Reviews
“Daring and deeply personal.”
“Played with fine, expressive technique.”
“His interpretation is taut and unsentimental, shaped with a dancer’s precision.”
“Rather than parade virtuosity, Mo turns inwards, shaping Poulenc with a dancer’s precision and quiet emotional depth.”
“Mo and pianist John Etsell perform with the conversational ease of seasoned chamber partners.”
“A player clearly set on his own path.”
“The music is performed here with candor and warmth; the duo revels in the musical intimacy that chamber music as fine as Poulenc’s provides.”
“Mo plays with a honeyed tone, smoothly gliding over the beat. His phrasing is organic, free of frills.”
“The (Poulenc）violin sonata, the heart of the album, transforms tense episodes of freneticism into exuberant lyricism.”
"Can the quintessential art of Poulenc’s songs be captured instrumentally ... Mo and Etsell — a violinist in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a staff pianist for Detroit Opera, respectively — persuasively argue that yes, it can."
“…something quite marvellous and convincing.”
“The arrangements are convincing and the playing by both artists is sumptuous.”
“They both play with conviction and understanding of the music of a composer (Poulenc) who is not always easy to realise.”
“This particular recording is sheer magic and I was totally swept away by the virtuosity and lightning changes of mood and emotions.”
“Technically both artists are impeccable and this is one of the most convincing performances of this work (Poulenc Violin Sonata) I have ever heard.”
“In the hands of Mo and his fine accompanist, John Etsell, the slow movement – one of the most precious in the literature, in my view – sounds exquisite.”
“Mo and Etsell give it an almost electric buzz.” (re: the finale of the Violin Sonata)
“These are strong, evocative renditions.” (re: Deux Poèmes de Louis Aragon)
“The thunder-and-lightning Scherzo brings back the virtuosity that Mo and Etsell displayed in the spiky violin sonata.”
“Either way, it’s a precious finish to this album, as it was to the composer’s career.”
“Hongyi Mo has given his fellow violinists exquisite new material to add to their repertoires.”
“It was a brilliant move on Mo's part: in being so melodically enticing, the transcriptions cast a potent spell, so much so that one wonders why such a project wasn't undertaken long ago.”
“The two are clearly equipped for the challenge.”
“Radiant by comparison is ‘Paganini,’ whose animation offers a showcase for Mo's singing tone.”
“Mo's poetic articulation of the song's bittersweet sadness.”
“...draws from Mo and Etsell a performance of incandescent beauty.”
“All delivered with seeming effortlessness by the violinist.”
“Mo has midwifed an entirely new collection of Poulenc material into being and in these performances with Estrell provided templates for other duos to adopt as they fashion their own interpretations.”
“A debut of intelligence and taste.”
“Hongyi Mo’s debut album… explores how music shifts when it crosses boundaries—voice or oboe to violin, text to sound, analysis to emotion.”
“The playful, tender, melancholy results trace Poulenc’s mercurial spirit while binding the two sonatas.”
“Mo’s debut album could hardly be more Parisian… an exploration of how music shifts across boundaries.”