Gringolts and Vengerov reach the heights in Verbier

By Mark Thomas, 23 July 2018

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“Jam-packed full of pizzazz, sentimentality and joie de vivre”

Reviewed at Eglise de Verbier, Verbier on 22 July 2018

Prokofiev, Sonata for Two Violins in C major, Op.56

Bartók, Sonata for Solo Violin, BB 124, Sz 117

Bach, Violin partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV1004

Wieniawski, Étude-Caprice no. 1 in G minor, Op.18

Wieniawski, Étude-Caprice no. 2 in E flat major, Op.18

Wieniawski, Étude-Caprice no. 3 in D major, Op.18

Wieniawski, Étude-Caprice no. 4 in A minor, Op.18

Ilya Gringolts, Violin

Maxim Vengerov, Violin

Magical potency from Sakari Oramo and the BBCSO

Chris Garlick, 8th November

Sakari Oramo and the BBCSO are in their element in rich repertoire including Szymanowski, Pejačević, Wagner and Strauss.

****1

A feast of fine playing from Gringolts, Cox and the BBCSO

Christopher Woodley, 3rd November

The world premiere of a violin concerto by Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski takes centre stage, performed by Ilya Gringolts.

****1

Hypermelody and the Titan: John Adams meets Gustav Mahler in Zurich

Sarah Batschelet, 9th February

The Tonhalle Zürich performs a major work by American composer John Adams alongside the first of Gustav Mahler’s great symphonies.

****1

Sanderling conducts seldom performed Russian scores in Winterthur

Edward Sava-Segal, 6th January

Ilya Gringolts is the soloist is Sergei Taneyev's Concert Suite, the composer's only concertante work for violin.

***11

Magnetic bravura: Unshowy Gringolts dazzles Sydney audience

David Larkin, 5th October

Ilya Gringolts brings his brand of unspectacular virtuosity to the ACO's latest programme, with the Paganini Violin Concerto no. 1 and Bartók's Divertimento clear highlights.

****1

Dark fantasies at the Oxford Chamber Music Festival

Katy Wright, 5th October

An introductory reading by local writer Philip Pullman was an appropriate introduction to the “Dusk to Dawn” concert, one of the last in this year’s Oxford Chamber Music Festival (themed “Fairytales and Fantasy”). The collision of a light-hearted surface with darker undertones was not just in Pullman’s retelling of the Grimm stories, but pervaded Artistic Director Priya Mitchell’s programming.

****1

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Mark Thomas

A lifelong devotee of classical music, Mark caught the bug after listening to The Planets, The Rite of Spring and Beethoven’s Fifth when he was knee-high to a grasshopper. He has degrees in non-musical subjects and currently works as a Chartered Governance Professional, but these have proved to be mere distractions from the wonders of sonatas, concertos and symphonies. He has been reviewing for Bachtrack since 2016, plays viola and violin (very shakily) and used to sing a bit (even more shakily).

Ilya Gringolts and Maxim Vengerov reach the heights in Verbier