Harrogate International Festival review: Academy of St Martin in the Fields
by George Pyman
“..... Ms Lamsma excelled herself in this challenging piece with a virtuoso performance that brought huge applause from the audience and the orchestra.....”
“…..The Dutch violinist, Simone Lamsma, was the soloist in the seldom played Rondo by Schubert, a score that seemingly was intended as part of a concerto that came too late in the composer's life for completion.
It was played with a warm and unforced tone and intonation and made an ideal foil for Lamsma's effervescent account of Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, where she produced the full range of technical fireworks needed while keeping the work suitably light and frothy.”
Simone Lamsma’s recital during Festival Classique on 14 June will be broadcasted and webcasted live by Dutch Classical Radio Station 'Radio 4' (AVRO). She will be performing works by Stravinsky, Ysaÿe and Saint-Saëns with pianist Hannes Minnaar.
“Simone Lamsma, silver medalist of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, made a triumphant return to town Tuesday with a bold, expressive recital as her first professional U.S. concert engagement……”
Hear a live interview with 2006 Silver Medalist Simone Lamsma on Doug Housemeyer's Indy Arts and Entertainment on WICR 88.7 FM. Joining them will be IVCI Executive Director Glen Kwok.
“Wat goed is komt snel, zeker in de klassieke muziek…….”
"......Indruk maakte vooral de souplesse en precisie waarmee violist Lamsma de schoonheid van Max Bruchs ‘Schotse Fantasie’ blootlegde. Lamsma verkiest een fijn geslepen, transparante vioolklank waarbij het licht op de kleinste muzikale details valt. Razend knap zijn haar kwikzilverige trillers op de snaren. Helder als glas en akelig nauwkeurig uitgevoerd. Technisch kan ze helemaal uitpakken zoals in het daverende slot, maar de emotionaliteit wint het steeds van de virtuositeit......"
Simone Lamsma bij OPIUM (Radio 1) en Cultura TV, zondag 2 maart tussen 19.00 en 20.00 uur.
Violiste Simone Lamsma is op zondag 2 maart te gast in OPIUM, het cultuurprogramma van de AVRO op Radio 1. Presentator Hans Smit zal haar interviewen, o.a. over het op stapel staande concert met Het Gelders Orkest 'Traditie als inspiratiebron'. Het interview wordt tevens uitgezonden op het digitale televisiekanaal Cultura op maandagavond om 20.30 uur en is daarna na te kijken via www.cultura.nl.
Eerstvolgende concerten: 6 maart 2008 - 20.15 Nijmegen 9 maart 2008 - 14.15 Arnhem
"Lamsma schittert op Night of the Proms" Lees verder
LEEUWARDER COURANT - CULTUUR Vrijdag 11 januari 2008
Wim Vervoort
"Lamsma en Bonnema op Night of the Proms"
Leeuwarden – "De uit Burgum afkomstige violiste Simone Lamsma was gisteravond in een volle Harmonie de muzikale ster op de eerste Friese Night of the Proms……………" Lees verder
ELSEVIER KERSTNUMMER 15/22 December 2007
FOTO-ESSAY: BOVEN HET MAAIVELD
"Ze zijn jong en ze zijn succesvol: Tien opvallende Nederlandse talenten in beeld"
Foto’s Koos Breukel Tekst en productie Ingrid van der Chijs
Simone Lamsma has been nominated for the Dutch VSCD (Vereniging van Schouwburg- en Concertgebouwdirecties) Classical Music Prize 2007 in the category ‘New Generation Musicians’.
October 2007 WFYI TV 20 set to broadcast "Good as Gold: The 2006 International Violin Competition of
Indianapolis " Indianapolis' local public television station, WFYI TV 20, will present the documentary of the Seventh Quadrennial Competition on October 4 at 9:00 PM ET. Produced by Todd Gould, WFYI camera teams captured every minute of the Competition last September. The 90-minute documentary highlights competition performances and gives an in-depth look into the lives of five of the participants, including Gold Medalist Augustin Hadelich.
"Fierce competition. Amazing drama. Strength of character. Sound like something you’d witness at a sports arena, the Olympics perhaps? No, this is the International Violin Competition of
Indianapolis . Every four years, the focus of the violin world turns to the
Circle
City , drawing young, vibrant musicians to one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind."
Tune in Thursday, October 4 at 9 pm ET Repeats Saturday, October 6 at 4 pm ET
Every four years,
Indianapolis becomes the center of the violin world as young violinists from all over the world come to the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind. This locally-produced documentary follows the 17 days of the 2006 competition, and introduces viewers to the six finalists who dueled to become the Gold Medal Laureate of this renowned competition.
The Strad - CD review Simone Lamsma (violin) Yurie Miura (piano) October 2006
Tim Homfray
"She has a seriously fine technique and impeccable intonation, and puts these to use with mature musical intelligence. This is deliciously romantic playing, with its touches of portamento, rich, expressive vibrato and melodic subtlety."
“In den ‘Laureate Series’, mit denen das Label Naxos preisgekrönten jungen Künstlerinnen und Künstlern ein Forum zur Verfügung stellt, kann man bisweilen sehr interessante Entdeckungen machen – so auch im Falle der jungen niederländischen Geigerin Simone Lamsma,……………"
"Launching into the Violin Sonata with tenacity that drives the music forward and bypasses the wistful introspection British ears find in every nook and cranny of his music. "
"Simone Lamsma, First Prize Winner of the China International Violin Competition 2005, Benjamin Britten International Violin Competition 2004, and the Dutch National Violin Competition 2003. She gives a stunning Elgar recital featuring the unashamedly romantic yet deeply serious Violin Sonata, with a selection of delightful miniatures."
"She [Simone Lamsma] had a beautiful tone, was exceedingly brilliant, suggesting a combination of talent, hard work and lots of love for what she does."
“……followed by a superbly sublime performance of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy by Simone Lamsma……”
Artsmart, Durban
10 February 2006
Michael Green
KZN Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor Robert Maxym Bruch Scottish Fantasy op.46 City Hall, Durban SA
"......Simone Lamsma’s playing was a revelation."
"......From this instrument she [Simone Lamsma] extracted an exquisitely pure, full tone, matched with faultless phrasing and judgement....." read more
Die Burger, Cape Town 27 January 2006
Pieter Kooij
Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor Owain Arwel Hughes Mozart Concerto no. 5 in A major, KV219 City Hall, Cape Town SA
“Die 20-jarige Nederlandse violiste Simone Lamsma, wat ook verlede week die solis was, se vertolking van die Vioolconcerto no. 5 in A majeur, K 219, was ’n fees."
Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor Owain Arwel Hughes Bruch Scottish Fantasy op.46 City Hall, Cape Town SA
"Die baie talentvolle Lamsma het ’n imponerende vertolking van die Fantasie gelewer. Haar intonasie is uitstekend, en die toonklank wat sy uit haar instrument tower, is ryk, warm en intens."
L’Orchestre Charlemagne Conductor Bartolomeus-Henri van de Velde Mendelssohn Concerto in D minor Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam NL
“La jeune et talentueuse violoniste Simone Lamsma a ensuite charmé le public par sa grâce et la justesse de son jeu sur le stradivarius « Habeneck » avec le concerto pour violon et orchestre en ré mineur de Félix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy."
Winners awarded in the International Violin Competition September 2005, Qingdao, China
The top six winners of International Violin Competition (Qingdao) were announced and awarded in Qingdao Great Hall of People this Wednesday after three rounds of fierce competition. The Netherlands girl, Hilde Simone Lamsma, from Royal Academy of Music, UK won the first prize. The competition witnesses great progress in the level of violin playing in China.
Chinese girl Wang Zhiling from Shang Conservatory of Music took the second place. Half of the top 6 winners are Chinese contestants.
The competition is sponsored by Chinese Ministry of Culture and assisted by the Qingdao government. Contestants from more than 20 countries attend the competition. Judges consist of worldwide well-known violin players and educators.
The London Symphony Orchestra Conductor Sir Andrew Davis Britten Concerto op.15 Barbican Hall, London UK
"It can’t be often that the concerto is played twice in London on the same night, but although this laureates’ concert coincided with Maxim Vengerov’s performance of the work at the Proms, nobody was missing out by being at the Barbican: the young Dutch player (born 1985) displayed a genuinely winning combination of musicality and technical command."
"Lamsma caught the sense of unease in this first major work from Britten’s period of North American exile. Searching for her way through the ruminative first movement, she showed a clear feeling for the piece, and was helped by the powerful suspense of the London Symphony Orchestra’s accompaniment under Andrew Davis. She tore into the fast central movement, and spun rapturous lines over the orchestra as the finale unfolded."
The London Symphony Orchestra Conductor Sir Andrew Davis Britten Concerto op.15 Barbican Hall, London UK
“First prize went to the Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma, who opened (and closed) the Britten Concerto with a wonderfully honeyed tone, developing a more muscular, keenly articulated style for the piquant interventions later. In the Scherzo she generated a suitably demonic frenzy, with confident multiple stopping and generous tone in the finale. It was a prizewinning performance.”
The London Symphony Orchestra Conductor Sir Andrew Davis Britten Concerto op.15 Barbican Hall, London UK
"She [Simone Lamsma] gave a wholly convincing account of the Britten Op.15 concerto (revised version), reaching a complete freedom in the final Passacaglia that had the large audience (many of whom would not have known the work) holding its collective breath - 'you could hear a pin drop'! It was idiomatic and totally assured, eclipsing the disturbing, uncomfortable experience of a recent account by Vengerov with Rostropovich (their subsequent CD is well rated, and he was playing it again at the Proms this same night)."
Elgar: Violin Sonatas and various miniatures including Chanson de matin; Chanson de nuit