Christian Tetzlaff

“In Christian Tetzlaff [Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.1] had an authoritative interpreter of the highest class. Whether it was in the long soliloquy lines of the opening movement or the almost hysteria-driven violence of the scherzo, or the hugely demanding solo cadenza between the last two movements, Tetzlaff was equal to all its demands. There are few violinists to match him at the moment.” (Martin Kettle, The Guardian, May 2013)

“The German violinist articulated Brahms’ Violin Sonatas as intimate, lyrical conversations. … Tetzlaff’s violin speaking intimately as though one-to-one with each member of the audience, until the hall seems to shrink to the size of a drawing-room hosting a musical soirée.” (Financial Times, January 2013)

“His seriousness and asceticism, offset by insouciance, elegance and humour, result in music-making of formidable intimacy: could everyone in the Albert Hall hear his exquisite, hushed playing which seemed to defy nature? I hope so.” (The Observer, August 2012)

“…Schoenberg’s formidable Violin Concerto seemed ideally suited to the violinist/’s talents: immaculate phrasing combines with pinpoint bowing, helped by the propulsive volleys from an orchestra teeming with colour (and the MET stings need no introduction). Hardly glancing at his music, Tetzalff seemed immersed, dazzling with subtlety rather than explosiveness.” (The Strad, July 2012)

"Christian Tetzlaff … body swaying with the music’s passions, fingers dancing near the violin’s bridge, spinning a thread of silvery sound ethereal yet passionate, the dynamics graded with infinite grace...We sat rapt as its melodic line and decorative frills leaped and shimmered up and down the violin’s register. What a superb player Tetzlaff is." (The Arts Desk, April 2012)

"Christian Tetzlaff was the perfect advocate, performing the solo part's virtuosic heroics with phenomenal energy and persuasive conviction, and really bringing the work's inherent lyricism to the fore." (The Strad, November 2011)

“You couldn’t wish for a better exponent today than the German violinist Christian Tetzlaff, with his Protean ability to take on the character of whatever work he is playing. The character here was Slavonic, and from his opening flourish he found a genial sweetness of tone. Even when playing pianissimo and stratospherically high, he still dominated the orchestra.” (The Independent, September 2011)

"As for the soloist Christian Tetzlaff, he again gave that sense of almost reckless intensity that he summoned up in the Brahms concerto a few weeks ago. But equally striking was the intelligence of his playing, the way he registered the myriad threads connecting his sounds to the orchestra’s. The slow processional of the ending, brought to an end with a single peremptory note from Tetzlaff, was a brilliant stroke." (The Telegraph, September 2011)

"That same night, Christian Tetzlaff had set off like a rocket in Brahms's violin concerto... He contrived a thrilling balance between cantabile and cutting edge, with a daring line in tiny pianissimos. The way he floated in over the orchestra at the end of the first-movement cadenza was one to treasure. I don't know when I last enjoyed a performance of this concerto so much." (The Observer, August 2011)

"Christian Tetzlaff had already had us on the edge of our seats for a Brahms Violin Concerto that will be my benchmark interpretation from now on. The soloist's scorching opening statement, the airy sweetness of his calming serenades, and the heel-stomping dances of the final movement were all breathtaking. Tetzlaff, playing as if his life depended on it, transported his audience from the Hungarian gypsy camp to the salons of Vienna. It was the trip of lifetime." (Independent on Sunday, August 2011)

“This was a beautifully contoured performance, with a chaste, almost otherworldly finish to the slow movement — and I loved how stealthily Tetzlaff stole into the Rondo finale’s gypsy tune.“ (The Times, August 2011)

“This has to be the most extraordinarily intense and dramatic rendition of this great piece I have heard... Tetzlaff’s first statement burst in with startling urgency, like a truth that had to be uttered now or never. Thereafter, every phrase had the same sense of being impelled by an unstoppable inner need.  It was enthralling to hear a well-worn piece so totally re-imagined.” (The Daily Telegraph, August 2011) 

"The soloist was Christian Tetzlaff, who let the music live, breathe and sing with a directness few can equal today. Gardner got off to a low-key start with a sedate account of the introduction, though Tetzlaff's assertive first entry immediately raised the level of the proceedings to the superlative and beyond. Sensational.” (The Guardian, August 2011)

“Soloist Christian Tetzlaff's interpretation wore its technical virtuosity lightly and without any hint of mere display. A highly physical player, his gestures were always the result of his musical impulses, never an illustration of them, and his tone was alive in every note.” (The Guardian, June 2011)

"Soloist Christian Tetzlaff has the kind of technique that makes you forget the difficulty of the piece and simply wonder at the range of expression, the variety of tone and colour at his disposal. ” (Evening Standard, June 2011)