Reviews

CD REVIEWS
BACH: Solo violin music - Vol
Partita No 3 in E major BWV 100
Sonata No. 2 in A minor for Solo Violin BWV 1003

Partita No 2 in D minor BWV 1004

YOSSI ZIVONI violin
Meridian CDE 84205

"This is a fine issue, not least for the welcome chance of appraising the work of this excellent and thoughtful artist in the first volume of what will be a complete set of Bach's works for solo violin."

"The programme is exceptionally well laid out: beginning with the E major Partita, then the A minor Sonata and concluding with the D minor Partita - leaving the great Ciacconna until last. It is also exceptionally good value in terms of playing-time and includes some interesting notes on the music by the British composer Graham Whettam, who himself has written solo violin works for this artist."

"Yossi Zivoni's readings of these masterpieces are notable above all for their intellectual grip; this artist's brilliance is always put at the service of the music and the result is a moving album which will repay the many repeated hearings performances of this stature deserve."

MUSICAL OPINION, February 1993

"The ringing, confident, assertive performance of the E-Major Preludio - the first music on the disc - makes one immediately aware that here is a major violinist at work."

"He is obviously an experienced player who has sifted through the possibilities of this music and arrived at vigorous, emphatic renditions, with an impressive combination of directness of approach and clarity of articulation. Zivoni's excellent mix of purity and inflection would be welcome in this country (U.S.A.), as will be the second volume of Zivoni's unaccompanied Bach."

FANFARE (USA) March/April 1993

CONCERT REVIEWS
Yossi Zivoni's performance of Mozart's G major violin concerto dominated the concert which Zdenek Macal directed last night and revealed, perhaps a touch of that rare baffling quality which we call genius. A singular beauty of tone, simple and unmannered, made the slow movement unforgettable, with delicate, but finely articulated trills and a sweetly expressive vibrato. Supported well by the RL P 0, this masterly violinist played throughout with brilliant fingering and a notable stylistic unity." (The Daily Telegraph, LONDON)

"However, it was when the music-stands were cleared and Yossi Zivoni stepped unassumingly on to the empty platform (even a solo cellist has a chair to keep him company) that the most memorable experience was unfolded - a reading of the Bach Chaconne whose compelling directness, austerity and purity held the audience in breathless admiration."

(Classical Music, LONDON)

"Zivoni possesses in his playing the beauty and the brio of a youthful Fritz Kreisler. The performance of the Beethoven Romance in F, Op. 50 did honour to the charm and lyricism of the work and established the soloist's perceptive musicianship. In the Paganini Concerto No. 1 the full range of his virtuosity was explored." (Victoria Daily Times, CANADA)

"One glance at the score of Bartok's solo sonata is enough to make most violinists blanche. How wonderful, then, to hear it played with nonchalant ease, as it was at the Royal Northern College of Music last night by Yossi Zivoni. . . . Graham Whettam was present to hear a stylish account of his lyrical Ballade, an unusually romantic piece of contemporary music, and the advertised part of the programme ended with a warm and glowing performance of the Franck Sonata. Altogether a marvellous evening." (Manchester Evening News)