Review: Rachel Barton Pine - and Tuvan throat-singing - at Summermusik

CCO’s Summermusik travels down Silk Road with Rachel Barton Pine, Kronos Quartet

The ‘realisation of a three-decades-old dream’ is how US violinist Rachel barton Pine describes this recording of Ernest Chausson’s Concert for violin, piano, and string quartet - one inspired by her love of the work itself, in conjunction with having known and admired the Pacific Quartet since its 1994 foundation

August 2025 marks 150 years since the birth of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the British composer and violinist. Bruce Hodges speaks to five leading violinists about what his music means to them.

With her 25th release on Cedille Records, French Impressions, US-American violinist Rachel Barton Pine realises a long-held dream. She teams up with pianist Orion Weiss and the Pacifica Quartet to bring fresh perspective to the music of Ernest Chausson and Germaine Tailleferre – composers whose distinct styles share a gift for lyricism and an ear for the unexpected.

On their album entitled ‘French Impressions’, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, pianist Orion Weiss and the Pacifica Quartet focus on two composers. One is Ernest Chausson with the great concerto for violin, piano and string quartet and the other is Germaine Tailleferre, of whom they perform the second violin sonata, the string quartet and two short character pieces. 

Violinist Rachel Barton Pine unites with the Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet and pianist Orion Weiss for a beautiful album of chamber works by French composers Ernest Chausson and Germaine Tailleferre. 

From spare shoulder rests, chinrest keys to various mutes and rosins, leading violinists reveal the items that they always carry with them when they are on the road.

Virtually every classical soloist is a “virtuoso” these days. A “trailblazer,” “visionary” or “prodigy.” But in Rachel Barton Pine’s case, these buzzwords don’t echo as just marketing hype.

Rachel Barton Pine, born October 11, 1974, in Chicago, is a violinist who defies musical boundaries, seamlessly blending classical mastery with a deep passion for heavy metal. Her journey with the violin began at age three, leading to a debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at just ten years old. But beyond the concert halls, Pine has carved a niche that connects the worlds of Bach and Black Sabbath. 

In recording her new album, the violinist’s commitment to authenticity was pushed to new levels when she decided to play the sonatas as Corelli himself would have done.

Rachel Barton Pine’s ‘eclectic and unconventional career’ (The Strad, November 2024) continues with these outstanding period-instrument accounts. Instead of honouring Corelli’s prescribed instrumentation of violin and ‘violone’ or keyboard, she exploits the opportunities offered by the recording process to add an array of accompanying instruments, constantly changing the instrumental colours movement by movement and varying the textures within them.

In this Cedille two-disc release, Pine and colleagues John Mark Rozendaal, David Schrader, and Brandon Acker offer an imaginative, thought-provoking, and highly rewarding traversal of one of the cornerstones of Baroque violin repertoire. This fine recording has been mentioned on several best-of lists for 2024.

In 2024 Chicago’s Cedille Records released several CDs featuring vocal music, continuing a trend from 2023. Several include world premier recordings of works by Chicago composers. Others resurrect long-ignored songs by composers who are little remembered.

Featuring a charming array of period instruments, these Corelli records showcase Pine’s genuine affinity for the Baroque