Sibelius at the Royal Festival Hall
Batiashvili’s virtuosity was as exceptional as ever, but it was never flaunted for its own sake; as she demonstrated, there’s much more to this concerto than empty showmanship.
The Guardian
“Before the symphony there had been a work contemporary with it, Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, in which Lisa Batiashvili was the soloist. Her performance was compelling from the very first bar as she launched the concerto with the most daring of pianissimi, which Shani and the orchestra perfectly matched. It set the tone for a reading that was full of elegance and subtlety. Batiashvili’s virtuosity was as exceptional as ever, but it was never flaunted for its own sake; as she demonstrated, there’s much more to this concerto than empty showmanship.”
“Batiashvili joined her always-astonishing prowess and finesse with an intimate sense of quest and risk, as her high, lonely melodies set off into a landscape of orchestral sound where shocks and ambushes always lurk.”