After Gidon Kremer's performance of Philip Glass's Violin Concerto at the composer's BBC Proms debut last week, The Independent gave it a perfect five stars, saying "it worked like a beautifully oiled machine, and finally achieved a shimmering beauty." Kremer's recording of the complete Mozart Violin Concertos gets four stars from the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Times, and the Sacramento Bee, which calls it a "standout ... [E]very detail of the music jumps out and delivers a winning combination sure to satisfy the Mozart aesthete and novice alike."
When Philip Glass made his BBC Proms debut at London's Royal Albert Hall last Wednesday night, it was Gidon Kremer who played the solo part in the composer's Violin Concerto. The Independent gave the concert a perfect five stars, with reviewer Michael Church describing the piece as "early vintage Glass, with pulsing string chords leading to blasts on brass, which allowed the violin to sing and soar. Very lyrical, very easy on the ear, it worked like a beautifully oiled machine, and finally achieved a shimmering beauty." Read more from the concert at independent.co.uk.
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Kremer's recording of the complete Mozart Violin Concertos, with his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, was released on Nonesuch last month. The Daily Telegraph gives the two-CD set four stars.
Reviewer Paul Gent says that, while the Mozart pieces are often overshadowed in the public consciousness by Beethoven's work in the medium, on the new release, "a strong case is made for them by the Latvian virtuoso Gidon Kremer and his own excellent orchestra of young players from the Baltic region." Gent describes Kremer's playing as "full of a wiry energy" and concludes: "He gives full play to the quirkiness of Mozart’s finales and is acutely responsive to the subtle shifts of mood in the slow movements."
Read the full review at telegraph.co.uk.
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The Sunday Times gives the album four stars as well. Reviewer Hugh Canning calls the performances "challenging, fresh and quirky." He explains that "Kremer invests all of the concertos' fast movements with an earthy vigour," creating "always compelling alternatives to recent complete recordings." Read the complete review at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk.
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The Sacramento Bee gives the album four stars too, calling it a "standout." Reviewer Edward Ortiz finds the performances to be "filled with a taut and youthful energy. That, coupled with the fact that every detail of the music jumps out and delivers a winning combination sure to satisfy the Mozart aesthete and novice alike."
After praising Kremer's "potent and radiant tone, and his facility for elegantly shaped musical statement," Ortiz is sure to give credit to his fellow musicians as well. "Although this CD is surely noteworthy because of Kremer's playing," the review concludes, "much of its success is due to the young players of the Kremerata Baltica, who give Mozart's concertos a fetching sense of spontaneity and forward motion."
Read more at sacbee.com.
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