In contrast, Jean-Guihen Queyras’ fresh, alert and original performance of the earlier C Major concerto was, I thought, the highlight of the evening. The French cellist’s tone is light and fragrant. He plays with not only a sense of pert 18th century style but also a modernity as if this were music newly composed. Perhaps that is because Queyras also pays attention to new music; it was a shame that he was not asked to play one of the interesting contemporary concertos he has premiered elsewhere. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times

'Emergencies' is a sonically adventurous, highly virtuosic work, and French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras was more than equal to the task. The soloist handled everything Jarrell tossed at him - extensive harmonics, two-handed pizzicato and other unusual techniques - with consummate command. Catherine Reese Newton, The Salt Lake Tribune

Jean-Guihen Queyras did a spectacular job with his extremely virtuosic part. His playing was vibrant and made the music come alive. Edward Reichel, Reichel Recommends

Queyras soloed in five concertos, playing a spikeless cello with a pointy Baroque bow. His performance was spotless. In the Cello Concertos in F major (RV 412), G minor (RV 416), and A minor (RV 419), he showed just how freely a soloist can play when totally unencumbered by technical difficulty: rubatos dictated by the musical rhetoric, bravura ascending runs in 16ths that took flight, earthy stabs of the bow at the hell in rapid string-crossing, and big virtuoso cadences ending with the whole bow in an up bow. In the solo movements the melodies rang out with unforced purity...Beautifully refined playing like this, unpretentious and so relaxed, takes years of training and experience to achieve...Always precise, with an ear for colours and textures (and the occasional improvisando flourish), this is exactly how Vivaldi should be played. Mai Kawabata, Allthingsstrings.com

**** In Kodály's demanding Sonata for Solo Cello Op 8, Jean-Guihen Queyras more than rose to the occasion with his virtuosic account of music heavily infused with the biting rhythms of Hungarian folksong tradition. Susan Nickalls, Edinburgh-Festivals.com

****In an astonishing display of musicianship and virtuosity at the Queen's Hall yesterday morning, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras demonstrated a comprehensive and multi-faceted mastery of his art. His powers of musical characterisation are limitless. Certainly I do not think I have heard such a probing interpretation of Debussy's flawless Cello Sonata. Queyras unfolded revelation upon revelation in an astoundingly characterised account of the piece that captured every quirky detail of the music, steering flawlessly through its mercurial shifts of mood and soaring through a finale that felt completely liberated from convention.
At the other end of the programme the two musicians were equally at ease with the lightening-fast changes of mood and temperament in Poulenc's wonderful Cello Sonata, typically abrupt in its juxtapositions, and tumbling from rich, soupy sentiment and cartoon-like capers into pure musical acrobatics, all dispatched with dexterity and wit.
At the heart of the programme lay a gripping performance of Kodaly's huge Sonata for solo cello, which had audience, BBC technicians and all manner of critics grinning inanely, gasping in disbelief, and all asking the same question, 'how did you do that?'
The Sonata is a fearsomely intense piece, fuelled by the earthy tang of Hungarian folk music and a wonderful feeling of rhapsody. But it is also immensely sophisticated, as Queyras demonstrated in a fantastic performance of unflinching concentration.
And in its finale, the cellist went off like a rocket, creating an amazing illusion of first two, then three musicians playing simultaneously. How did he do it? Dazzling stuff.
Michael Tumelty, Herald Scotland

**** Jean-Guihen Queyras was the appealingly direct soloist, beautifully capturing the deep veins of sadness that run through the last two movements. As an encore, Queyras played the Sarabande from Bach's Second Cello Suite, a moment of extraordinary intimacy, in which time seemed to stand still. Tim Ashley, The Guardian

**** Belohlávek and the soloist, Jean-Guihen Queyras, brought to Dvorák's Cello Concerto a captivatingly wistful quality, allowing themselves at times a quite daring amount of expressive freedom. Barry Millington, Evening Standard

**** There's a wonderful poise and balance about everything Queyras does, with no rhetorical exaggeration. His playing reached a pitch of refinement at that touching moment in the middle movement, where the cello and a handful of orchestral players seem to be improvising together. The moment can easily come adrift, but here it had just the right balance of discipline and freedom. Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraphy

Stealing the spotlight was cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras who, along with his beautiful Gioffredo Cappa 1696 cello, dominated the stage with his fiery and charming performance of Haydn’s C major concerto. Catherine Robb, The Herald

Jean-Guihen Queyras was the elegant cello soloist, his tones urbane and mellow, his articulation sparkling, and Nott and a huge CBSO collaborated attentively. Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post

Queyras confirmed that he was equally at ease in a concert performance of Bach Suites as in his magnificent recording for Harmonia Mundi: the elegance of his manner, the refinement of his elocution, the variety of his imagination worked wonders. In his playing no hint of tie or restraint, just freedom, weightlessness, a true architectural scroll. Renaud Machart, Le Monde