Reviews
Nurit Pacht in the Press
“Laureate of the Tibor Varga Competition a few years ago, the Israeli violinist Nurit Pacht, possesses, at age twenty four, the stuff of the greatest violinists of the Century. Her rich and velvety sound, her presence both magnetic and internalized, the way she gives each note its exact expressive thrust, created wonders in the Chausson Concerto. A performance of unforgettable intensity, where the virtuosity of the American pianist John Blacklow and the refined colors of the Prometeo String Quartet of Italy were also in their element.”
Luca Sabatini in Le Journal de Geneve
“Ms. Pacht and her pianist, John Blacklow, delivered a program of Beethoven, Ravel and Bruch that I expect to lodge in my memory as the sort of “I was there” encounter with an extraordinary talent at the beginning of major things. An eye-pleasing figure of enormous poise and naturalness, Ms. Pacht and her excellent accompanist played with enormous technical aplomb, a full palette of colors and, above all, the sort of sheer personality that has all but disappeared in this age of robotic young virtuosos.”
Charles Michener in The New York Observer
“Already, in its first year, the Mostra has revealed a great artist: this twenty-four year old Israeli-American named Nurit Pacht mesmerized the audience. The blonde and feline Nurit was all fire for the dark Trio of Shostakovich, and all ice to bring to the sublime the Concerto of Chausson with the American pianist John Blacklow and the Quartetto Prometeo.”
Sophie Gherardi in Le Monde
“ The highly gifted violinist Nurit Pacht…had already stamped her individuality on the concert in Faure’s A major Sonata, where she and Blacklow brought an effortless flow to the music. They surpassed themselves in a soaring account of Ravel’s G major Sonata. Pacht’s sultry, bittersweet playing of the blues movement confirmed that hers is a special artistry.”
John Allison, in London Times
“ Her Faure (the First Sonata in A major of 1875) was memorable for its sweet, focused sound and sense of musical structure… by the end of the fourth movement it was clear that this young artist is of exceptional caliber. This view was confirmed by a bitingly sardonic Blues in her Ravel Sonata in G minor and by the depth of vision with which she surveyed the closing perpetuum mobile."
Paul Cutts in Strad Magazine
“ The audience listened with great warmth and afterwards exploded in an applause which lasted for entire minutes after Nurit Pacht (violinist), Isolde Hayer (cellist) and John Blacklow (pianist) performed the trio of Shostakovich with a power which is incredible for their young age.”
Antonella Federici in Il Gazzettino
“Nurit Pacht’s sound is as assertive as her temperament is charismatic. She grabs the music with an extraordinary intensity which gives each note its proper expressive weight. When she performs Bloch’s Nigun, she delights her audience, but she also knows how to sing with poetry and mystery in Bartok’s Rumanian Dances and to swing with humor and elegance in Gershwin’s Three Preludes transcribed by Heifetz.”
Tristan Cerf in Le Temps (Switzerland)
“Nurit Pacht's violin playing created a seductive haze. Others put the players individually in the spotlight. In that regard, Ms. Pacht may have had the best part of the bargain: the violin writing in "Land of the Dead," "Warda's Whorehouse" and several of the other works were only a few steps to the left of Kreisler, and she played them entirely in that spirit.”
Allan Kozzin in New York Times
"...in this program without orchestra, only an absolutely brilliant violinst - Nurit Pacht - appears. What virtuosity! What enchantment! What talent!"
Enrique Herreras in El Mercantil Valenciano
“…she clearly has instrumental technique to burn, and temperament to equal her dexterity…”
Bruce Carr in Des Moines Register
“Non è solo un fatto di suggestione: la Chaconne di Bach messa a confronto con alcuni dei Freeman Etudes di John Cage oppure gli interludi giocosi di Satie e di Lou Harrison. Non è solo l'occasione per un esercizio di straordinaria bravura della violinista Nurit Pacht, bella e affascinate. Sono la sostanza stessa, i confini e il cuore, dell'intero spettacolo.”
Gianfranco Capitta in Il Manifesto
Mining the Meaning in the Music
“Violinist Nurit Pacht was the visiting virtuoso in Tchaikovsky's D Major Violin Concerto, composed concurrently with the Fourth Symphony. Pacht was sensitive and engaging from the first note. Her style combined remarkable evenness of tone and empathy with a dramatic, somewhat Terpsichorean approach to phrasing. This dance quality paid off wonderfully in the exploration of the second subject of the first movement, that tricky moment when it is all too easy to mince.
At the same time, Pacht's pacing and dynamic punctuation wore toe shoes.
A radiance in her tone and emotional indulgence bore strong evidence of the Israeli tradition. On the other hand, Pacht's musical intelligence gave her playing an entirely individual character, whether in the collective tumult of the first cadenza, the selfless lamentations of the canzonetta, or the artless ebullience of the finale. At last, here is a young hotshot capable of getting past all of those notes at the end and, no matter how fast the composer is requiring her to play, simply showing us the meaning.”
Thomas Goss in San Franciso Classical Voice
“Nurit Pacht (violin) was partnered by Konstantin Lifschitz. Matyas Seiber's sonata of 1960 opened the concert strongly, and Two (not very) Small Pieces by Webern's pupil Leopold Spinner (1934) do not merit their oblivion. Hans Gal's 1920 Sonata is tonal and richly chromatic, and Peter Gellhorn's Intermezzo was played in the presence of its spry 89 year old composer. This is a valuable violin/piano duo partnership - Pacht & Lifschitz should be invited to return as soon as possible.”
Peter Grahame Woolf in Classical London
“The place to be Sunday afternoon was One World Theatre for the ardent concert given by Nurit Pacht, the violinist of Israeli parentage who, it turns out, grew up in Houston. Pacht glided through Mozart's Sonata in E minor, but mesmerized the audience with her glistening, electric Ravel Sonata. Her Beethoven Sonata No. 3 demonstrated the proper heroics, but the crowd was wowed by bravura technique in "Carmen Fantasy" by Sarasate. The theater is looking and sounding better; Pacht should return often.”
Michael Barnes in Austin American-Statesman
The solo program, "As I Was Saying…” included an intriguing duet between Mr. Jones and Nurit Pacht, an attractive violinist in a peacock green strapless evening dress, who not only played the Bach Chaconne with grace but did it while trailing across the stage after Mr. Jones.
Jean Battey Lewis in The Washington Time