Alina Ibragimova – Press

“Here the violinist Alina Ibragimova used her brilliance and grace, offset by the sturdiness of Louise Hopkins’ cello-playing, to captivate us.”

“Ibragimova played as though she owned it. Her fine technique was married to a rich deep tone without scratches even in the most emphatic passages and she tossed off the many short solo passages with confident ease.”

“Modern, yes, in great sound, and played with all the passion needed to fully present the music in its most authentic manner, if you don’t have these in your collection, now is the time to start!”

“…it is the perfect vehicle for Alina Ibragimova’s special brand of virtuosity. It is hard to imagine another soloist presenting the concerto with the intensity and commitment she brought to it here.”

“…without any allure or contrivance, she played as if she had the piece in her very DNA.”

“…there was real magic in her miraculously delicate leadership of a performance of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht.”

“Ibragimova strokes the melodies of the second movement with feather-light bowing, and the presto is a joyful romp. The sound is balanced and warm, with just the right amount of resonance.”

“…Ibragimova’s ability to switch instantly from mere whisper to full-on power, coupled with immaculate phrasing, made every moment enthralling… …There have been other memorable performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto by the SSO and other eminent violinists, but tonight’s performance will be long-remembered for Ibramigova’s passion and individuality.”

“Playing entirely extemporaneously, Ibragimova gave voice to every scintilla of emotion in her instrument. The sense of urgency and desperation in the adagio was electrifying.”

“Just as Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Pekka Kuusisto have remade the Tchaikovsky concerto in their own fashion, so Alina Ibragimova made the Brahms her own in this performance with Lionel Bringuier and the London Symphony Orchestra… …the physicality of her playing is arresting.”

“Alina Ibragimova was the soloist in Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto. Her tone has a silvery lustre, wedded to a very flexible technique that allows her to make light of Prokofiev’s inconsiderate changes of register and awkward leaps. In intimate chamber-like dialogues with the orchestra – a passage for violin, flute and harp springs to mind – the effect was magical.”

“Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Ibragimova Returns was ample reward for the expectation brewing up since the Russian violinist first dazzled us with Shostakovich in 2011.

Bartok’s Second Violin Concerto was the object of Alina Ibragimova’s charismatic artistry. We may have been lured into this 1938 work with placid major chords but, within a page, we were transfixed by the soloist’s often fiery narrative.

…Even after half-hour of such hyper-energy, peaking in Ibragimova’s vehement, virtuosic cadenza, there was a generous encore of searing solo Bartok.”

“From the opening attack of the bow on string Ibragimova gave us a muscular no holds barred performance which was exciting, dynamic, balanced and perfectly articulated. From the red-hot cadenza of the first movement to the serenity of the second, in which the violin converses with the timpani, Ibragimova gave it everything she’s got, leaving plenty in reserve for the thrilling finale.”

“Sustaining crystalline articulation and a focused, full-bodied tone, Ibragimova fearlessly navigated her way through the work’s myriad virtuosic challenges. However, her lightness of touch, soft-grained sonorities and sensitive phrasing in the concerto’s lyrical sections proved equally impressive.”

“Alina Ibragimova is one of the most richly talented and expressive of violinists; in every performance, she instinctively finds the essence of the music and delivers it with a combination of grace and daring.”

“Making her debut as soloist/director with the AAM, Ibragimova’s serene demeanour as always belied her cast-iron technique and her unerring ability to bring a freshness and spontaneity to the music. Comparing Bach’s concertos with those of Vivaldi and offering Heinrich Biber as their starting point made for a revelatory sequence.”

“Ibragimova isn’t just an intelligent musician with an adventurous mind; she positively oozes music. Her technical finesse enables her to make a beautiful sound in Bach with no vibrato, while her sense of fantasy shapes the Chaconne’s desperate poetry into a marvel as psychologically probing as the Bartók and as vivid as a film in its own right. Ever wondered why great musicians are called ‘artists’? Here’s the proof.”

“It feels as if the final component in the continuum that links Biber to Berio; and though Ibragimova possesses a range of technique to cover all styles from the baroque to the present day, her unique asset is the priceless ability to make time stand still.”