Lisa Batiashvili

“Lisa Batiashvili is one of the most fabulous violinists of our time: producing a very warm and radiant sound from her Stradivarius, with her lyricism, always intense but never brutal, she has everything of a truly grand player”. (Le Figaro, October 2011)

"Batiashvili's brilliance has deepened superbly since emerging from the BBC's New Generation scheme in 2001, as has her emotional stamina. Both of these qualities were in abundance at this performance of Shostakovich's first violin concerto with Esa-Pekka Salonen (with whom she recorded the work last year) and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

"The results were spellbinding. Batiashvili chained herself to the writhing melody, her expressive style seamlessly matched to the collision between public and private emotion at the heart of the work...Batiashvili went on, with an encore from Shostakovich's Dances of the Dolls, further confirming the seamless expressive marriage she has formed with Salonen and the Philharmonia." (The Guardian, August 2011)

"Esa-Pekka Salonen and Lisa Batiashvili have already recorded Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, and the bond between them was evident in a delicate yet deeply searching performance of this melancholy, epic work with Salonen's orchestra, the Philharmonia... Batiashvili decisively re-injected the tension in her taut playing of the great Cadenza, and she has every bit of the technique required for the lethal difficulties of the last movement." (The Arts Desk, August 2011)

“The soloist was the immensely gifted and accomplished young violinist Lisa Batiashvili. All the impressive attributes of her playing were present here: a plush, shimmering, beautifully focused sound; impeccable intonation; rhythmic integrity; a winning combination of elegance and impetuosity.” (The New York Times, March 2011)

“Her playing is often breathtaking – she has a hugely adaptable sound, a well-judged and flexible vibrato, immaculate phrasing, and a piercingly precise sense of intonation. Even better, she knows how to use all these in the service of the music…There’s a real sense of a story being told, and a deep and touching sincerity to these performances.” (The Strad, March 2011)