" Each item
here deserved its own star-rating, from the indisputable nul points of
[name of British composer omitted!!]'s abysmal new piece, to the five of
Jennifer Pike’s Saint-Säens Introduction and Rondo capriccioso.....Pike’s
Saint-Säens revealed a truly engaging musicality, and a determination
to make even a shamelessly virtuosic showpiece very much her own. Her playing
had a nimble thoughtfulness about it, and a shy but assured sense of style."
Hilary Finch, The Times, 9 March 2006 (Barbican Hall, BBC SO)
"...this was
the gem as young violinist Jennifer Pike, just coming into her late teens, gave
a warm performance of Bruch's First Violin Concerto that was richly spacious and
unashamedly expressive with some lovely, mature playing in the slow
movement....here is yet another young violinist superbly equipped for a golden
future." Michael Tumelty, Glasgow Herald, 29 October 2007 (Glasgow City
Halls, BBC Scottish SO)
"Her
performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto N° 3 in G major was a model of
limpidity allied to the highest technical elegance and competence. Throughout
last night’s performance, Miss Pike enchanted us with her perception of this,
the most luminous of Mozart’s violin concertos. And the orchestra responded in
like manner. But that is one of the characteristics of this remarkable artist.
She has the gift of getting whoever she is performing with to raise their game."
John Sidgwick, Culture
Kiosque, 25 September 2007 (Mostly Mozart Festival, Barbican Hall, Academy of St
Martin in the Fields)
"She plays
with quiet confidence, care and great intelligence. Her intonation was
remarkably true, and her phrasing liquid and seamless....when you have such
flawless bow technique, long smooth phrasing is a given, and every lift of the
bow had meaning. This was a wonderful performance." Andrea Rea, Belfast
News Letter, 14 August 2007 (Mozart Concerto No 5 in A, Ulster Orchestra,
BBC Invitation Concerts, Londonderry)
"The most
simply spectacular of the players ... equipped at 16 with phenomenal tuning,
pace, control of timbre and range of dynamics, she brought the house down with
Saint-Saëns' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso." Robert Maycock,
The Independent, 10 March 2006 (Barbican Hall, BBC SO)
"The 16 year
old Pike showed how she could hold an audience spellbound. It was fitting that
her perfectly tuned, maturely paced performance (which didn't make heavy weather
of its virtuosity) immediately preceded Tasmin's Little's Elgar Violin Concerto:
if Little has a logical successor, then Pike surely is it." The Strad,
May 2006 (Saint-Saens, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Barbican Hall, BBC
SO)
"An
entrancing performance of the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso Op. 28
by Camille Saint-Saëns. It had everything. Dazzling virtuosity enhanced at
every turn by inspired musicality." John Sidgwick, Culture Kiosque, 16
March 2006
"It's
encouraging, in these days when emerging artists can so easily find themselves
pushed and over-hyped into an early burnout, to find violinist Jennifer Pike
taking the slow and careful route to stardom. Only now, a week after her 16th
birthday, has she felt ready to face the toughest and most discriminating
audience of all, that of London's Wigmore Hall. But it was worth the wait. Pike's
growing maturity as an artist was immediately apparent." Matthew
Rye,The Daily Telegraph - 19 November 2005
“There
could be no better way to open a three-concert day devoted to the violin than
a solo from Britain's foremost young fiddler: the 15-year-old Jennifer Pike
stepped on to the platform and delivered the prelude (and gavotte en rondeau)
from Bach's Third Partita with perfect poise and assurance, her instrument
sounding clear and strong." The
Independent, 2 August 2005 (BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall)
“The
most rewarding part of the whole five-hour venture came in the first five
minutes, when 15-year-old Jennifer Pike played a pair of movements from Bach's
solo Partita No 3 with great subtlety and composure.” The Daily Telegraph, 1 August 2005
(BBC Proms, Royal
Albert Hall)
"The
real zing was located elsewhere: in 15-year-old Jennifer Pike, confidently
launching the afternoon Prom with her solo Bach." The
Times, 2 August 2005 (BBC
Proms, Royal Albert Hall)
"She was cool, accomplished way beyond her years,
wonderfully at ease and super talented on her violin....a virtuoso of the
highest order. Father and daughter received a terrific reception from a packed
house. Indeed, so many people turned up that some had to be turned away. It was
an agreeable but testing programme starting with Debussy's colourful Sonata in G
minor and then taking in James Macmillan, Dvorak and Saint-Saens, in all of
which the young violinist's brilliant technique and musical expressiveness shone
through. As a bonus for the audience, she has no distracting facial mannerisms
as she plays, a habit which can often detract from a fine soloist's performance.
Her integrity and assurance were ever present. Indeed, she quite overwhelmed one
with her brilliance, leaving one with a deep sense of satisfaction." Selena
O'Donnell, Chester Chronicle Newspapers, 6 August 2004 (Chester Festival)
“Perfection from
Pike….the high spot of the evening was Jennifer Pike’s performance of the
Bruch violin concerto. She played it as if it had been composed yesterday,
fiery, powerful playing in the prelude and a sense of deepening intensity in
the adagio, followed by a firework finale. Her tone was matchless and her
technique magnificent: but the exciting thing was the individual musical mind
she brought to it. With Boyd’s help [the conductor], she made a hackneyed
piece sound fresh - and for a 14-year-old, that points to an extraordinary
future.” Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News 16 February 2004
(Bridgewater Hall)
"Jennifer's musical magic.....left an enthralled
audience spellbound with a stunning performance in Crewe. Talented 13 year old
Jennifer Pike entranced music lovers when she played Mozart's Violin Concerto No
4......a dazzling performance." Community News, November 2003.
"From the outset, the beautiful melody being
sustained with a veteran's ease, her playing had astonishing tonal variety, was
always firm and full-bodied whether in the instrument's lower, middle or higher
registers and everything accurately pitched on a sixpence. It was
admirable, even frightening, for one so young and she knew all about
interpretation." (Prokofiev Violin Concerto No 1 in D, cond. Mark Elder). Bernard
Lee, Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 4 July 2003.
"Jennifer Pike has one principal advantage over many
brilliant child musicians...she is extremely musical. No peacock display,
no redundant pyrotechnics or acrobatics; good clean playing, well articulated,
intelligently phrased, and warmed by a strong, confident sound marked her lucid
playing of the concerto" (Mozart Violin Concerto no 4, London Mozart
Players), Michael Tumelty, Glasgow Herald, 3 June 2003.
"Violinist Jennifer Pike gave a poised, stylish
performance of Saint-Saens's Havanaise" – Barry Millington,
London Evening Standard, 20 September 2002.
"She played a sweet-toned Saint-Saens Havanaise,
sawing through her catgut with confidence and maturity" - Matthew
Connolly, The TImes, 20 September 2002.
“She is special, out of the ordinary,
one of an élite with a miracle gift.” -
Jeffery Taylor, Sunday Express, 26 May 2002.
“Her playing…has led to her being
hailed as one of Britain’s brightest musical prodigies for a generation.
Professor Curtis Price, principal of the Academy, said: ‘I heard in
Jennifer a remarkable understanding of music far beyond her years. It was really
quite astonishing. I felt it was
like listening to a 12-year-old Menuhin.’” – James Tozer, Daily Mail,
28 May 2002.
“Allied
to the youthful freshness of her performance, there was a wise understanding of
structural and expressive proportion, a sweet and pliant tone and some light,
agile finger-work. Her phrasing was
mellifluous, and there was a fine balance between delicacy and ardour.” Geoffrey
Norris, The Daily Telegraph – 28 May 2002.
“A breathtaking performance of
Mendelssohn’s violin concerto” – Sally Weale, The Guardian, 28 May
2002.
“Young but perfectly poised…..this
girl has not only an astonishingly secure technique, but also a highly developed
sense of musicianship.” – Barry Millington, London Evening Standard, 27
May 2002.
“As soon as Jennifer set bow to string
it was apparent that this was no mere child or promise of great things to come,
but already a fully-formed musical personality, a manifestation of the rarest of
musical talents.” - Andrew Marflow, Standish Courier, November 2001. (Recital in Standish
Festival, October 2001)