Download Press Quotes - Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir

Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello
“The Adagio (from Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence) was practically an operatic
scene: Mr. Perlman’s violin, a coy soprano, was wooed by ardent baritone lines from
Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, a charismatic cellist.”
-New York Times
“… her tone richly expressive and colorful…”-American Record Guide
“…remarkably clean and precise playing… offering, from the cello, elegant solos,
resonant pizzicato lines and wonderfully comical triple stops.”- The Strad
“… with raptly expressive repeated cello phrases, played with emotional intensity by
Thorsteinsdottir.”-LA Times
“Pianist Sergei Babayan, violinist Annie Fullard and cellist Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir
managed their roles with bravura and sensitivity....Thorsteinsdottir's lyrical warmth
adding dramatic flair and chamber-music intimacy.” (From debut at Severance Hall
playing Beethoven “Triple” concerto) -Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Often the piece seems to want to break free of its piano quartet restraints and become a
cello concerto; Thorsteinsdottir was certainly up to the task.” – Boston Musical
Intelligencer
“Dvorak seemed to favor the cello and gave Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir wonderful unctuous
melodies to perform, which she did beautifully.” –Times Union (Albany)
“… a white hot performance of Bedrich Smetana’s piano trio in G minor…
“The second triumph of the evening came…when Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin; Saeunn
Thorsteinsdottir, cello; Tania Tachkova, piano, tore into the fierce beauty of Smetana’s
Trio in G minor with abandon.
The presto movement is a study in contrasts: High-energy dance rhythms suddenly
interrupted by achingly beautiful lyricism. As such, it requires both energy and respose,
both strong attack and lovely tone. It received all that in abundance.” – Sarasota Tribune
“Next was Daníel Bjarnason’s Bow to String (2010) featuring cellist Sæunn
Thorsteinsdóttir, a piece from the album Processions on Icelandic record label/collective
Bedroom Community. The three-part work, written specifically for Thorsteinsdóttir who
approached Bjarnason with the request, originally began as a studio composition for solo
cello (with up to 60 or 70 layers of cello sounds in the first movement alone). Performing
Bowing To String with an orchestra freed Thorsteinsdóttir from having to do it all
herself, instead showcasing her deftness, range, charisma, and incredible sensitivity to the
sounds of her instrument on stage.” - I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
“Thorsteinsdóttir adeptly captured the unearthly quality of sound that Bjarnason looked
for, and played with an introverted sensibility that drew audiences into her sound world.”
www.saeunn.com
Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello
- New Music Toronto
“Cellist Saeunn Thorsteinsdóttir reveals full expressionist control of her instrument watch for her!” - Concertonet.com
“From the first note of the opening piece it was clear, that Sæunn is a preeminent cellist.
Not only was each and every tone clear and beautifully formed, but the interpretation was
also enjoyably free, while still being stylistic and true to the spirit of the composer.
Most of the time Sæunn played with her eyes closed. She obviously felt the music so
strongly, that it almost seemed that she would not be on the stage at all, but in some
totally different world. That made it easy for the listener to fly away with her.
The overgrown self-importance of an artist should not be in the leading role of a
performance, but the music, and in this concert, the music really was.
...The piece (Per Slava) is mostly played with major and minor second intervals that
slowly create a magnificant web of tones which Sæunn accomplished perfectly.
Same can be said about the majestic Sonata for Solo Cello, Op 8 of the Hungarian
composer Zoltán Kodály, which has both amazing verses and which consitutes significant
technical requirements for the cellist. The Sonate makes demands on the listeners as well,
and people must listen to it more than once in order to truly take it in - and the Sonate
grows during every listening. Therefore it can be said, that it was a bit bold of Sæunn to
have it as the last piece in her debut concert, but it did succeed in every way. The Sonate
was geniously performed; the spirit of the music was exactly as it should be and the
technical matters were mastered.
We can safely welcome Sæunn into the front row of Icelandic musicians.” Morgunblaðið: The Morning Paper (Iceland) (2007)
www.saeunn.com