NicolaBenedetti

Press

• Brahms Violin Concerto

  Philharmonia

  Oct 2023

  • There’s dark soul as well as showbiz fizz lurking in Brahms’s concerto, and Benedetti mined both of those strains, vibrantly accompanied by the orchestra under Cristian Macelaru. The long first movement was full of gutsy attack, and sometimes startling changes of colour and texture, but there was a melancholy streak under the surface, in the shiveringly dark double-stopped chords and Benedetti’s classy, sighing portamenti. The adagio was songlike, impulsive, and she chomped hungrily into the gypsy-inspired finale.

    • The Times

• Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 2

  Hallé

  Jan 2023

  • That cadenza itself, in Benedetti’s hands, was more than just virtuoso fireworks. She found beauty in it and brought her imagination to the technically demanding show-off passages. And in the remainder of the piece, which is marked by renewed alternation of character between the solo part (albeit now with a more lively, “folk” feel to it at times) and those of the orchestra’s sound, she sold every note to her listeners.

    • The Arts Desk
    • 13 January 2023

• MacMillan Violin Concerto No.2

  Scottish Chamber Orchestra

  Sep 2022

  • ★★★★★ Often exquisitely tender, the violin line was brought to life by the woman for whom it was written. Nicola Benedetti, the concerto’s dedicatee, gave the solo part a consoling richness, shining out of the loneliness and, towards the end, duetting with several orchestral soloists like a developing conversation. She was as expressive in the music’s glimmering pianissimos as in its episodes of wrenching passion. Orchestra, soloist, conductor and composer seemed united in music of total conviction and core-shaking power. This performance gave the audience that rare feeling of being present at the birth of a masterpiece.

    • The Times
    • 30 September 2022

• Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.2 in G minor

  London Symphony Orchestra

  Oct 2021

  • To the many melodious passages she brought her signature sweetness of tone. She has all the requisite virtuosity as well, of course, when it’s called for, but she throws it off lightly: her tone was never abrasive, even in the spiky finale.

    • The Evening Standard

• Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

  Scottish Chamber Orchestra

  Mar 2020

  • But inevitably, Benedetti was the star of the show, and she gave a vividly characterised, deeply involved performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, each movement carefully differentiated: a turbulent, troubled opener, brisk and poised slow movement, and appropriately crisp, strongly defined finale. Even without a conductor, it was a remarkably supple account, with tasteful rhythmic inflections here and there adding to its abundant charm.

    • The Scotsman
    • 13 March 2020

• Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

  National Youth Orchestra, BBC Proms

  Jul 2019

  • Soloist Nicola Benedetti had been working with the orchestra during their week-long course and the rapport showed. For herself, Benedetti shaped a secure and expansive performance, giving a real kick to the dance sections of the finale. Her encore, from the Fiddle Dance Suite written for her by Wynton Marsalis, kept on swinging as she walked slowly offstage.

    • The Guardian
    • 28 July 2019

  • Spring rebirth came with Benedetti’s bewitching engagement in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto , matched for forward-moving mobility by Wigglesworth (were those full-orchestral Polonaises a bit too fast? Not in context). From the back of the hall, her upper-register sweetness sounded ravishing, and it wasn’t necessary to hear every note in the fast passage-work given the level of heady communication. Benedetti had already shown us what a Mensch she is as an ambassador for musical youth in last year’s BBC Young Musician Prom, and she did so again in a candid and typically generous speech before her encore, forestalling my own lines here by pointing out as a mark of teamwork the way the wind soloists handed lines to one another in the first movement’s second group of themes.

    • The Arts Desk
    • 28 July 2019

• Elgar Violin Concerto

  BBC Symphony Orchestra

  Apr 2019

  • And in this gripping performance (the first time she has played the concerto in London), what a thrilling rush of passions she brought to it. With some interpretations you feel as if emotion is being recollected in a haze of nostalgia, regret, dejection or whatever. Not so here.

    • The Times
    • 29 April 2019