An absolutely enchanting album by a promising young violinist, to be listened to without moderation !

Intimate and inward-looking playing perfectly suits a memorable recital programme…

Through Incantation, the violin sings again in an unfurling of seemingly contradictory emotions which are all centered around melancholy…

Everyone will recognize the obvious: Virgil Boutellis-Taft, for this second disc, confirms that he is an immense violinist. He brings together seven pieces by composers from different eras, cultures and climates and makes them vibrate, snicker, meditate and pray with a quivering lyricism. If incantation there is, song and mystery come from the virtuoso and moving playing of the young French soloist who combines warmth and elegance, rigor and commitment, momentum and concentration…

A lot of emotional intensity but also sobriety in the emotions…

It is a powerful and yet very warm and velvety sound that Virgil Boutellis-Taft draws from his Montagnana violin. And when I initially mentioned the other usual virtuoso works – the pieces of music chosen here are no less virtuoso, but in a different way!

The opening number, Kol Nidrei… has a beautifully lyrical character, and Boutellis-Taft invests it with much personality… The soloist creates a refreshing new look at an old favorite. And so it goes, with Boutellis-Taft endowing each work with much expressive distinction and beauty…

The enchanting violin of Virgil Boutellis-Taft (a Domenico Montagnana Venice 1742) summons feelings and Slavic themes in a touching dialogue with the orchestra brilliantly conducted by Jac van Steen…

A journey that dares to impose reflection and a calm slowness in a world more concerned with movement and immediacy …

The French violinist Virgil Boutellis-Taft’s playing impresses with a great sound and a lot of expression, without any exaggeration. Thus, the intensity of his playing is never endangering the most thoughtful and intimate character of the pieces. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Jac van Steen are in total harmony with the soloist and provide a tasteful accompaniment…

The violinist shows how well-versed he is in patiently building the music into a state of anxiety and heartbreak: Full of vitality and stress, Virgil Boutellis-Taft seems to have the most unabashed freedom playing Tomaso Antonio Vitali. M. Boutellis-Taft never overstates the urgency of the text, and he comforts within a wall of cautious tentativeness…

Virgil Boutellis-Taft unveils the incantatory powers of his violin. In a program where music reveals its magnetic and bewitching powers, this Aparté CD reveals the work of a virtuoso who transforms this hour of listening into an instant of pure reverie…

These works that are virtually contemporary charm us through their lyricism, and Virgil Boutellis-Taft lacks neither lyricism nor poetry. This is a beautiful recording, demanding and interiorized – a true favorite…

Young French violinist Virgil Boutellis-Taft, whose been described by critics as an “outstanding violinist” is such a musician…

Contrasts which also testify to the intense musicality of the protagonist: the young French violinist Virgil Boutellis-Taft, who with his evocative playing opens up a real world of wonder making a strong impression…

They interpret with infinite sensitivity, virtuosity, perfect tempo and remarkable sonority this extraordinary program which represents a magnificent journey covering a century “between East and West”…

The violinist Virgil Boutellis-Taft combines impeccable sound with an impressive virtuosity flying over all the unbounded difficulties that are to be found in these scores …. To put it briefly, a highly successful trip between East and West!

Virgil Boutellis-Taft is an interesting musical personality. Lovely sonority, beautiful imagination in the playing of timbres, and great precision, which in no way excludes a captivating expressivity, especially in the “oriental” pieces but also in Debussy.

Intense, brilliant, sumptuous sonority over the whole range of the violin of Virgil Boutellis-Taft, very “into the string”, magnified by a very sure bow …

Proof that with a bow you can get thrills from Johann Sebastian Bach…

Boutellis-Taft interprets [Bloch] with forceful vigor… impressive sound effects… In Janacek’s Sonata… he delights the audience with his dexterity, spirit, and great sensitivity… In the Debussy Sonata…the violin is insolent and exotic… a finely nuanced playing, with bright flashes of humor and virtuosity…

He played with great brio – ease of the bow, impeccable left hand and such musical intelligence … we can only praise, in addition to the professionalism of the violinist, his fabulous energy, which held us spellbound from the beginning to the end…

A captivated and delighted audience, brilliant and celestial music performed by a violinist of fiery temperament, intense bow, shimmering colors, playing of admirable transparency, radiant with passion, exceptional talents. Slavic lyricism has truly been honored!

Words fail me…such control, sensitivity, nuances!… it was exceptional…the virtuosity and the generosity…There was also the body choreography, the bow hairs soared, even the score flew from its stand, such the strength, the commitment, the almost savage bowing and the expressivity of the young violinist possessed the work of Enesco.
A strange impression, that of experiencing a rare moment with Virgil Boutellis-Taft, already accustomed to excellence…