Press

  • “Mr Rachlin is not only a violinist of international repute but also a well-regarded orchestral conductor. Whether directing an ensemble of five or ninety-five, Rachlin exerts a discernible influence on every performance he gives. Nobody does the job like Julian Rachlin.”
    The Berkshire Edge, 2016
  • “Julian Rachlin has matured from a child prodigy into an artist of exceptional strength and individuality. Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto provided him with the ideal vehicle to demonstrate not only his virtuosity, but his intellectual rigour, passionate commitment, and deep empathy. In the first movement, his playing had all the creepy menace of a prophet’s soliloquy, with Gatti keeping the tension behind him at an almost unbearable pitch. The scherzo had a snarling quality, while the Passacaglia rose up like an implacable and massive fortress.”
    Ottawa Citizen, 2016
  • “Rachlin eased his way into the opening movement with playing that was almost painful in its muted restraint, over the humid, brooding chords of the orchestra; the second movement then uncurled into some of the most biting fierce Shostakovich playing I can remember hearing. And when Rachlin got going into the final cadenza, he became a wild thing – a kind of inspired mad scientist in a monologue both profound and terrifying – until the orchestra finally chimed in with ferocious clashes of regretful understanding.”
    Washington Post, 2016
  • “Perhaps the brightest light in New York’s serious musical life is the visiting orchestras series at Carnegie Hall. This evening’s performance of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.1 by Julian Rachlin – its vision, its fury, and its technical transcendence – surpasses any other reading of the work, including the two formidable recordings of David Oistrakh. Maestro Gatti provided a sympathetic, dramatically compelling accompaniment brilliantly executed by the obviously inspired Orchestre National de France.”
    Classical Voice, 2016
  • “There was much energy and beauty in Julian Rachlin’s interpretation of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2, in which he delivered a distinctive exegesis of this familiar piece. Rachlin treated this score as a big-boned, established, quasi-Romantic warhorse. His playing in the outer movements was aggressive in the best sense of the word, commanding but flexible and mighty of tone. And Rachlin’s account of the slow middle movement was mesmeric, marked by elegance of phrasing and sweet, subtle lyricism.”
    The Arts Fuse, 2015
  • “Rachlin is the real thing, a virtuoso with heart and a champion’s bearing.”
    The Los Angeles Times, 1994