Adam Schoenberg, along with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.
San Francisco Chronicle
Joshua Kosman
Anne Akiko Meyers joins the Symphony Silicon Valley
March 2-3, 2019
California Theatre, San Jose, CA
Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto is one of those artistic creations for which the backstory is almost as interesting as the music itself. It’s a tangled tale of disputes among the composer, the intended soloist and the soap magnate who commissioned it, in which charges and countercharges flew.
If the truth behind the dispute is murky, the results are clear enough. This is a concerto in which the first two movements hew close to Barber’s familiar style – a blend of ingratiating lyricism and formal sturdiness – before a virtuoso finale comes on with an entirely different musical demeanor.
If anyone can make the parts cohere, it’s the brilliant and resourceful violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who joins conductor Tito Muñoz and the Symphony Silicon Valley as soloist. Also on the program is a new work by the young American composer Adam Schoenberg, along with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.
More details here.
New York Classical Review: Namoradze Explores the Shadows, Deep and Dark, in Impressive New York Debut
Nicolas Namoradze is a pianist with a lot to say. And he likes to say it softly.
The top-prize winner of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Alberta, made an impressive New York recital debut Sunday night at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with an unconventional program of (in this order) Scriabin, Bach, Schumann, and his own compositions.
New York Classical Review
David Wright
Nicolas Namoradze is a pianist with a lot to say. And he likes to say it softly.
The top-prize winner of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Alberta, made an impressive New York recital debut Sunday night at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with an unconventional program of (in this order) Scriabin, Bach, Schumann, and his own compositions.
Like all recital programs, this one offered plenty of opportunities to play loud, and the 26-year-old native of the Republic of Georgia rose to them handsomely, without ever losing his cool demeanor on the piano bench.
But the moments that linger long in the memory are the pianissimos. Long stretches of pianissimo, layered, multicolored, deep in thought or swirling like a spring breeze. Pianissimos dense with possibility, and pianissimos that just are.
Read more of the review here.
Washington Post: Juilliard Quartet shows new faces, same strong voice
Decisive and uncompromising...Juilliard’s confidently thoughtful approach, rhythmic acuity and ensemble precision were on full display.
Washington Post
Patrick Rucker
"Decisive and uncompromising...Juilliard’s confidently thoughtful approach, rhythmic acuity and ensemble precision were on full display."
KUSC: Pianist Olga Kern Lights Up Southern California Concert Halls
Renowned Russian-American pianist Olga Kern, 2001 winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, is coming to Southern California for a series of concerts starting with Friday at SOKA Performing Arts Centre, Broad Stage in Santa Monica this Saturday, and two performances on Saturday, February 16 with the Pasadena Symphony. Recently John Van Driel had a chance to talk to Ms. Kern about her busy performing and teaching schedule.
KUSC
John Van Driel
Renowned Russian-American pianist Olga Kern, 2001 winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, is coming to Southern California for a series of concerts starting with Friday at SOKA Performing Arts Centre, Broad Stage in Santa Monica this Saturday, and two performances on Saturday, February 16 with the Pasadena Symphony. Recently John Van Driel had a chance to talk to Ms. Kern about her busy performing and teaching schedule. Listen below or click here for more.