AlisaWeilerstein

Press

• Dvorak Cello Concerto

  San Diego Symphony & Rafael Payare

  Oct 2023

  • The husband-and-wife team of Payare and cellist Alisa Weilerstein gave an exemplary account of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto... Her brilliant articulation drove the development and the exciting coda... In the volatile finale, Weilerstein stepped out boldly, softened into sighs, and stirred the pot with blazing passagework, while conductor Payare matched her for flair and timing... Weilerstein’s potent performance brought prolonged applause...

    • David Wright, New York Classical Review
    • 14 October 2023

• Bach and Recent Composers

  The Conrad in La Jolla

  Mar 2023

  • Weilerstein’s performance throughout was riveting. She is one of, if not the, pre-eminent cellists of the Millennial generation, and her exquisite tone, fierce concentration, and theatricality were enthralling...

    • Christian Hertzog
    • 15 March 2023

• Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante Op.125

  New York Philharmonic & Natalie Stutzmann

  Feb 2023

  • Alisa Weilerstein’s authoritative, powerful playing was captivating in Prokofiev’s challenging Sinfonia concertante op.125. She navigated the sheer range of the work with ease and confidence, her tuning impeccable in the tricky double-stops, enjoying a lovely interplay with the orchestra. The virtuosic second movement was despatched with technical mastery and tremendous vigour, its staccato passages nicely biting without being harsh, while Weilerstein’s sensuous vibrato in the fortes and breathtaking bow control in the piano writing of the second theme gave character and depth.

    • Leah Hollingsworth, The Strad
    • 02 May 2023

• Bach Cello Suites

  Wigmore Hall

  Oct 2022

  • **** [Alisa] gave us performances of considerable directness and insight, in which technical prowess and depth of feeling went hand in hand. The music sang and danced... [Weilerstein] probed [the Suites'] meaning with great intensity and eloquence... Haunting and mesmerising, all of it.

    • Tim Ashley, The Guardian
    • 17 October 2022

• Saint Saens Cello Concerto No. 1

  New York Philharmonic & Jakub Hrusa

  Nov 2019

  • ...Weilerstein’s entrance whisked the mood to a new extreme with her signature feistiness. As always, her playing was technically flawless and deeply expressive: her vibrato saturated with meaning, her lyricism slinking and menacingly enigmatic.

    • Joshua Barone, New York Philharmonic
    • 22 November 2019

• Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor

  Shanghai Symphony Orchestra & Long Yu

  Aug 2019

  • The beautiful tone of Weilerstein’s instrument was most evident in the upper register and shone through when she was playing with the orchestra during the softer and slower movements of the concerto. She’s a true virtuoso, and it was in the solo cadenza passages that her artistry was truly on display as the clarity of her cello was even more readily heard.

    • Patrick D. McCoy, The Washington Post
    • 15 August 2019

• Dvorak Cello Concerto & Bach Cello Suites

  Czech Philharmonic & Semyon Bychkov

  Nov 2018

  • When it comes to [Dvorak's Cello Concerto], it is still too soon to talk about maturity. There is no telling what kind of cellist Weilerstein, who is 36, will be at age 50 or 60. What we can talk about, however, is greatness. Of that, these two concerts left zero doubt ... Weilerstein played [Dvorak's Cello Concerto] as if in a state of near rapture, every tiny 16th-note bit of the score absorbed... But it was Weilerstein’s Bach that was a true model of the meaning of mastery when it comes to what a string instrument is capable... When it is just Weilerstein and her cello, you can’t tell the two apart. You can see her seated, hugging her instrument, as a cellist must. But the resonances that resulted in the intimate Wallis had the same kind of presence as might someone sitting next to you and singing in your ear. The sound might easily have come from her voice, her lungs and her being.

    • Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times
    • 11 November 2018