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Noah Bendix-Balgley |
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Critical Reviews:
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra- November 2011 The concert's focus provided a perfect opportunity to showcase the orchestra's new concertmaster in virtuoso repertoire. Noah Bendix-Balgley brought the entire audience to its feet with a stunning account of "Zigeunerweisen" (Gypsy Airs) by Pablo de Sarasate. His tone was lustrous, his phrasing full of individuality and feeling, and his panache in the fast final section was breathtaking.
Mark Kanny, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
PSO violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley soars in recital
Old Soul.
You hear that term from time to time to describe children who seem to show wisdom beyond their years, as if they are channeling someone. It probably says more about the adults who notice it than the kid, but it can be compelling. Based on his recital Sunday, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley is an old musical soul. He is young compared to other concertmasters, but he played in a style -- and even with a musical sensibility -- akin to the violinists of the first half of the 20th century that live on in scratchy recordings. One in particular is Fritz Kreisler, whom Mr. Bendix-Balgley specifically cited as an influence Sunday at Temple Emanuel and encored with "Liebesleid."
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There hasn't been a buzz lately about a concert in the local classical
scene like there was for this one. It was his first stepping out from
first chair, a time to show what he's got on his own. He didn't
disappoint any patrons in the packed main worship space in the Mt.
Lebanon synagogue, presented by its Diskin Music Fund. With PSO keyboardist Rodrigo Ojeda at the piano, Mr. Bendix-Balgley opened with Stravinsky's "Suite Italienne," the delightful Baroque-infused arrangement of the composer's ballet "Pulcinella." He offered measured phrasing with a bright tone (except for a luxurious darkness on the low G string). His tight vibrato was reminiscent of Golden Age string playing, and so was the subtle slide he made into certain notes. At times he played with such lithe smoothness that the image of a water bug skating effortlessly over the surface came to mind. His command of the instrument was evident throughout, but most so in his fiery reading of Brahms' Scherzo in C minor from the "F.A.E." Sonata. An almost sobbing rendition of "Hebrew Melody," penned by a relatively unknown Russian, Joseph Achron, soared through the hall like a cantor's song. Then came that measuring-stick of a piece, the Franck Violin Sonata in A major. Mr. Bendix-Balgley said he viewed it as describing married life. Even though he is not married, it was a compelling vision. He backed it up with a performance alternately dramatic and lyrical -- but always with a treatment of the score that could be described as musically tight to the vest of the composer's intention even as it was superbly dressed in exquisite timbre. In a way, this was a performance that many expected, especially the many members of the PSO in attendance. I was in that camp, but Mr. Bendix-Balgley's eloquent speaking about the program on stage surprised me. He explained the background of the works clearly and concisely, with a easygoing manner that made it feel that he was talking just to me. Let's hope we see some of that at Heinz Hall, to add to the musicality we hear every week.
Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 31, 2012
Queen Elisabeth Competition Finals-May 2009
The Strad:
A handful of players really stood out...Noah Bendix-Balgley (USA, 24) proved himself to be an artist of great intellectual capacity, delighting the public with his choice of the lesser-known Milstein cadenza in the Brahms Concerto.
-Heather Kurzbauer, The Strad, August 2009
Noah Bendix-Balgley au naturel. Calm authority does not exclude passion. The second concert of the evening opened again with a chef d’oeuvre, Debussy’s Sonata. The American Noah Bendix-Balgley, aged 24, approached it in an impressive manner that showed mastery, style, and taste (together with the pianist Reiko Hozu). (He)...multiplied its colors, elegantly supporting its versatility and changing moods – and one knows how much richness this short sonata contains – and always with great naturalness... The approach taken by the young American to the unpublished, required piece ”Agens“ by the Korean Cho Eun-Hwa, is different than anything else heard so far: feline, poetic, ... The sonorities are sufficiently soft and rounded (Noah plays on a 1779 Lorenzo Storioni), the phrasings are supple, as in Debussy, and the dialogue with the orchestra is excellent. The musician appears to maintain a peaceful rapport with the piece... This allows him an interpretation that is sensitive and mature, yet in an astonishingly classic manner. The dominant traits of this musician’s playing are, in fact, naturalness and maturity, ideal terrain to deploy a Brahmsian ‘organic’ inspiration. All technical character and all ostentation are wiped away, even in the cadence. The first movement escapes from the competition. One only listens to Brahms. …the adagio was introduced with grace, in the service of an ample and serene hymn-like melody. The return in the final dance is earth-bound, popular, wild, and nevertheless spirited… Noah shows he can also take risks and enjoy himself in the process. -Martine D. Mergeay, La Libre, May 27th, 2009
Queen Elisabeth Competition Semifinals:
The American Noah Bendix-Balgley stands out in Mozart’s 3rd Concerto.
The American Noah Bendix-Balgley’s Mozart 3rd Concerto stood out with its simplicity and its honesty, a Mozart of light, in colors that were brilliant and soft at the same time - it was ideal. Beauty that brings one to tears in the weightless slow movement. -Michele Friche, Le Soir, May 16th, 2009
Semifinal recital:
Noah Bendix-Balgley (USA) gives us a style of playing that one hardly hopes for anymore: a large and ample sound which conveys an impression of good health. This time, Schubert’s Rondo (D895) is justifiably called brilliant : it has elan, verve, spirit, and is completely tender. What a mixture of different elements, what drive, what rich sonority in his playing! His rich tones literally enfold Ysaye’s sonata, recapturing its sensual contours in a manner that commands respect. Immediately afterwards, the American violinist tackles the required piece with beautiful enthusiasm and profits from the many ornaments provided by the score to produce, with the pianist, one of the most beautiful dialogues thus far heard. And the « Variations sur un theme original » by Wieniawski carried the public to a melting point.
Serge Martin, Le Soir, May 12th, 2009
Recital in Bloomington, Indiana- September 2010
Bendix-Balgley...gave clear articulation to Mozart’s Sonata in G Major, K.301, and effervescence to Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata, Opus 24, with its radiant slow movement. He seemed to toss off as music all too easy to play the not at all easy to play. Prokofiev D Major Sonata Number 2, as well as two of the Paganini Caprices, the Number 2, with its multiple crisscrossings over non-adjacent strings, and the famous Number 24, surely one of the most difficult pieces ever written for the violin. That bow of his danced acrobatically throughout. Of the plaintive “Hebrew Melody,” he made an ardent song.
Peter Jacobi, Bloomington Herald Times, September 9th, 2010
Montreal Competition- June 2010
L'impérial Bendix-Balgley...un impeccable musicien de la vieille école qui joue le plus classiquement possible...
The imperial Bendix-Balgley...an impeccable musician of the old school who plays in the most classical manner possible...
Christoph Huss, Montreal Gazette, June 3rd, 2010
Brahms Violin Concerto in Paris, France- November 2008
The violin playing of Noah Bendix-Balgley, 24 years old, is of the highest quality, capable of both sonority and of genuine lyricism. This artist knew how to reveal personality in the Concerto in D major, Op. 77 of J. Brahms, guiding the orchestra with his tempi... This prize-winner is very mature. He is gifted with a sense of space, of structure, and of how to appropriately express German romanticism. And he is gifted with the purest of sound.
-Francoise Ferrand, ResMusica.com, November 24th, 2008
Brahms Double Concerto in Baldham, Germany- July 2008 Youthful Brahms The high point was surely the performance of the much too seldomly heard “Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A Major Opus 102...The soloists, Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin, and Jaka Stadler, cello,...achieved a beauty of tone and mastery of technique in their performance that is unsurpassed by long established duo-soloists. There is no reason to worry about the careers of these artistically mature interpreters....[the audience] responded with enthusiasm.” -Claus Regnault, Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 19th, 2008
Recital in Verona, Italy- January 2008 A terrific violinist in “Tzigane” Bendix-Balgley and Gianello in a most elegant recital The title of the concert “Rising Stars”, described very well the twenty-three year old recent winner of the International Competition “Andrea Postacchini” in Fermo…Extremely elegant in his phrasing, Bendix-Balgley expressed a violinistic style reminiscent of Pierre Amoyal, which has in the cantability of legato its highest merit. The Beethoven rendition was truly interesting: exquisitely refined, and with a very strong interpretation of the three movements…At the conclusion there was lengthy and friendly applause. -Chiara Zecca, L’Arena, January 30th, 2008
Carl Stamitz Sinfonia Concertante- modern world premiere at the 2007 German Viola Congress, Münster, Germany- November 2007 ...With Noah Bendix-Balgley on the violin and Benedikt Schneider on the viola, the opening Allegro flowed briskly and organically from the strings.…The soloists sang a most elegant duet in the following Romance... Musical wellness of the best kind. The successfully executed Rondo glowed with cultivated technique… The lovely cadenzas allowed the soloists to fully savor the pleasurable sound of their instruments. -Heike Eickhoff, Ahlener Zeitung Münster, November 6th, 2007
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