News
Coming up soon:
Dmitri Shostakovich, Violin Concerto No. 1
Orchesterverein Stuttgart
Alexander Adiarte
Solo Recital, Works by Bach, Reger, Hindemith, and Jarnach
International Mendelssohn Festival and Summer School
Portrait in Germany's Monthly Magazine "Concerti" (May 2017)
New Bartók Double Disc, released end of January 2016 by SWRmusic:
written by Dr. Michael B. Weiß:
Artistic Quality 10/10
Sound Quality 9/10
Overall Impression 10/10
Concerti-Review "Fresh Impulses"
written by Eckhard Weber
14 February 2016
NDR Kultur, CD News, 19:15-20:00
Presentation and review of the new Bartók Double Disc through Marcus Stäbler
Concert Preview:
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto E minor op. 64
Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim
Conductor: Johannes Schlaefli
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto E minor op. 64
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford
Conductor: Thomas Dorsch
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto E minor op. 64
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford
Conductor: Thomas Dorsch
CD Reviews of the recent Busoni/Strauss CD:
Violin Concertos by F. Busoni and by R. Strauss, first recording of Busoni's transcription of Beethoven's "Benedictus" from the Missa Solemnis for Violin and Orchestra
Tanja Becker-Bender
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Garry Walker
Hyperion Records, produced together with BBC
September 2014
Gramophone Review by Guy Rickards
"...a splendidly rendered performance... an excellent disc."
8 September 2014
Review by Sören Ingwersen
4 September 2014
Wilhelm Sinkovicz
28 August 2014
WDR 3, CD Review by Christoph Vratz can still be heard online
25 August 2014
KulturSpiegel 9/2014, CD Review by Johannes Saltzwedel
14 August 2014
CD Review and Interview
12 August 2014
Stuttgarter Zeitung, Review by Hans Joerg Wangner, Print version can be read here in StZ blog
3 August 2014
Broadcast hosted by Marcus Stäbler, CD review and Interview
1 August 2014
rbb kulturradio, Peter Uehling
CD Review
21 July 2014
CD Review
...and here are links to the CD reviews of the Hindemith Sonatas CD, published not long ago:
Gramophone
Review of the Hindemith CD
Review of the Hindemith CD by Susanne Schaal-Gotthardt in the Hindemith Forum of the Hindemith Institut Frankfurt
Review of the Hindemith CD by Michael Cuckson on musicweb-international.com
Hindemith, the lyrical composer
Review of the Hindemith CD by Stefan Drees on Klassik.com (five Stars)
Review of the Hindemith CD by Ben Hogwood on classicalsource.com
CD recommendation of the nmz (New Music Journal): Hindemith Sonatas
29 December 2013, German Radio "Deutschlandfunk", "The New Disc"
Presentation of the Hindemith CD, commemorating the composer's 50th year of death
28 December 2013, 15:30, Musikszene Hessen beim Hessischen Rundfunk
Broadcast commemorating the 50th year of the death of Paul Hindemith Interview with Tanja Becker-Bender and broadcast of excerpts of the four Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Hosting the broadcast: Werner Laibusch
3 December 2013, NDR Cultural Radio, 9:00 p.m. "World of Music"
Broadcast on Paul Hindemith, editor Ludwig Hartmann
New CD Release, November 2013:
Paul Hindemith, Sämtliche Sonaten für Violine und Klavier
Tanja Becker-Bender, Violin
Péter Nagy, Piano
Hyperion Records
These new performances prove to be everything that one would wish for in these taxing and often elusive works … A valuable release. (International Record Review)
Review of the performance of Ligeti's Violin Concerto in the "Saarbrücker Zeitung", 19 November 2013
[...] The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra realized it convincingly, precisely conducted by Zsolt Nagy.
This was also the case in György Ligeti's Violin Concerto, which violinist Tanja Becker-Bender endowed with ingenious sound effects in technical perfection, and wherever possible with captivatingly rich sound. Ligeti, exploring sounds, experimented in the orchestra with "distuned" strings, in an "impure" mixture with well-tempered tuning. A fascinating world of sound, from which the solo violin employed an impressive and explosive closing cadenza in order to lead back to the orchestral fortissimo reality. (Helmut Fackler)
Review of the Bartók Recital with Péter Nagy at the Turina Festival in Seville, Spain:
Correo de Andalucia: "An unthinkable present" (Un regalo impensabile)
Diario de Sevilla: "Intensidad de un violín apasionado"