Jennifer Pike raises level of Tchaikovsky concert with her lyricism… The presence of Jennifer Pike lifted the whole thing up to a different level. She’s such a songstress of the violin…from the first time she played the main theme I felt the sheer lyricism of her playing winning me over. She seemed to affect the orchestra, too, who found a big sense of uplift in the tuttis and some hurdy-gurdy fun in the finale, and I loved the personal touches that she brought. She played the Canzonetta, for example, with lots of slurs and elisions between the notes – a small touch which actually made a big difference, making her sound much more distinctively Russian and less British – and her finale ran a huge gamut of styles, from lively to skittish to soulful, and all calling points in between. To hear one top class violinist in a weekend is a delight, but to hear two is a real privilege.