**** The sheer grip and intelligence of her playing is a force that cannot be denied for long, and so it proved in the forceful opening movement of the A minor Sonata, Op 23. There was tingling delicacy in the andante and flawless momentum in the finale.

The Spring Sonata in F, Op 24, companion piece to the A minor, enabled Mullova to show a different side of her playing, with fluent lyricism in the opening movement and finely spun tone and controlled bowing in the adagio. But Mullova is at heart a no-nonsense player and there was plenty of emphatic phrasing and steely tonal discipline to underline her determination that this would not be a traditional interpretation.

Best of all was the Kreutzer Sonata, Op 47, with which she ended. Here the superlative technique and the bold new interpretative strokes and insights came together in an irresistible performance, with Mullova's crisp incisiveness driving the whole thing forward in all three movements, but never at the expense of Giacometti's equally virtuoso contributions from the keyboard. Martin Kettle, The Guardian

**** This music sounded as though new, with the balance between the instruments permitting a light and flexible approach and allowing their respective timbres to blend beguilingly.

While Mullova’s pure line exuded cool authority, Giacometti played with the most subtle refinement, with the slow movement of the ‘Spring’ sonata expressing a tender collusion surely closer to what Beethoven intended than what we are used to today. Michael Church, The Independent

The Russian violinist masters fiendish Bach

Dressed in a long zebra-print dress, Viktoria Mullova cut a relaxed figure as she walked onto the Bristol St George’s stage.

And, right from her unhesitating dive into the Adagio of JS Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, it felt like we were somewhere much less formal than a concert hall, as if we were sitting at home with Mullova while she played. To be clear, that felt like a privilege: her casual demeanour makes this fiendish music appear a doddle, each movement ended almost inconsequentially – too inconsequentially? – with no holding of the silence.

She was technically superb: the bariolage passages in the Third Partita were thrilling, the delineation of individual voices in the G minor Fugue eloquent. And there’s both the sense that this is music she’s lived with and that she’s still exploring it, finding new nuances and shades of meaning, right there, in concert.

For part of the programme, Mullova played from a tatty-edged score with a blue cover from which blazed in white ‘Bach’. The Second Partita in D minor, with its masterful 15-minute final Chaconne, was the pinnacle of the concert; Mullova gave a performance of intensity and inevitability. It felt like we had got to the heart of Bach. And at the end she brought her bow down slowly to her side and held it still, with a look of seeming sorrow on her down-turned face.or forfeiting inwardness. Rebecca Franks, BBC Music Magazine

**** There is a rare beauty to be found in the “normality” of human nature, in which the sense of just “being” transcends any degree of artificial decoration or finery. Viktoria Mullova’s performance of Johannn Sebastian Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin in the Christuskirche, Freiburg was the embodiment of this sense, and her exquisite interpretation, therefore, was all the more startling and deeply moving.

Mullova’s biography reads like a Who’s Who of classical music, and irrespective of continent, country, or concert hall, her reputation cannot fail to precede her. The sight, then, of her much-thumbed, patched and taped score flopping comfortably over the edges of a two-a-penny wire music stand was an intriguing first impression for a Mullova first-timer like myself. The scent of hearty home-cooked broth was in the air long before she herself arrived on stage, her unassuming gait and beautifully simple ensemble of browns and greys banishing any notion of the celebrity musician’s notorious quirks, airs and graces.

An unhurried bow without flourish, a short moment to collect her thoughts, and she began to play, drawing the opening spacious G minor triad out of her strings without fuss or fanfare. This wasn’t a “performance”, or a complex, conceptual artistic “thought”. This was Mullova being Mullova, playing Bach because she feels compelled to, and because it exists to be played. It was engaging, refreshing and, above all, stunningly beautiful.

The art of polyphonic composition for solo stringed instruments had already been established in Germany by the time Bach completed the Sonatas and Partitas, and the fugue which forms the second movement of the G minor Sonata is an excellent example of this tradition. The clarity in which Mullova presented each individual voice gave the music a stark three-dimensional quality, some phrases appearing to come from a far-distant plain, others astonishingly forthright and present.

Mullova’s performing career encompasses an extraordinarily wide range of musical genres, and it was fascinating to see how this influenced her interpretation of the Baroque masterworks with which she made her name. Her extensive work with the Matthew Barley Ensemble, whose musical roots stem from an eclectic mix of styles ranging from “Gypsy-music to Jazz” might have been responsible for stoking the exhilarating final Presto of the concert’s opening work, fiery accents evoking the flashing bowings of a foot-tapping folk fiddler.

She exhibited a broad spectrum of articulation at all times, a plush legato and dancing, transparent staccato both contrasting examples of her conscientious attention to the fine details of phrasing. It was this, in combination with a spontaneous sense of freedom, which made her performance so invigorating.

Such was Mullova’s technical command over her instrument, it was frighteningly easy to forget just what a technical challenge the Sonatas and Partitas present to the soloist, and it was only her hawk-like gaze of concentration that betrayed her as her fingers flew over the more virtuosic passages. Her utter engrossment provided some of the most enchanting moments of the concert, as during many of the final phrases she turned to embrace her audience, seeming to remember that she wasn’t alone with the music and her thoughts.

There has been trend throughout history to over-romanticise the music of Bach, initiated by musicologists and performers alike. The composer chose to describe himself as a craftsman rather than a musician, and the serenity of his music often lies in the simplicity of interpretation. Mullova’s carefully chosen rubati in the Preludio of the third Partita were never overstated, and never threatened to distract from the natural beauty of the musical line. She did allow herself the freedom to dress the stately opening chords of the first Menuet with a dignified nobility, the result suggestive of the lilting rhythmic phrasing of the Viennese Walz tradition.

The complex, rhapsodic Chaconne which closed the evening’s performance consumes both soloist and audience alike through its incredible intensity, and a communal stillness embraced the Christuskirche as it seemed to catch its breath. It was a fitting end to a moving celebration of human existence, through the humility of a performer who chose to let the genius of Johann Sebastian Bach speak for itself.
Nicholas Reed, bachtrack.com

Mullova pure of tone and feisty of manner without sacrificing beauty of phrase, spoiling the line or forfeiting inwardness. Colin Anderson, ClassicalSource.com

The Stravinsky Violin Concerto is a work of agitated, stuttering rhythms, serving its snatches of melody in small bites. Mullova met all of its demands impeccably, delivering its complex chords with becoming roughness, its lyrical lines with disarming clarity, and its clustered musical ideas articulately. Rob Hubbard, The Pioneer Press

Mullova shone in ‘Aria II’, her tone rich and expressive, capturing fully the mood of anguish... Mullova breezed her way through the trickiest of passages but nonetheless imbuing them with sparkle and wit to bring the work to a rousing conclusion. Andrew Maisel, ClassicalSource.com

She is simply a fabulous instrumentalist, with a mixture of physical agility and mental concentration that the numerous young pretenders could still learn from. Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph

Mullova played with an attractive combination of classical purity and inner intensity, bringing poetry to her phrasing but carefully avoiding any sense of sentimentality...With Mullova's energetic and virtuosic account of the finale, this was altogether a memorable performance. Christian Hoskins, musicOMH.com

Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata came at us in a furious flurry of torment and turmoil, the (literally) guttural rasp of her playing never abrasive but always perfectly attuned to one of Beethoven's wildest yet most perfectly formed statements. Perhaps even better, what might have been considered marginal repertory - an early Beethoven sonata in E flat, Op 12, Schubert's Rondo brillante and Sonata in A - came off in terrific style in Mullova's wonderfully muscular and vigorous interpretations. It sounds like madness, but should she ditch that Strad for good?       
           Neil Fisher, The Times

If she didn't exist, you'd have a job inventing her...as they sailed through this graceful work, [Schubert's Duo Sonata in A major] followed by the Rondo brilliant, one was struck by the sonic balance between their instruments...Mullova's immaculate playing gave off a lovely sense of respiration, while Bezuidenhout made the fortepiano sound more beautiful than I have ever heard it before.  Michael Church, The Independent

Dreamy duo play with rare, electrifying panache. Pat O'Kelly, Independent Ireland