Press

“From the first notes of Mozart’s E Minor Sonata, K. 304, at the Phillips Collection on Sunday, Joanna Marie Frankel proved herself an uncommonly fine young violinist. Her darkly burnished, consistently rounded tone went right to the melancholy heart of the piece. The Adagio of Brahms’s D Minor Sonata, Op. 108, was gorgeous stuff in her hands, yet she was able to find the right balance of incisive power and classical proportion in the score’s more heated rhetoric. And in Ravel’s Sonata in G, the swoony faux-blues and tricky pizzicatos were dispatched with technique to spare.”

-The Washington Post

“In the Schubert…Joanna Frankel, the violinist…immediately set aside the smooth, enveloping approach that groups like the Beaux Arts Trio have made the standard reading and instead played the music with sharply articulated phrasing and an earthy rough-and-tumble feeling…considerable thought and care clearly informed this dramatic reading, and it kept a listener wondering what unusual turns the next passage might hold.”

“…players leaned into [Arnold Schoenberg’s] Verklärte Nacht…sweet, throbbing vibrato responded to tunefulness, especially in duet exchanges [with] Joanna Frankel’s violin…”

-The New York Times, New York City

“…it is interesting to speculate on what the future holds for this promising violinist…She can already teach a thing or two about poetic statement to many of the so-called professional fiddlers on the current circuit.”
“Ms. Frankel was…in her element in the Adagio of the Beethoven [Sonata in E-flat major, opus 12, No. 3], her relaxed cantabile passages really quite beautiful.”

“[The Brahms A major sonata] is the domain of Ms. Frankel. She has a palpable singing tone and phrases with a good deal of aesthetic intelligence… [she] intoned it lovingly, in an unabashedly Romantic manner. This was definitely the highlight of the day.”

-The New York Sun, New York City

“…Frankel then came into [her] own with the playing of the middle and final movements of Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor.  In the two contrasting movements Miss Frankel revealed her awesome skill.  The first was lyric and legato while the finale was gratifyingly fiery.”

“…her unwavering tone and sustained legato were clearly evident in her playing of the Gluck Sonata in G minor…”

“She has the power of a much older violinist and she managed to fill the chancel and surrounding sanctuary with lovely sound.”

-The Sentinel-Ledger, New Jersey

“It was apparent as the performance progressed that violinist Joanna Frankel is a natural born leader. She led with self-assurance. Everything about the performance was spot on.”

-San Diego Classical Music

“Frankel’s mournful violin…added great emotion and depth…”

-San Diego Arts, sandiego.com

“…the soloist continued with the sonata opus 83 by Edward Elgar, a late romantic work, played with a heartfelt, sensitive interpretation.”

-Contact, Bergen-Egmond-Schoorl, The Netherlands

“[Ernest Chausson's] ‘Concert [in D Major]‘… has an achingly soulful melody line, which solo violinist Joanna Frankel draws on for some exquisite tones…[it also] has several tender themes that weave in brilliant counterpoint with Frankel’s violin.”

“Chausson has his own vibrant brand of lush lyricism…Joanna Frankel gave a powerhouse performance of the piece…”

“Chausson’s…’Concert,’ played about as well as can be imagined…by violinist Joanna Frankel…”

“Violinist Joanna Frankel…played a wild and challenging work by young Israeli composer Avner Dorman…At one point, Frankel was required to control the melody with the tuning peg of her violin. Somehow, she managed to maintain excellent intonation and beautiful phrasing.”

“Violinist Joanna Frankel played her part with verve…”

-Post and Courier, South Carolina

“The strings produced a full, rich sound…Among the musicians that [conductor Emmanuel] Villaume asked to stand was concertmistress Joanna Frankel, whose reticence belied the fire of her solos.”

“…superb violin solos …”

-Classical Voice of North Carolina

“…her rich sonorous sound and lovely phrasing.”

-Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tennessee

“…training since childhood …[in] the epicenter of America’s Northeast community…Her pedigree is top notch…”

-Aspen Times Weekly, Colorado