The Independent, 30 April 2003

By ROBERT MAYCOCK

Few are the soloists who give anniversary concerts in their early thirties, and even fewer those who have such a distinctive profile by that age. Quite apart from her skills and her astonishing tonal refinement, Midori is the only front-line artist in my experience to put her education and outreach projects at the top of her programme biography, in front of the prestige appearances that her colleagues in this generally narcissistic profession shout about first. ...

Midori brings some of the attitudes of a chamber-music player to her relationship with the orchestra. Mozart's Third Violin Concerto went at a relaxed pace but was all about quick-spirited responses and interactions with a half-size string section. Extremely subtle shading and inflection took the level down to whispers and half-lights, which would have seemed precious, had the phrasing and the whole atmosphere not been so concentrated and intense. For all the quietness, vigour was still a big feature and the main solo display section rose to a robust climax. ...

The Elgar concerto brought together the chamber-like intimacy and the clear sense of direction, and gave the work real international class. Local pride is all very well, but Elgar is not only about Englishness, and the Violin Concerto, his most cosmopolitan major work, seems his masterpiece by miles when played like this, with the focus on the big picture. Midori struck a more forceful attitude when appropriate, but it was the fusion of fine detail with fierce concentration - even when the finale went so quiet that it almost evaporated - that extended from the soloist to the orchestra, which took on an unusual delicacy, and transformed the experience of the music.