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"CLASSICAL ACT OF THE DECADE: Stephanie
Chase delivers, with the Louisville Orchestra, a sensational
account of Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto. The Elgar is
among a handful of the most demanding works in the standard
concerto repertoire, and Chase's account takes a challenge and
turns it into a privilege" –
Courier-Journal,
December 2009
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“The fine violinist Stephanie
Chase was an elegant soloist" – New York Times, November
2009
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"One of the most respected
classical violinists in the world" – Woman Around Town,
November 2009
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"Stephanie Chase plays the
bejabbers out of Zigeunerweisen, earning a well-deserved
(and unsexing) "Bravo!" at the end from an audience member who
just couldn't help himself." -
Classical Net Review, December 2009
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“One of the violin greats of our
era” – Newhouse Newspapers
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“Stephanie Chase has a great sense
of style, matchless technique and flawless intonation” – BBC
Music Magazine
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“The soloist was the superb
violinist Stephanie Chase, who played with elegance, dexterity,
rhythmic vitality and great imagination. This was a Classical
performance in the best sense: clear-headed, straightforward,
intelligent” – Boston Globe
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“Rich, passionate tone, dead-true
intonation throughout, and virtuosity galore” – Gramophone
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"…one of the twenty most
outstanding performances in the (Beethoven Violin Concerto's)
recording history” – ‘Beethoven: Violin Concerto,’ Cambridge
University Press
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“...a deeply poetic account of the
(Sibelius) Concerto by Stephanie Chase, (who) poured out the
impassioned northern lyricism on a spacious scale, holding
enough throbbing tone and gutsy bravura in reserve for the
extroverted passages” – Chicago Tribune
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“A supreme musical performer whose
complete virtuosity enables her to ennoble everything she
plays.” – Byron Belt, Newhouse Newspapers
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“A Record to Die For” -
Stereophile
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“Refreshingly stylish…(Chase)
“makes each work a new musical journey, riveting the audience’s
attention from beginning to end” - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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“Stephanie Chase is making her
name on sheer artistry … (no violinist) plays more truly or
musically than Chase” – San Francisco Chronicle
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“The American violinist conquered
the work’s many technical hurdles as authoritatively as she
illuminated its generous lyric outpourings” – Los Angeles
Times
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“She played always with firm
control, a fine sense of the music’s subtle shadings and above
all the vigor and the large gestures it often demands" –
Washington Post
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“Chase’s interpretation of
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto was one of the best I have
ever heard, live or recorded. ..She is like a great actress,
with such presence that by speaking softly, she can make the
audience hang on every syllable...The cadenzas were simply
stupendous, both in composition and execution” – Portland
Press Herald
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"...with the apparent ease that
accompanies great virtuosity..... Stephanie, Beethoven and the
orchestra, striving toward Truth celebrate the highest image of
the human." - Gleanings and Giftings by H.D. Wagener
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“Stephanie Chase played with fire,
sensitivity, impeccable intonation, and a wonderfully steady and
flexible bow arm that made the violin part sound like a vocal
line” – Boston Globe
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"These performances are greatly
helped by Chase's technical control, beautiful sound, rhythmic
flexibility, unerring taste, and natural stylistic affinity" –
Strings Magazine
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“Chase deserves the acclaim… she
gave an unaffected, beautiful performance with a variety and
clarity of tone that projected effortlessly. It commanded the
normally violin-absorbent hall” - San Francisco Chronicle
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“This showpiece (Tchaikovsky
Concerto) is rarely performed as beautifully as it was by
Stephanie Chase. Chase found ways to transcend the score (and)
her liberties were poignant and meaningful. Not extroverted, and
technically flawless, Chase’s playing often bordered on
recklessness and passionate abandon” - The Tennessean
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"CHASE, UN ARCHETTO DE TRIONFO"
("Chase, A Triumphant Bow" - Headline of review) - La
Provincia, Pavia, Italy
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“Exceptional security of technique
and bow control, married to a supreme inner radiance” –
Performance Today, National Public Radio
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“Chase’s playing was sweet and
exquisite” - Chicago Tribune
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“Her performance of the Haydn
Concerto was a rare moment in which a soloist’s manner of
playing seemed destined for that particular style and type of
music. The brightness of her sound, its projection into the
hall, and the stylish handling of elegant but highly ornate
music fit the Haydn work perfectly” - Houston Chronicle
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“A warm and virtuosic performance
by the outstanding artist Stephanie Chase” - Seattle Times
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“A stunning violinist...Chase
nailed (Glazunov's Concerto) —she performed with great
concentration, power and expression. A splendid reading” -
Edmonton Journal
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“I’ve never thought of Edward
Elgar’s Violin Concerto as an especially scintillating
(programming) choice. But then I’d never heard Stephanie Chase’s
way with his music. Yesterday she played the concerto. No, let
me correct that. As Rachmaninoff famously described Vladimir
Horowitz’s account of his Third Piano Concerto, she swallowed it
whole. Collaborating with Uriel Segal in one of the
repertoire’s biggest, most demanding works, Chase turned in an
account that was equally gigantic. This was an explosive,
1,200-horsepower performance, and if you think I’ve succumbed to
end-of-season giddiness—well, you’d best be in the Brown Theatre
tomorrow night to hear for yourselves...Chase, whose memory for
scoring detail was remarkable, understood how to apply degrees
of portamento and rubato, or how to make an upbow dynamic sound
completely different from its downbow counterpart. Her playing
matched the scale and soul of the music, not approximately, but
precisely.” - Courier-Journal (Louisville)