Chloë Hanslip
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Classical Source 17 May 2010
Hanslip is a player in the ‘old souls’ category, an artist of exceptional musicianship, with a wisdom and grace beyond her years.
(Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Slatkin, PROKOFIEV VC No 2: Royal Festival Hall 17 May 2010)

Yorkshire Post, May 2010 | David Denton
Philip Glass's minimalist Violin Concerto is certainly an acquired taste, but put in the hands of the phenomenal Chloe Hanslip, and its haunting quality is irresistible. Still only 22 she has a staggering technique that dealt easily with the mercurial passages, her intonation so exact,and energy levels digging her deep into her violin when adding to orchestral tutti passages, though a few less strings players would have achieved a better balance.

LEEDS INTERNATIONAL CONCERT SEASON, LEEDS, MOSCOW STATE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, PAVEL KOGAN, GLASS VIOLIN CONCERTO 8th May 2010

Gramophone Nov 2009 | J. Warrack
"Chloe Hanslip brings her distinctive beauty of tone and virtuosity to Hubay"

BBC Music Magazine November 2009 | Julian Haylock
"......Hanslip's radiant artistry and phrasal sensitivity is highly seductive..... when Hanslip enters with the langerous second theme, counterpointed by sighing cellos, such is her mastery of line, deeply-felt sincerity and glorious tonal opulence that she could easily be mistaken for Itzhak Perlman at his mid-1970's peak"

Audiophile Audition 13.12.2009 | Gary Lemco
"...certainly a charming vehicle for the young Chloe Hanslip."
[New recording of Jenö Hubay's Violin Concerti]

Yorkshire Post 27.11.2009 | David Lenton
The audiance were left in no doubt that Chloe Hanslip is he finest and most exciting young violinist this country has ever produced.

BBC Music Magazine, October 2009 | Julian Haylock
‘Chloë Hanslip’s radiant artistry and phrasal sensitivity is highly seductive’
[New recording of Jenö Hubay's Violin Concerti]

David's Review Corner, September 2009 | David Denton
[...] her virtuosity is immense [...] the depth of musicianship [...] is striking. [...] the most honeyed tone, silvery brilliance and pianissimos of feather-like delicacy. [New recording of Jenö Hubay's Violin Concerti]

SFCV.org, 9.2.2009 | Michelle Dulak Thomson
[San Francisco] Hanslip and Wass are two names worth remembering. [...] Her sound is intense and strikingly powerful, her vibrato fast, wide-ish, and inclined to be just a little over the note. She also uses nonvibrato tone a great deal. She has a taste for big gestures and thrilling climaxes, but, unlike some of her less savvy contemporaries, she doesn’t play that way all the time. I was impressed by her willingness to play on a small scale when it was appropriate, given the amount of sound she was capable of putting out.

Cincinnati Inquirer, 17.11.2008 | Janelle Gelfand
[...] her playing in the brilliant scherzo was full of impressive feats, and she tackled it fearlessly. [...] she soared into the stratosphere with great beauty. [Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 in Cincinnati]

The Mail on Sunday, 19.10.2008 | David Mellor
Finally, the outstanding British violinist Chloë Hanslip has now reached the grand old age of 20, and celebrates it with a terrific recital of music by the 19th Century Italian virtuoso Antonio Bazzini. Most of us only know his Dance of the Goblins, but the rest of this 71-minute CD is equally joyous [8.570800].

Classic fm, October 2008 | Jessica Duchen
*****
[…] in this gem of a disc Hanslipresuscitates Bazzini at his best. She delivers his Mediterranean glamour with a fabulous impression of ease and songfulness, besides a devil-may-care sense of relish which increases as the technical demands escalate. A disc for Violin fans to adore.

Gramophone, October 2008 | Duncan Druce
Chloë Hanslip demonstrates most persuasively that, even amont his violin showpieces [Bazzini], it isn’t a one-off. […] Hanslip certainly has the confidence and technique for this repertoire: more importantly, she’s able to engage with each piece, bringing out its particular expressive character. […] It’s lovely violin-playing!

BBC Music Magazin, October 2008 | Martin Cotton
**** […] she’s always rhythmically alert, whether in the rubato in the slower pieces, ort he control of the cascades of notes in the faster ones. Her tone and phrasing are mostly immaculate, finely caught by the spacious recording.

El Paso Times, 19.10.2008 |Felipa Solis
Violin sensation Chloe Hanslip, 21, came to El Paso to perform the demanding Violin Concerto in D major, by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, following an engagement on Tuesday for Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in London. Hanslip worked hand-in-hand with the violin section and concertmaster Lawrence Gibson, bringing the intricate concerto to life -- and the audience to its feet.

musicke.blogspot.com, 14.10.2008 | Harry Collier
The CD [Bazzini recording] was very ably played by Chloe Hanslip, who had all the necessary virtuosity for this technically challenging music, as well as a lightness of touch that suits Bazzini well. [...] I'll keep this Bazzini CD handy; a good disc to put on when one wants to be dazzled and entertained.

HNA, 8.10.2008 | Werner Fritsch
[Performing Violin Concerto No. 2 by Paganini] With solemn intensity and a rapturous sweet sound, she emphasized the singing main theme, consistently turning to the orchestra during the performance as if she wanted to draw them into this expresive undertow. Such a musician cannot simply play the virtuoso excesses of these three movements like an etude. No, with the same urgency and determination she hurled herself into a virtuoso vortex of sautillé bowing, double stops, glissandi and demonic runs. Rightly there was a huge ovation and as a result, the splendid Final Variation of John Corigliano's 'Red Violin Caprice' as an encore.

The Times, September 2008
Hanslip’s passion and technical bravura are palpable and exciting. Fiery glissandi, tremulous multi-stopping: the fireworks never stop.

Virginia Daily Press, 25.5.2008 | Raymond Jones
Naxos is certainly not shirking from the Romantic violin repertoire. The two concertos by 19th century French composer Benjamin Godard are showcased in a performance by young British virtuoso Chloe Hanslip with the serviceable Slovak State Philharmonic under Kirk Trevor. [...] Hanslip is a brilliant new name on the violin scene.

tokafi.com, 20.3.2008 | Tobias Fischer
It is the way the very first seconds grab your attention with monolithic minor chords and Hanslip’s determined strokes, then flow into rolling string dots and a fluent melodic line which searches for sweetness in a space of despair, that sucks you in right away and never lets go. [Godard recording]

PioeneerLocal.com, February 28, 2008 | Dorothy Andries
Powerful violinist graces Rising Stars at Ravinia Festival[...] Chloë Hanslip [...] certainly lived up to her billing. [...] Hanslip impressed us immediately, attacking the work's [Schulhoff Sonata No. 2] opening passages with vigor. She and pianist Caspar Frantz presented a powerful combination of virtuoso technique and formidable musicianship. They quickly proved that their power was backed by a fierce lyricism.

The Times, 1.2.2008 | Geoff Brown
CD Review: Benjamin Godard concertos

Listen to her muscular chords at the start of the second concerto, or the open, generous tone displayed in its slow movement; just what the music needs. And all her solo sprints are exhilarating. Glissando dashes, double, triple and quadruple stopping - nothing gives her pause.

Jyllands-posten | 21 January, 2008
5 stars out of 6
“It sometimes happens that a promoter engages a young artist, whose market-value has risen by the time she appears to fulfill her contract. In this instance, her name is Chloë Hanslip and she is a British classical violinist who only recently took leave of her teenage years. She is a sweet, serious girl, who in her home has almost reached the top of the top 10. That she can do more than that was evident in the two concerts with Odense Symfoniorkester, who in this case is the lucky – or rather – clever promoter. 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"

Fyens Stiftstidende | 19 January, 2008
 ”And then she arrived! 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!”

Edinburgh Evening News | 19 November, 2007
Chloe Hanslip offered a musically thoughtful interpretation, particularly in the Adagio, when she caught the mood of Mozart's melodic line with delicately turned nuances andmeticulous attention to matters of the fines detail. She kept the concluding Rondo from turning into the fast romp it all too frequently can become, and her approach to the central G minor/major episode was also a model of grace and restraint. [Mozart Violin Concerto]

Aberdeen Press and Journal | 16 November 2007
She was totally in control, playing like a capped little volcano just raring to explode. We got a taste of that hyper brilliant sound and lava hot fury during the cadenza in the first movement and again just before the finale. [Mozart Violin Concerto]

Mid Sussex Times | 15 November, 2007
At 19 Chloe Hanslip is one of our most gifted young soloists, and in a flame red dress that matched her vibrancy [...] She gave a memorable display of musicianship vividly revealing all the themes and range of dynamics in the testing allegro which in the early years of the work's life was considered too difficult to play. [...] It was powered forward by Hanslip who seemed to express the music through her whole body, which is perhaps why she communicates it so well. [Beethoven Violinconcerto]

Classical Source, November 2007 | 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.

Tallahassee Democrat, September 24, 2007 | Steve Hicken
[...] Hanslip has a big, bright sound that she almost always had control over. [...] Everything came together in a performance that was virtually the definition of how an artwork whose surface is forbidding, dark and at times ugly, can hold great expressive power and beauty. Both violinist and pianist were harsh and sardonic where called for and sweepingly poetic in the passages where that quality was needed. This was a wonderful, haunting performance.

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. ****"
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.