ChloË Hanslip in press
Odense Symfoniorkester 2008, Odense, Petr Altrichter Prokofiev Concerto No 2
Jyllands-posten 21.1.2008
"Chloë Hanslip, British, 20 years old. As soloist in Prokofjev’s Violin Concerto she was a phenomenon! She played the concerto superbly, in close connection with Czech conductor Petr Altrichter; lightning-quick changes of atmosphere and tempi perfectly in place. No technical problems (ie meaning: the technical difficulties of the piece were nothing to her),the sound from her wonderful 1730-violin was impressively full and clear. She bubbled with joy in the lively virtuosities, while she made a poetic miracle of the intimate Andante.
The audience were totally enraptured by this young and charming performer, who reciprocated with an equally virtuose extra number, from John Corigliano’s “Red Violin”-suite, announced in Danish!”
Stalintidens folkelige musik
"Chloë Hanslip played Prokofjev’s 2nd Violin Concerto from 1035, a work in the classic-romantic style, almost devoid of the composer’s (usual) Russian edge and ironical distance.
She played with a deliciously dark and full tone and convinced us with her natural musicality. What more can you wish for? In a capriccio-extra from Corigliano’s “The Red Violin” she demonstrated the joy of having the ability to play with dazzling virtuosity. In Prokofjev she never for a moment exploited her technical skills for the sake of bravura. A feat for such a young musician, and something that really holds promises for the future”…
(5 stars out of 6!)
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Jakub Hrusa
EdinburghGuide.com, Barnaby Miln
"November 2007 , the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was under the baton of the 26 year old Jakub Hrusa who was born in the Czech Republic and is currently the Principal Conductor of the Prague Philharmonia. A smaller orchestra, with its conductor using a more restrained technique, accompanied Chloe Hanslip for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 3. This is one of only five concertos written by Mozart and allows the solo part every opportunity to excel and Chloe did not disappoint. Using the full length of her bow she was in command of her violin and demonstrated too by her movements her integration with the orchestra’s accompaniment. Yet Chloe is just 20 and already a star. This Edinburgh audience was highly delighted with her performance."
Cadogan Hall 2007, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin Prokofiev Concerto No 1
Classicalsource.com Gill Redfern
"Chloë Hanslip, at 20 years old, has already made a considerable name for herself, both in concerts and as a recording artist, and her persuasive rendition of Prokofiev’s technically demanding First Concerto was due in no small part to her ability to perform from memory and to her impressive visual and musical communication with Slatkin and the orchestra.
Coaxing an impressive range of dynamics, colours and depth of tone from her instrument, Hanslip totally engaged with the music from the outset. Her full vibrato complimented perfectly the work’s more lyrical sections, though, like so many other performances of this piece, some of Prokofiev’s more gymnastic writing came across as somewhat overly aggressive. There were also a couple of moments when she didn’t seem totally comfortable with the orchestral pace, but these quickly passed and it was a credit to her that she seemed willing (and able) to treat the performance as a partnership rather than a duel."
Adams Violin Concerto, Naxos, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Classicalsource.com, Rob Witts
"Coming to public attention as a heavily marketed teen virtuoso, Chloë Hanslip has emerged as a stunningly accomplished and thoughtful musician, and this excellent recording of John Adams’s 1993 Violin Concerto is proof. Simply put, this is the most persuasive performance I have heard on disc, finer than such established talents as Gidon Kremer (Nonesuch) or Leila Josefowicz (BBC Late Junction).
This is the composer at his most introverted, almost approaching at times the emotional world of late Ligeti, especially in the fifteen-minute first movement, as the soloist is threatened by a ceaseless surge of rising chords. Chloë Hanslip’s singing upper register initially floats serenely above this restless landscape but is drawn down into it and spins off into virtuoso passagework; the gradual transition of mood is beautifully handled, with real care lavished over every note.
The second movement ‘Chaconne’ enables Hanslip to display gorgeous tone in long-breathed melody. The steady accumulation of detail in the orchestral writing is clearly and movingly evoked, and the synthesised keyboard sounds blend nicely, giving just a suggestion of otherworldly shimmer. The recording balance is good, with the soloist prominent but not detached; this is especially tricky in the hectic finale, whose bluegrass fiddle figurations can easily be drowned by the band. The high-octane dialogue between Hanslip and the Royal Philharmonic players is thrilling, and Leonard Slatkin keeps things bowling along to the exciting conclusion; you can feel the buzz in Studio 1, Abbey Road as the final notes ring out."
Limelight January 2007 Christopher Latham
“This might be one of Naxos’ best recordings ever. Young British violinist Chloe Hanslip is outstanding on this fascinating solo portrait CD---. Corigliano’s Red Violin Chaconne,---, demonstrates immediately that we are hearing a very special violinist. Hanslip’s sound is sensual, vocal and yearning and totally radiant in its top register.
Leonard Slatkin has the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at their best with Hanslip out front displaying poise and authority that should be impossible at her age. I am converted - she is likely to become the greatest violinist of her generation.”
Gramophone October 2006, Philip Clark
"The richness and clarity of her tone is beyond learning and she demonstrates such profound empathy for John Adam's 1993 Violin Concerto. ... This is the sort of performance that secures a reputation for life. The first movement strikes me as a particular challenge, as an unwinding melodic line generates itself over a quarter-hour span. ... Hanslip deconstructs their (notes) meaning and pieces together a cogent narrative direction that's a bona fide interpretation. The sing-song ballad quality of the slow middle movement unlocks her lyrical imagination, while the tricky moto perpetuo of the violin part zigzags and breakdances across occasional Nancarrow-like rhythmic overlays in an exuberant finale. Assertive and enthused accompaniment from Slatkin and the RPO, too - everybody's doing Adams the greatest of service."
BBC Music Magazine October 2006 Calum MacDonald
“This is the fourth recording of the Adams Concerto. The first by Gidon Kremer with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s on Nonesuch, remains dazzling in the cruelly demanding solo part, but Kremer is uncomfortably spoilt by the recording; Hanslip, much better balanced and with much more orchestral detail apparent, gives few points away to him in virtuosity, even in the frenetic perpetuum mobile finale, --- Hanslip’s new version seems to me undoubtedly the one to acquire.”
Performance *****
Sound ****
The Strad October 2006 Roderic Dunnett
"The blossoming career of the gifted young violinist Chloe Hanslip hasben a delight to watch in recent years. This characterful performer has worked assiduously at her technque and range of tone, and her spirited playing can safely be described as both versatile and mature. Here she offers a typically imaginative programme, in which every item brings its own delights. One astonishing achievement is Wagner's Tristan and Isolde(arr. Waxman) in which any temptation to overplay the sentiment is finely sidestepped: what we hear is a sensitive , measured reading of the text which allows the music to weave its spell without any overunctuousness or overegging. It's a deftly managed interpretation.
The Chaccone from John Corigliano's The Red Violin is given a comparably fine performance: in Hanslip's hands the beautifully played solo line emerges as beguiling and atmospheric..... Inevitably the highlight is the John Adam's Concerto... in which the offsetting of the assured solo line against the almost tangetial musings of the orchestra is especially finely done here. The recording is pleasing and Hanslip's whole spirited programme could be described as a triumph."
The Times September 2006 Geoff Brown
"Her new image shouts that Hanslip, now a recording freelance, has become her own person. The violin playing tells us this too. It was always secure in tone , unaffected; but the authority and depth displayed in this release of American music puts Hanslip on quite a different level. She is promising no more; at the age of 18, she seems the complete artist, able to rival well-established players with subleties of expression and a firm grasp of what the music needs. Though Adams's Violin Concerto has been recorded by Gidon Kremer and Leila Josefowicz, Hanslip's version is the most persuasive yet.
Adams's long, singing lines are beautifully projected in a finely spun tone, largely free of vibrato. She's equally impressive in the bucking rhythms of the finale, though she never abandons finesse.
...with Hanslip in this form I'd listen to anything. ****"
Bavarian Radio Sibelius Concerto and Chorus/Jansons, Philharmonie, MÜNICH ****
The Independent Thurs 13 October 2005, Roderick Dunnett
Janson’s soloist in Sibelius’s Violin Concerto was the beguiling Chloë Hanslip, a sizzling young product of the Yehudi Menuhin School. Hanslip produces a full-blooded sound: her wide-spaced vibrato and powerful resonances rendered her an expressive, idiosyncratic advocate of the Sibelius: intense, passionate, not without cheeky waywardness. Her dazzling technical proficiency made sparks fly in the finale. Hanslip’s high spirits whipped you along: tussling with tympani and bassoon, teasing out the allegro’s long-lined big tune, slyly echoing herself in the adagio, or sweeping up to the laughing harmonics in the finale, she delighted the Munich audience.
Mariss Jansons & BRSO Sibelius Concerto 6th & 7th Oct 2005
German Press - GasteigFrankfurter Allgemeine 8th October 2005, Wolfgang Sandner
“.. She is without doubt an extraordinary talent. The extreme demands of this piece, dotted with double-stops, trill-melody-combination, many unaccompanied cadenzas, solo passages and rhythmic finesse were hardly a problem for her..”
Abendzeitung Munchen 8th October 2005, Volker Boser
“The 18 year old English Chloe Hanslip is a discovery. She played the violin concerto by Sibelius with a billowing, gripping tone. .. a glowing advocate against all those who believe that only classical strictness can lead to success. .. A gigantic talent!”
Suddeutsche Zeitung 8th October 2005, Reinhard Schulz
“Chloe Hanslip has a wonderful, gentle, supple tone and right from the first entry, managed to seduce over the whirring, whispering level of the orchestra.”
Straubinger Tagblatt 8th October 2005, Michael B Weiss
“ With the young English violinist Chloe Hanslip he(Mariss Jansons) discovered Sibelius’ Concerto d-moll Op. 47 as a piece in which no pianissimo can be too atmospheric, no dance step too sturdy : this is an extreme interpretation plumbing the depths of individual parts, which is totally appropriate for this particular piece, the most improvisable-rhapsodish piece by Sibelius”
Kymi Sinfonietta, Pietari Inkinen, Tchaikovsky Concerto
Helsingin Sanomat 8th Jan 2005, Hannu-Ilari Lampila
"17 year old British girl Chloë Hanslip is a brilliant violinist. Petite, graceful and joyful Chloë Hanslip is a sensational, impressive talent. Tchaikovsky's violin concerto suits her romantic mentality well. She has a beautiful timbre, emotionally glowing melody lines and also a deep power. It would be wrong to say that this young artist is only a romantic sentimental girl because she is also full of energy which gives her the the ability of phenomenal, vivid and spirited virtuosity."
Colorado Music Festival, Michael Christie, Glass Violin Concerto
The Denver Post 30th July 2004, Sabine Kortals
"There are teenagers. And there are prodigies. Sixteen year-old Chloë Hanslip is both, plus generous measures of poise and power that reach beyond her youth. In her debut performance with the Colorado Music Festival, the no-nonsense violinist riveted an appreciative audience Thursday night in her un-restrained, magnetic performance of Philip Glass' Concerto... Hanslip,... tied together the surging phrases for 30 minutes of rhythmic and harmonic inspiration. Fingers flying, Hanslip managed the numerous repetitions of arpeggio passages with aplomb. Best of all, her self-possessed, deeply felt performance was reminiscent of the composer's theater music, replete with metaphors to stir even the most quiescent imagination."
Philharmonie of the Nations, Justus Franz, Tchaikovsky Concerto)
The Independent 16th March 2004, Nicholas Pike
"The astonishingly talented Chloë Hanslip soloed in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto... In the soulful middle movement she was soft but steely, delicate in detail yet catching the composer’s typical feeling of freshly released hormones in full charge....The common factor right through was a subtle ear for tuning: sharps and flats felt exactly right, whatever the pace, and you can’t say that of too many violinists of any age."
The Times 13th March 2004, Richard Morrison
"The teenage British sensation, now 16, has progressed enormously in the last two years.... The tone is far more distinguished and commanding; the technique even more assured; the impulsive dash and daring... refreshing.... the potential of this tiny teenager is huge."
Bruch Violin Concerti Nos 1 & 3
American Record Guide March/April 2003, Haller
"The remarkably gifted young violinist Chloë Hanslip (she turned 15 last September) joins James Ehnes and Isabelle van Keulen in pairing the first and third concertos of Max Bruch. The new entry from Warner quite sweeps the field. ...
Here we have a fresh new approach to No. 3. In the G-minor concerto, Chloë Hanslip, like Ehnes, makes the music soar at a tempo rather more expansive than the classic Heifetz yet her tone-pure and sustained-is a gift wholly at the service of the music, spun out like gold....we cannot but wonder at a teenage girl for whom such sensitivity and expression, such mastery of dynamics and phrasing come so easily.... the sheer joy of making music comes through in every bar....
Yet even her expansive embrace of the G minor could not prepare me for her remarkable achievement in the D minor... once again her sustained and flowing tone is nothing short of a marvel. Indeed, about halfway through the opening movement I set aside my notepad and simply sat back and let the music wash over me..."
Diapason February 2003 - awarded 5 "diapasons"
"Ever since then (10 years old) her gifts have been confirmed and she is asserting herself as one of the most promising talents of her generation. You do not have to listen to this disc for long to realise that she clearly deserves her reputation. Sound, inspiration, fluency and self-assurance, a pure, elegant but unpretentious style, fresh and vivacious: it is hard to imagine that any adolescent could hold a conversation with such confidence.... In Opus 58 she finds an even more natural eloquence and a freedom that restores the beautiful lyricism and original inspiration that are in this all too-forgotten work."
BBC Music Magazine December 2002, Stephen Pettitt
"The very first thing that strikes you about this disc is 15 yr old Chloe Hanslip's sound. It is quite extraordinary in its richness and depth of tone.... But her instinctive feeling for line and colour, her impeccable control of the bowing arm, her incredibly precise intonation and her utter self-confidence are astonishing.... But what is most impressive is her clear vision of the music's span. (Bruch No.3)"
The Gramophone December 2002 - Editor's Choic, Edward Greenfield
"The popular G minor work comes in a warm confident reading which is impressive... this is a performance of No.3 in which Hanslip sounds as though she has lived with this work so completely that the phrasing comes spontaneously, with fine, clean attack, flawless intonation and wonderfully crisp and clear double-stopping.... She plainly revels in the beauty of the violin-writing and its range of expression, with formidable bravura set against moments of pure poetry..."
The Strad December 2002, Jeffrey Joseph
"... the soloist turns in here such a profoundly emotive 70-odd minutes of playing that cynicism is kept wholly at bay.... I defy anyone to pinpoint a single important aspect of the performing which negatively demarcates it as being by a teenager.... Such is her fiery but by no means unconsidered artistry, so beautiful her lyricism, so powerful and clean her articulation, so wise her pacing... The future belongs to Chloe Hanslip."
Daily Telegraph 19th Oct 2002, Geoffrey Norris
"... her new recording of the G minor Concerto and the Third Concerto in D minor with the London Symphony Orchestra... has an appealing freshness. Her playing is warm, thoroughly rounded and finished.... youthfully mature artistry."
The Guardian 11th Oct 2002
"It seems that for Hanslip the bigger the challenge, the greater her success... With clean attack and flawless intonation she gives a spontaneous - sounding reading..."
Wigmore Hall Recital
The Strad February 2003, Joanne Talbot
"Throughout this recital one had to marvel at her gloriously free bowing arm and sense of bow planning which ensured an even tone in phrasing....giving a beautifully sensitive account of Chausson's Poeme, with a particularly fine shaping of the chromatically hued melodic line. ... Here (Saint-Saens/Ysaye Waltz Caprice) Hanslip admirably displayed not only her dextrous fluency, but also a grace and wit entirely suited to the work."