Reviews for Peter Herresthal

Saariaho: Graal Théâtre and Vers toi qui es si loin

Copenhagen Philharmonic, February 2022

"5 stars: one of those concerts that the reviewer will remember for a long time...'Vers toi qui es si loin' is some of the most beautiful music there is. Here the music speaks purely and with magical effect...Herresthal effortlessly played the difficult solo in Saariaho's violin concerto"

Politiken.dk

Missy Mazzoli - Dark with Excessive Bright (US premiere)

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, October 2021

"Perhaps the only moment in the evening’s proceedings that could truly distract from Stutzmann was the debut of Dark with Excessive Bright, a new work by contemporary composer Missy Mazzoli...Mazzoli’s work is avant-garde modernism done right: The witheringly tense melody of the violin (here played superbly by guest soloist Peter Herresthal) and pulsating accompaniment are reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s scores for the films of Sergio Leone. Herresthal’s violin solo was worthy of note in particular with its brash explorations of the outer limits of the instrument’s sonic capacity, eventually finding melodic satisfaction in a forest of arpeggiated scrapes and muted plucks."

Jordan Owen, Arts Atlanta

"Guest violinist Peter Herresthal provided adroit contemporary anachronisms atop an orchestral backdrop that sounded Baroque and current at the same time"

The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Saariaho: Circle Maps, Graal Théâtre and other works

Oslo Philharmonic (BIS 2402)

“Performances could scarcely be bettered. Peter Herresthal finds greater expressive variety in Graal Théâtre than Gidon Kremer…The Oslo Philharmonic evince all the clarity and fastidiousness this compelling music requires.”

Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone

“In both this [Vers toi qui es si loin] and Graal Théâtre, Herresthal is a dazzling soloist, at once neat and carefree, imbuing the often abstract score with tenderness and tackling the extended techniques with aplomb.”

Claire Jackson, BBC Music Magazine: Concerto Choice, *****

“Peter Herresthal plays skillfully and convincingly.”
Helsingin Sanomat *****

Rolf Wallin Under City Skin / Eivind Buene Miniatures

Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta (BIS 2242)

“Norwegian contemporary music often gets overlooked… so this disc of works from two of its leading composers comes as welcome redress – not least when it highlights the playing of Norway’s leading violinist… it is Peter Herresthal, whose disc of Nørgård concertos (6/12) was such a revelation, that commands attention on this finely recorded and informatively annotated release. Warmly recommended.”
Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone

“Peter Herresthal plays both of the concertos with consummate skill, and the Arctic Philharmonic players are clearly world class.”

Dominy Clements, Music Web International

Kaija Saariaho – Graal Théâtre

Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble (March 2017)

“Performing the solo part for the eleventh time, Herresthal played with easy virtuosity, a quality he also brought to a brief encore: the sneak preview of an arrangement of the final aria from Saariaho’s opera L’Amour de loin. Scored for solo violin, strings, piccolo and harp. It was as deeply expressive as its textures were diaphanous.”
Daniel Hathaway, Cleveland Classical

Kaija Saariaho – Graal Théâtre

London Sinfonietta, Bergen International Festival (June 2017)

“Peter Herresthal’s suberb and respectful interpretation of Kaija Saariaho’s violin concerto Graal Theater with London Sinfonietta.”

Emil Bernhardt, Morgenbladet

Henrik Hellstenius and Ørjan Matre

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, BIS-2152 (April 2016)

“Herresthal has its measure, both technically and expressively… Superb sound.”
Guy Rickards, Gramophone

“Ørjan Matre, meanwhile, chose to home in on specific aspects of Herresthal’s playing for his Violin Concerto, notably the violinist’s confidence at the top of the register and his sure way with harmonics… Herresthal’s sound [is] clean and determined.”
Andrew Mellor, The Strad

“Peter Herresthal is a brilliant musician and his musicianly qualities are called on and tested by both composers. His sense of

adventure and supremacy over stimulating challenges of technique and style stand him the lineage of Paul Zukofsky and Peter Sheppard Skaerved.”
Rob Barnett, Music Web International

“Herresthal overcomes the enormous technical demands brilliantly and plays convincingly with a strong presence.”
Stefan Drees,Magazin Klassik *****

“Hellstenius' In Memoriam [Violin Concerto No. 2]… is intensely told by Herresthal… Matre’s concerto is bigger, both in orchestral and musical breadth. Herresthal provides a staggering performance, weaving an almost unearthly picture of

ethereal, spinning figures, against deep woodwinds and dark moods. The sound is colorful, rich and wonderfully satisfying.” – Maren Ørstavik, Aften Posten

Thomas Adès: Violin concerto ‘Concentric Paths’

Norwegian Radio Orchestra, BIS-8003 (February 2014)

“Not a note is wasted: this compact 20-minute concerto grips the ear throughout. Herresthal, with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, is more in touch with the concerto’s freewheeling fantasy, and the recording showcases the orchestra’s equally absorbing role.”

Andrew Clark, The Financial Times ****

“Direct, not too Romanticised tone matches the classically-leaning passacaglia structure....The Lightness of texture in the final movement draws together the dance rhythms and the soaring solo lines convincingly.”

Martin Cotton, BBC Music Magazine, May 2014****

“Herresthal and Manze bring and objective intelligence and sonic beauty [to their recording]."
Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio 3

Per Nørgård: violin concertos 'Helle Nacht' and 'Borderlines'
Stavanger Symhony Orchestra conducted by Rolf Gupta
BIS-CD-1872
Nominated for a 2012 Gramophone Award

"Herresthal plays here the reduction for chamber orchestra [of Helle Nacht] Nørgård made at his suggestion in 2002, which gives the music an extra transparency that proves even more beguiling than the original. Herresthal plays compellingly."
Guy Rickards, Gramophone June 2012

A master violinist explores two atmospheric Nordic Landscapes: "This compelling disc serves as much as a showcase for the unfussy, no-nonsense musicianship of Norwegian violinist Peter Herresthal as it does for the rarified music of Danish composerPer Nørgård. Herresthal is by turns muscular, introverted and mercurial in the first concerto. Similarly, Herresthal brings a clean Romanticism to the work's almost folk-like melodies, only to explode into assertive action for its showy pyrotechnics. His vivid, committed reading brilliantly captures the work's luminous, crepuscular world.

The 'Bordelines' of the Second Concert's title refers to the frontier territory the soloist occupies between two radically contrasting sonic worlds...traditional Western equal temperament and a strange microtonal landscape created by overtones in the cellos and basses. Herresthal is entirely convincing, wringing the last expressive possibilities out of not just the ear-tweaking world of sixth- and quartertones, but also the relentless shifting between two systems."
David Kettle, The Strad, April 2012

"This disc deserves the warmest recommendation"
Richar Whitehouse, International Record Review, March 2012

"Per Nørgård beide Violinkonzerte sind in den Händen von Peter Herresthal bestens aufgehoben. An Klangschattierungen und gestischer Plastizität bleibt er dieser faszinierenden Musik nichts schuldig. Doch an musikalischem Schattierungsreichtum, ebenso leidenschaftlich-energischer wie virtuoser Präsentation und klanglicher Tiefenschärfe übertrifft sie die bisherigen Einspielungen der hier aufgenommenen Werke.

Der Geiger Peter Herresthal erweist sich als denkbar geeigneter Interpret, um die Kostbarkeiten der Musik von Per Nørgård in Klang zu verwandeln. Mit singend-heller, schabender, kantig-kratziger oder ätherisch-schwereloser Klangeinfärbung erfüllt er die Klangtexturen mit Leben, gibt ihnen eine gestische Qualität, auf dass sie sich mit den hoch differenziert gestalteten Anteilen des Sinfonieorchesters Stavanger verbinden. Auf dessen Höhepunkt wird eine ausladende Violinkadenz freisetzt, die Peter Herresthal die Gelegenheit verschafft, Virtuosität mit klangsinnlicher, energisch zupackender Gestaltungskraft zu verbinden.

[Nørgård] dürfe sich glücklich schätzen, dass seine Werke von einem Solisten solcher künstlerischer Statur gespielt werden. Man darf hinzufügen: Nicht nur der Komponist, auch der Hörer."
Tobias W Pfleger, klassik.com, 03 July 2012

Konzerthaus Wien 26 January 2012
Thomas Adés: violin concerto 'Concentric Paths'
Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna conducted by Anu Tali
"Peter Herresthal übernommenen heiklen Solopart mit Ruhe, Sicherheit, Eleganz."
Kronen Zeitung, 29 January 2012

Thomas Adés: violin concerto 'Concentric Paths'
Melbourne Festival
Melbourne Symphony conducted by Thomas Adés
15 October 2010

"Herresthal traversed the first movement's undulations and patches of exposed freneticism with serene assurance. Equally outstanding was his delicacy in realising each of the second movement's innovative pairings, where Ades eschews rules to stunning effect, elucidating the solo violin's timbral diversity by matching it with unexpected instruments, grouped and individual."
Eamonn Kelly, The Australian, 15 October 2010

"Peter Herresthal played with an analytical precision tempered by great sensitivity to Adés complex structures and layered colourations."
Gary Anderson, Arts Hub, 18 October 2010

Olav Anton Thommessen: Bull's Eye
Oslo Philharmonic conducted by Rolf Gupta
BIS-SACD-1512
Norwegian Music Critics Award

"The performance and engineering could hardly be improved upon, Peter Herresthal is equally adept in managing the pyrotechnical demands of Bull and Thommessen."
Peter Quantrill, The Strad, May 2006

"Peter Herresthal does an excellent job;this one of the standout contemporary music releases of 2006."
David Hurwitz, Classic Today, 05 May 2006

"Cantabile is as much a showpiece for Peter Herresthal's superb musicianship as the concerto. I recommend it on the strength of the performances, the recording, and the quality of the compositions, all of which make this something of a must for the new music enthusiast."
Dominic Clements, Classical CD Review, May 2006

Arne Nordheim: Complete Violin Music
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eivind Aadland
BIS-CD-1212
Spellemann Prize

"This CD leaves an overwhelming impression of composer and soloist in complete understanding. Herresthal stamps his personality on the piece and turns Nordheims lavish gestures in to meaningful musical discourse. It would be easy to sleepwalk through this music, but Herresthal manages to keep all its strands in to the air. Herresthal portrays the character of each section [of the Partita] with panache and the electronically engineered collage in the final movement is magical."
Philip Clark, The Strad, April 2001

"Expertly played by Peter Herresthal, who displays much virtuosity throughout."
Robert Layton, BBC Music Magazine, January 2001

"The violin playing is of incredible range and has remarkable clarity and tone. The writing is not easy to execute but Herresthal is

remarkable in not only being able to play it well but also make it work for its own self expressions of excitement and motion as

well as passionate interludes. I am in awe of the music and the musicianship on this CD. Here one hears brilliant compositions by Nordheim and incredible demonstrative and devastating virtuosity by Peter Herresthal.”
Duane Harper Grant, Sequenza, January 2001