Batiashvili is highly impressive in Shostakovich’s Concerto. Her playing is often breathtaking -- she has a hugely adaptable sound, a well-judged and flexible vibrato, immaculate phrasing, and a piercingly precise sense of intonation. Even better, she knows how to use all these in the service of the music . . . Esa-Pekka Salonen is alive to the score's finer details.

The Strad, 03/2011

“Batiashvili is highly impressive in Shostakovich’s Concerto. Her playing is often breathtaking — she has a hugely adaptable sound, a well-judged and flexible vibrato, immaculate phrasing, and a piercingly precise sense of intonation. Even better, she knows how to use all these in the service of the music . . . Esa-Pekka Salonen is alive to the score’s finer details.”

The Strad, 03/2011

“There’s a personality here, and an interesting one . . .[Shostakovich]: [Batiashvili] gives it the finest performance I’ve heard in many years . . . The cadenza from the third into the fourth movement is an object lesson in how to build tension without peaking too soon. Meanwhile, the fast movements are razor-sharp, and incisive without overplaying.”

San Francisco Classical Voice, 04/2011