Pekka Kuusisto

“The young Finn produced some of the most spontaneous and out-of-the-box violin playing and musical interpretation I have heard…what Kuusisto did with it all was fresh and unpredictable. There were no templates, no predictable strategies. At one moment in the Stravinsky he was playing in period style, the next with sweet tone, then with full-on passion, then at the threshold of audibility, and finally barnstorming rambunctiously.” (The Herald, February 2010)

“Lending his wayward genius to all this was the guest solo violinist, Pekka Kuusisto. What an extraordinary sound he makes, tremulous as a reed, often folk-like in its flatness, and yet so expressive.” (The Telegraph, February 2010)

“Other highlights are the gorgeous romancing of the Cantabile, the effortlessly sweet-singing Sonata in A and the heroic Tarantella, originally for violin and orchestra: here Kuusisto really shows his violinistic mettle with some impeccable double-stopped spiccato and frenzied, stratospheric twirling.” (The Strad, February 2010)

“Finnish sensation Pekka Kuusisto, 32, was spellbinding last night on the Roy Thomson Hall stage as he performed Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons like it has probably never been heard in this city before. Moving freely among the 20 musicians onstage, Kuusisto made one of the most overplayed pieces of Western classical music sound as if it were being performed for the first time… The violinist made the most of every note, dissonance and change of tempo. The music alternately danced as if being played at a ceilidh and whispered as if even a short breath would break its spell.” (The Toronto Star, October 2008)

“The brilliant 31-year-old, playing with seemingly effortless élan and brilliance, brings a breath of fresh air into the concert hall… [He] is an artist of huge enthusiasm, energy and imagination, qualities that he transmits to those around him and the result, at this concert, was an evening of magical, vibrant music-making, given by players who were loving what they were doing – and showing it... The drama and brilliance of Kuusisto’s playing was breathtaking” (Irish Examiner, March 2007)