Letters of Recommendation
Press Reviews of Debut-CD
Press Reviews 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007 / 2006

A letter of recommendation from Anthony Inglis

To whom it may concern

This is to say I conducted Rebekka Hartmann in a concert of Mozart's music in March 2006 at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields London, and the orchestra and I found her to be an artist of huge talent. Whilst young, she played the Turkish and the Sinfonia Concertante with enormous skill that belied her age. Her technique, intonation and sheer musical artistry were perfect and dazzled not only us the performers, but the audience, amongst whom were many knowledgeable people equally amazed by her virtuosity and her insight to the music of Mozart. It was a very great pleasure to make music with her. I expect her to go far.

I recommend her to everyone without reservation. You will not be disappointed.

Anthony Inglis
Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra, 12th March 2006



Letter of recommendation from Christoph Eschenbach

Rebekka Hartmann is one of the most gifted violinists I have had the pleasure to meet recently. She has all the prerequisites for a promising career as a soloist with her exceptional virtuosity, profound musicality, personality and charisma.

I wish her all the success she deserves!

Christoph Eschenbach
Paris, 2. Juni 2003

Rebekka Hartmann plays Bach, Hindemith & Zimmermann
CD-Critique von www.allmusic.com, 2007

Nobody gets out of here alive – it's a motto that worked for the Doors and it works here for violinist Rebekka Hartmann in her debut disc on the German Farao label. Opening with Bach's danse macabre Partita in D minor is already bold, but following that with Hindemith's life or death Sonata, Op. 11/6, and especially Zimmermann's heaven or hell Sonata (1951) is downright audacious. But in this 2000 recording, the then-19-year-old violinist carries it all off brilliantly. One never doubts Hartmann's ability to perform this supremely difficult music. All three works are for solo violin, leaving the player no room to hide, but Hartmann shows what she can do with reckless impunity. Her tone is sharp and incisive with plenty of power but plenty of tenderness, too. Her rhythm is never quite what one expects – she holds back sometimes on downbeats and pushes ahead other times on upbeats. But best of all are Hartmann's interpretations. She spares none of the horror of Bach's Partita, none of the energy of Hindemith's sonata, and none of the anxiety of Zimmermann's sonata, but she also finds consolation in the Bach, continuation in the Hindemith, and conflagration in the Zimmermann. Although it's hard to imagine how Hartmann can follow this disc – after this, a coupling of Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn's concertos would seem a bit lightweight – any listener who hears it will surely want to hear what she does next. Farao's digital sound is ideally balanced between intimacy and objectivity. (Review by James Leonard)



Rebekka Hartmann plays sonatas for solo violin
December 2006

The standards of achievement demanded from today's young violinists are extremely high. All the more impressive, therefore, is the audio calling card presented by Miss Hartmann where Bach's Barock - without nerve numbing legato - shines radiantly over Hindemith's classicism into the twelve tone world of the young Bernd Alois Zimmermann. A promising debut.
(KulturSPIEGEL Issue 12, Johannes Saltzwedel)



Classic Port Bavarian Broadcasting Service
CD tip from 19 October 2006

Assuming that out of 1000 gifted musicians from the same birth year only one will have what it takes for a truly great solo career; then, where violinists are concerned, Germany has no complaints. Especially young female violinists are making their mark here. With refreshingly intelligent play and flawless tone, with brilliant virtuosity and an astoundingly profound understanding of musical interpretation, Rebekka Hartmann, born in Munich in 1981, exemplifies this development. Already the winner of numerous national and international prizes, she has recently brought out a remarkable CD on the FARAO classics label featuring a well chosen and sequenced set of pieces by J.S.Bach, P. Hindemith and B. A. Zimmermann for solo violin.

The sequence commences with Bach’s Partita in D-minor the Ciaccona of which seems to rest amidst all the secrets of the heavenly firmament. And almost with the first fluidly inspired measures of the “Allemande” it becomes obvious that here a genuine master virtuoso is at work – her slender yet resilient intonation and phrasing both electrifying and intimate in quality. Rebekka Hartmann’s lucid exposition makes little use of vibrato while comprehending the inexhaustible universal force and humanism of Bach’s music as it relates to the modern spirit.

There is no contradiction between architecture and dance in her interpretation of Hindemith’s Sonata for solo violin (solo op.11, No 6) dating from 1917/18 which follows. How wonderful that this work, long known only in fragmentary form, should be recreated in such a remarkable recording. The same could be said for the concluding solo sonata from Bernd Alois Zimmermann for which Miss Hartmann sets new standards of virtuosity. This work, composed in 1951 is based in all three movements on a binding 12 note sequence. But despite the strictures of its architecture and the compression of the compositional material we are dealing with highly expressive music as Miss Hartmann clearly demonstrates across a range stretching from meditative improvisation to rhapsodic declaration to the dynamism of the Toccata and its concluding B-A-C-H citation.
(Helmut Rohm, Bayern 4 Klassik)



Bach, Johann Sebastian/Paul Hindemith/Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Partita II in D-Minor BWV 1004/Sonata for Violin solo op. 11 No. 6/Sonata for Violin solo

This combination possesses scarcity value: The violinist, Rebekka Hartmann, just 25 years old and already a leading interpreter ‘on the four strings’ plays Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita D-Minor BWV 1004, Paul Hindemith’s Sonata for Violin solo op. 11 Nr. 6 (1917/18) and Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Solo-Sonata from 1951 at one sitting – music of mourning, death and consolation. The soloist, pupil of Gottfried Schneider, Master Course participant among others with Wolfgang Marschner and Valery Oistrach, finds the appropriate tone. Here melancholic, there unsettled and elsewhere animating or encouraging – music as a cosmos of the soul at the same time darkened and brightened.

The violin becomes a voice for songs without words: an instrumental song of pain, suffering and affairs of the heart. These self-same facets can however comfort and soothe. And the Munich violinist uses her instrument to transmit a cosmos of sound divined. Technical problems? None to be heard. Neither in Bach’s torrent flow nor in Zimmermann’s disquietude.

How and under what conditions were the three selected compositions produced? Bach wrote the Partita in 1720, shortly after the death of his first wife. The Chaconne in particular is considered by the music scholars of today to be a kind of musical headstone for Maria Barbara Bach – despite or even because of its dance like nature. Bach’s ‚Danse Macabre’ is an intense yet controlled statement on the implacable end of all things mortal. Paul Hindemith’s op. 11 Nr. 6, composed in wartime is directed to Bach and his spheres of tonality. Baroque elements coexist with atonality in the finale which could be a reaction to the myriad dead of the Great War? Zimmermann was after all a Bach disciple. His tonal reference to the master is built into the final passage of the piece in the B-A-C-H (Bb,A,C,B) sequence which waves as a far banner in the midst of a contemporary dated solo. A bridge from yesterday to tomorrow stands between death and hope. Whoever might imagine the whole thing could be overwhelming or depressing against the backdrop of such emotion, however, is pleasantly disappointed. The violin sparkles despite these dark parameters. (The Orchestra 03/2007, Jörg Loskill)



Rebekka Hartmann (Violine solo) plays works of
J. S. Bach, P. Hindemith, B. A. Zimmermann
Farao Classics CD B108029
July 2006

Interpretation: xxxxx
Production/recording quality: xxxxx (5 out of 5)

It may well be that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has never been as intensively and widely cultivated as in present times. In the 20th century Bach advanced in stature to become the classical composer par excellence. Performers appreciated the deeper aspects and subtle facets of his music so completely balanced in form and content. And the greatest among them contributed substantially to the revelation of the Bach phenomenon. Featuring what could be considered a rather unconventional repertoire on her new CD, Rebekka Hartmann sheds new light on the work of the master. With perfect virtuosity Miss Hartmann leads her violin along new paths toward unravelling the mysteries surrounding Bach’s work. In her interpretation of the violin partita BMV 1004 it is the death of Bach’s first wife that provides the point of entry. Her extremely convincing performance of the first four movements culminates in the Chaconne as a kind of danse macabre which - as she sees it - takes both musician and audience through an entire kaleidoscope of emotion in a flashback to the events in Bach’s life with his wife. Miss Hartmann carries out this interpretation in a convincing display of brilliant technique and controlled sensitivity. Her second selection, not surprisingly, is the Sonata for Solo Violin from Paul Hindemith (opus 11, #6). Hindemith as 20th century classicist creates passages reminiscent of Bach’s sound world. He shows, however, as seen in the 2nd movement of the sonata, an ability to transcend classical schooling into a new freedom. These are fantastic segments of modern classic awakened by Miss Hartmann’s brilliance which whet the appetite for further delight. The Sonata for Violin (1951) by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, as final selection, no longer echoes of Bach except for a certain timelessness embracing past, present and future captured by Miss Hartmann’s performance. In short, this CD contains an intelligently selected and superbly executed program and can be considered a golden ‘calling card’ from Miss Hartmann.
(KULIMU, periodical for art, literature & music, 32nd year, July 2006, issue #2)

Davos, 4th of August, 2011
Davos Festival – Young Artists in Concert
For the 26th time the Davos Festival ‚Young Artists in Concert’ was held – this year under the motto ‚The eternal woman‘with a predictable accent on the composition and performance of feminine composers. Among the features of the festival was a workshop for up and coming composers with Franghis Ali-Zade, the Maestra from Aserbaidschan. And the attendees awaited with particular anticipation the appearance of solo violinist Rebekka Hartmann from Starnberg Germany.
The 30-year old German star of Bosnian-Serbian extraction is one of the greatest hopes of the young solo violinist elite and stands on the threshold of an eminent international performing career. Among other things, she will perform the Second Violin Concert from Allan Petterson in October of this year as only the third female violinist after Ida Haendel (to whom the piece was dedicated) and Isabelle van Keulen. The piece is considered the ‘Mount Everest of Violin Concerts’ which requires the solo violin to battle for 55 minutes against the unbridled fury of the entire orchestra – whoever performs this piece can be said to have no fear of death or the devil.
At first Rebekka Hartmann appeared for Fanny Mendelsson-Hensel’s Op. 11 in a piano trio with cellist Lionel Cottet and William Youn and then in duet with the harpist Agne Keblyte for Saint-Saëns and for the attending Islandic componist Mist Thorkellsdottir’s charming folklore piece ‘Haustlauf’ (Autumn Leaves) and thereafter with Lionel Cottet in the timeless fulminant Ravel-Sonate and in Sofia Gubaidulina’s technically horrendously challenging melismen play ‘Rejoice’. Here it was already apparent that Miss Hartmann was capable of faultless instrumental virtuosity, chamber music elasticity and refined yet cogent creative power that instead of imposing itself on the music drew its emphatic character from its commitment to the melodic-harmonic substance of the composition.
Miss Hartmann’s subsequent solo performance was a classic example of aspiration to a high-tension balance between scintillating ecstasy and farsighted discipline in a context of developing configuration which began with the Sonata fantasia (1928–29) from Serbian composer Ljubica Maric (1909–2003). In Miss Hartmann’s rendition of this astounding early work of the young Serb so admired by Schostakowitsch which courses between free tonality, distant folklore imagery and emulation of Bach by a spirit akin to that of Bartók, the listener can admire the extreme agility in her phrasing of finely engraved melody line patterns in a composition which combines tightly packed syncopically driving rhythms demanding finely nuanced accents and flashes between chromatically shaded melancholy, gracefully grooving drive and thornily pouncing jaggedness.
Following the Fantasia, Miss Hartmann turned to the early Solo Sonata Op.11 No. 6 in G-minor composed by Paul Hindemith (1917–78) - a daring mixture of styles with obvious reference to Bach, a revolutionary wink of the eye, moments of refreshing parody of Pathos in Busoni’s wake and by all means through the kaleidoscopic variety of genuinely substantial traits and a certain formal astringency above all in the central Siciliano segment. It is a work first presented by Miss Hartmann in her debut CD performed with a ferocious and explosive spirit yet featuring select gradations of intensity and a clear metrical sensibility which bring beauty and order to the wanton rhythmic convolutions of the composition.
The next piece in her solo performance is the premier for ‚Towers‘ composed in 2010 by Håkan Larsson as a ‚homage to Johann Sebastian Bach and Anders Eliasson’. Larsson, born in 1959 and living in Uppsala, is nearly unknown even in his own country. In November 2009 his work was first presented by the Casal Quartet and pianist Ottavia Maria Maceratini to the German public at the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. Recently, a first CD featuring his highly expressive and deeply lyrical – despite its dissonant complexity – string quartet ‘Marken’ has come into circulation.
The composer’s music is as unpretentious as his statement from the podium although laden to the bursting point with an uncompromisingly existential unfolding of the fragile soul exposed to endless suffering contrasted with elements of fantasy abruptly tinged with surprisingly cultivated bites of subtle humor. Larsson’s ‘Towers’ is anything but a light repast. Its structural alignment is wonderfully individual, especially the song segments, yet this structure is continually tested with discontinuances, violent outbreaks, apparitions, moments of elegiac dalliance; all of which is infused with a sense of unquenchable longing.
This music seems born of an unfathomable introversion which never tires of questioning its own existence; although ultimately rising from the depths again and again to seduce the listener to embrace an uncertain melody and harmonic development that directly touches the soul, its song still leaves many questions unanswered. Håkon Larsson’s solo piece is in its radical lack of continuity not an unattainable masterpiece like the ‚In medias‘ from his mentor Anders Eliasson with which Rebekka Hartmann in a previous concert was able to weave her audience into a spell of seven minutes in which time stood still. Yet ‘Towers’ is the authentic exposition of an internal landscape in which the composer discloses in rough, raw and dissonant tones interspersed with the softer hues of extreme sensitivity, tenderness and intimacy.
We would like to hear more of his deeply honest music. Rebekka Hartmann‘s glowing sinewy performance was an ideal plea for this case – but also her pure physical presence was a compelling argument. Her music infused the entire room, which prompted Larsson to describe her as a violin with two legs. And, this two legged violin closed her matinee performance with immense momentum and fury, with her unerring feel for the dance idiom and with ennobled phrasing in the sixth solo sonate from Eugéne Ysaÿe, who along with George Enescu was one of the outstanding violinist-composers from the first half of the last century. After Håkan Larsson’s erratic songs on the brink of an internal abyss, Miss Hartmann now plunged into an unfettered dance on the rim of a seething volcano a siren song of musical virtuosity, yet in the orgiastic heat of this surging encounter she never loses the sober clarity and watchful oversight over the raging torrent of sound.
Everything is put at stake and everything is won. The intensity and commitment of artists of this caliber allow us to remember that truly great music must always be created anew and that it can never become business as usual. (Neue Musikzeitung)

Weilburg, 25th of July 2010
Hartmann convinced at Debut
For the first time Rebekka Hartmann (the solo violinist born in Munich in 1981) appeared on the Weilburg Podium and was celebrated like a star guest, although still relatively at the beginning of her career... The audience nonetheless experienced an evening full of surprises where her versatility and interpretive skills were concerned... Rebekka Hartmann and Thomas Duis, her pianist, showed both to be extremely creative enhancers of a sound formation commanding the listener’s attention... she provides a passionate rendition with convincing mastery of her challenging share demonstrating in a unique fashion the solemn virtuosity of Beethoven... In constant harmony with her accompanist on the piano the talented violinist builds the momentum of the piece with energy and focus to the explosive finale which was then rewarded with a swell of thunderous applause punctuated with myriad bravo shouts from the audience. (Quote from: Nassauer Tageblatt, Willibald Schenk)


Heidenheim, July 23rd 2010
Sibelius Concerto d-minor/Aachen Symphony Orchestra
... Wonderfully constructed melody lines for example in the second movement sung with a full voice and just the right touch of melancholy for melting away into another world. And if this wasn’t enough, the encore piece (a sonata from Eugéne Ysaye) is fit to challenge the belief that a left hand with only five fingers is capable of articulating all the fingerings that need to be reached. Once again: Entrancing. (Quote from: Heidenheimer Zeitung, Manfred F. Kubiak)


Freiberg, May 15th 2010
Sibelius Violin Concerto/Middle Saxony Philharmonic
... Rebekka Hartmann played her solo parts with a determined attack and emotional depth without diminution of her technical brilliance. Her strength of character as a performer lent a particular degree of access to the piece whereby she could exploit the fullest potential of its ebb and flow and still give careful attention to its melodic detail. Virtuosity of this caliber was a definite joy to the audience who refused to let Miss Hartmann leave the stage before performing two encores. (Quote from: „Dresdner Neuste Nachrichten”, Alexander Keuk)


Koblenz, April 24th 2010
Hartmann also a pleasure as solo performer
J.S. Bach, P. Hindemith, E. Ysaye, B.A. Zimmermann
... Rebekka Hartmann’s interpretation is starkly purist, straightforward, architectural – devoid of gratuitous vibrato – and her virtuosity is not only manifest in the long fugue portion with its changes between multi-voice passages and melody line interludes constituting a full exposition of the violin’s potential and demonstration of the performer’s spectrum. It seems effortless much as in the comparably challenging Andante... a thought behind every note to which the performer with compelling clarity opens a door for understanding. (Quote from: Kaulbach Rheinzeitung, Liselotte Sauer)


Mannheim. April 19th 2010
I. Fränzl Violin Concerto
... She mastered all of the high tempo passages without audible effort and with a remarkably clear articulation always prepared to match the near escape velocity of the music with flawless intonation... Awesome were her willingness to take on risk and her brilliantly thought out plan of attack on the performance complicating technical subtleties coupled with a nearly insane rate of acceleration seemingly designed to rupture the bounds of virtuosity... (Quote from: Mannheimer Morgen, Alfred Huber)

Heidenheim, July 28th 2009
Marcus Bosch, Rebekka Hartmann and the Nürnberg Symphony at the „Rittersaal-Gala”
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s violin concerto in e-minor... For Miss Hartmann, the pathway to Fantasy Land was one to be swept along with apparent ease. In a word, she was spotlessly brilliant. And her frenetically applauded encore could be considered – without reservation – a prime example for the contention that a great violinist has a great right hand. (Quote from: Presse Heidenheim, Manfred F. Kubiak)


Heidenheim, 28th of July 2009
Anyone seeing the 27 year old soloist, so delicate and meek... would hardly imagine her capable of mastering the devil’s violin... Fortissimo passages whistled like rockets from the stage. Moreover, the calculated perfection in articulating passages of hair-raising difficulty and producing exquisite tonal effects gave evidence as to how well acquainted she was with the work and its many facets. The purity and depth of expression was impressed on the listener with almost unworldly tonal beauty... (Quote from: Presse Heidenheim, Annika Behounek)


17th of July 2009
Festival Herrenchiemsee
...and what Rebekka Hartmann was able to conjure out of the Solo Sonatas BWV 1001 und 1003 by J.S. Bach, was a musical emancipation in the finest sense of the word. Instead of indulging the traditional interpretation featuring constant vibrato and plodding sobriety, Miss Hartmann created with a simple precision devoid of flourishes and with light-handed phrasing a Bach freed of constraint. Clear as glass was her illumination of the most intricate polyphony - rendering each voice audible and distinct... (Quote from: Oberbayerisches Volksblatt, Marco Frei)


Detmold, February 5th 2009
... The Detmold Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Eckhart Fischer, was an excellent partner for the young but already established solo violinist, Rebekka Hartmann.... And, for the record, let it be said that Rebekka Hartmann can make her violin sing enchantingly. The technically brilliant yet cultivated virtuosity... seems as well to be almost second nature to her. And, it seems to be no less „second nature“ for her as she rages in her encore like the Devil’s fiddler through the breath-taking challenges posed en masse by Fritz Kreisler in his showcase piece... (Quote from: Lippisches Kultur-Journal – Lippische Landes-Zeitung)


Emden, February 3rd 2009
... Miss Hartmann’s solo violin provided a peregrination through the various and sundry moods of fairylike dainty themes and temperamental orchestral recapitulations... (Quote from: Ostfriesen-Zeitung, Werner Zwarte)


Kleve, 31st of January 2009
... With her Stradivarius (1703) the young, internationally trained and highly accoladed violin soloist Rebekka Hartmann (*1981) was able to captivate her audience through her accurate and brilliant articulation of often rapidly racing runs, passages and double fingerings only to descend into an eight measure sustained point over which the orchestra constructed a wonderful chorus on the voices of the clarinets and flutes. With fragile beauty the violin then intoned the Andante. In the Finale, this mood devolves to a romantic poesy celebration of fairy magic fantasy. In her encores as well, Miss Hartmann demonstrated convincingly that there were no musical hurdles she couldn’t master. The rendition of the „Erlkönig” theme by H.W. Ernst which has become a showpiece for solo violinists provides a perfect opportunity to show the extent of ones musical proficiency – one which Miss Hartmann grasped in peerless perfection. (Quote from: Rheinische Post, Hans Rühl)


Kleve, January 31st 2009
... That this Violin Concerto in e-minor was a technically challenging and complicated piece, thanks to the ease with which Miss Hartmann acquitted herself, was barely apparent. Nothing was missing and nothing was superfluous. Enviable was the energy that flashed and sparkled throughout, even in the lyrical passages. Every tone, every musical gesture seemed of equal importance in its execution. (Quote from: Neue Rhein Zeitung, A.D)


Coburg, 20th of January 2009
Once again Violinist Rebekka Hartmann inspires the audience in the Coburg Symphony Concert with her solo performance
... This she does with bravura yet without losing touch with Schumann’s musicality... The opportunity for unfettered virtuosity is provided in her first encore selection in consideration of the applause and bravos of an appreciative audience. Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst’s adaptation of the „Erlkönig“ for solo violin is a true full tilt ride on the instrument. If the piece is a challenge in its piano version, it is a hairraising dare for the intrepid violinist, who must operate his fingers at break neck speed whilst back- grounding the melody of the Schubert piece – often in harmonic flageolet. No wonder that the audience wanted to hear even more from the soloist at its conclusion. And, to bring a return to relative tranquillity before the intermission Miss Hartmann rewarded those present with a wonderfully performed rendition of the „Sarabande“ from the d-minor-solopartita by Johann Sebastian Bach... (Quote from: Neue Presse Coburg, Marie Bous)


Zweibrücken, January 12th 2009
... The soloist Rebekka Hartmann found the ideal way and captivated her audience with airy effortlessness, brilliant technique and a power of expression which created a sense of perfect harmony between the violin and orchestra. For her encore, Miss Hartmann presented the Caprice for solo violin from Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, an ingenious piece, which fascinates by virtue of its unbelievably dramatic nature, which she played to perfection… (Quote from: Pfälzischer Merkur, Peter Fromann)


Zweibrücken, January 12th 2009
Rebekka Hartmann performed the solo part in Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s famous Violin Concert in E-Minor op. 64 in a masterly fashion. She provided an impulsive yet highly technical interpretation that, in the middle movement, displays a kind of poetic emotion which never descends into any form of sentimentality. The ardent and moving melodic of these cantilenas definitely belongs to the very essence of the violin repertoire. Miss Hartmann plays with warmth and substance where even the highest tones possess a luminous quality and her ability to harmonize with the orchestra results in a seamless blend without the loss of inner tension. So it was that her dancing fingers over the four strings of her priceless Stradivarius from 1703 could weave a brilliantly elegant and flowing dialogue with the song of the flutes. Miss Hartmann thanked the 400 strong audience for their thunderous applause with a highly virtuosic paraphrase of Schubert’s „Erlkönig“... (Quote from: Die Rheinpfalz – Zweibrücker Rundschau, Karlheiz Dettweiler)

Bad Kissingen, 16th of December 2008
... The actual surprise of the evening was the young Munich violinist Rebekka Hartmann, who produced a technically perfect and meticulous performance, never let the immense difficulty of the music cause her trouble, clearly structured her execution and used an immensely capable bow hand to capture the lyrical beauty of the work. Here a young musician was introduced to the Great Hall whose future will be worth watching. (Quote from: Saale Zeitung, Thomas Ahnert)


Bad Kissingen, 14th of December 2008
Unbelievable feats on a stradivarius
Wherein that quantum of additional talent that separates creative genius from just talented lies, was rendered apparent at the opening concert of the Kissinger Winter Magic: In the 27 year old Rebekka Hartmann a violinist could be seen whose ability is so surprisingly new, coherent and individual that one could only wonder why this girl from Munich hasn’t yet been discovered by the major CD-Labels. The soloist played Karl Goldmark’s violin concerto in the well attended Regents Auditorium with a degree of intuitive empathy which distinguished her performance from that of which the majority of her contemporaries are able. Not only that she displayed unbelievable virtuosity of bowing and fingering in the corner movements of the piece on her Stradivarius – dating from 1703 – but as a true master of her guild she provided in the second slow movement a demonstration of excellent intonation over a long stretch of melody in the highest register solely on the G-string of her instrument unfolding the most brilliant colours of its tonal spectrum. With Fritz Kreisler’s Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice the violinist provided an elegiac virtuosic cabinet piece as an encore which electrified the audience. (Quote from: Mainpost)


Eisenach, 21st of June 2008
Standing ovations for solo violinist
... together with the music enthusiastic orchestra out of Bosch employees she presented the Mozart A-Major violin concerto on her original stradivarius from 1703 and moved the audience to outbreaks of enthusiasm with her youthfully powerful and from time to time almost daring performance such that the excitement refused to ebb even as the last tones began to fade. (Quote from: Thüringische Landeszeitung)


Chur, 14th of May 2008
Just prior to the intermission, the chamber philharmonic ensemble enjoyed the honour of accompanying Rebekka Hartmann (violin) and Wen-Sinn Yang (cello) in Brahms’ Double Concerto Opus 102 – albeit the symphonic nature of the piece renders the term ‘accompaniment’ somewhat less than adequate. Be that as it may, Hartmann and Yang provided the audience a concert experience so vivid as to allow the memory of the historic first recording of the piece to pale in comparison. It was like seeing a dream couple at the moment of bonding the way the two soloists sought and complemented one another from phrase to phrase as if they were the constituent parts of that one instrument envisioned by the composer. A thunderstorm of applause joined in by the orchestra greeted the conclusion of the concerto. In appreciation Hartmann and Yang returned the favour with an ingenious encore: The Passacaglia from Händel/- Halvorsen... (Quote from: Die Südostschweiz, Carsten Michels)


Chur, May 14th 2008
A great concert evening with Johannes Brahms
The soloist highlights of the evening were provided during the Double Concerto in three movements by violinist, Rebekka Hartmann and cellist, Wen-Sinn Yang. Their absolutely exceptional instrumental mastery, immaculate technique and brilliantly mature yet often temperamental articulation turned Brahms’ work into an absolute treat for the ears of the listener... And what they projected over the stage front into the auditorium was more than an extra number: it was a gift of supreme professionalism to be savoured, a team effort by two master musicians complementing one another exquisitely. As good as it gets. (Quote from: „Bündner Tagblatt“, Christian Albrecht)


Hainburg, 2nd of April 2008
... Miss Hartmann demonstrated almost missionary qualities before the intermission in her solo rendition of Paul Hindemith’s Sonata in G-Minor for violin (Op. 11, No.6). For even a disciple of well ordered harmonies and soothing sound would have been converted through the magic and power lurking among even the more atonal passages of this performance. (Quote from: Niederösterreichische Nachrichten)


Heidenheim, April 1st 2008
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto e-minor
... Miss Hartmann performed with virtuosity a detailed search for the heart of the concert showing great sensibility and transparency, shining with masterful fingering and graceful movement of the bow as she proceeded through the familiar first movement “Allegro molto appassionato”. The young violinist produced by way of her precise articulation a certain internal tension... Rebekka Hartmann at 27 can be counted among the rising stars on the violin soloist horizon: double-fingered melodies, flageolets, pizzicatos and whatever are mastered without difficulty – her performance was superlative. Bravos, thunderous applause and standing ovations brought a happy smile to the pretty face of the artist who did not hesitate to provide not one but two encores... (Quote from: Heidenheimer Neue Presse, Annika Behounek)


Heidenheim, April 1st 2008
...the softly refined melancholy exuded from the play of the soloist Rebekka Hartmann, who veritably moved her Stradivarius to sing, rejoice and whisper its way through the initial movement with an inimitable metallic resilience in the breathy tender piano passages... Rebekka Hartmann took the opportunity inherent therein to test the tremendous potential of a Stradavarius in the hands of a peerless virtuoso as she sailed effortlessly through the prestissimo passages matching precise execution to spirited interpretation. Soft arpeggios, ecstatic flageolets and frenetically rapid passages oscillating with breathtaking velocity under her bow testified repeatedly to the instrumental and structural virtuosity of this work – a tour de force from the soloist. (Quote from: „Heidenheimer Zeitung“, Hans-Peter Leisenberger)


Marchtrenk, March 29th 2008
Rebekka Hartmann, also the holder of many international prizes and honours, played her 1703 Stradivarius with inner sympathy and fascinated the audience particularly with Hindemuth’s challenging solo Sonata in G-Minor Op.11, No.6. The virtuosity of her performance was utterly convincing. (Quote from: „Neues Volksblatt“, Christine Grubauer)


Marchtrenk, March 29th 2008
It was namely the 27 year old violinist who enthralled the audience with the virtuosity, exquisite intonation and sincerity of her performance of Hindemuth’s Solo Sonata Op. 11 No. 6. (Quote from: „Krone-Zeitung”, Balduin Sulzer)


Bad Reichenhall, February 11th 2008
... The soloist lets her bow dance over the strings in a felicitous and inspired fashion without ever forfeiting her masterly gossamer intonation. (Quote from: Reichenhaller Tagblatt, Rainer Lande)


Laufen, February 11th 2008
The solo part played by the young violinist Rebekka Hartmann manifested delicate clarity while avoiding fragility – a performance full of noble tenderness but devoid of mawkishness. Nor did she forget thereby the forceful dynamic of the piece which she presented as aesthetic distinctiveness. In short, artistic beauty in its purist forms... This reporter has to think back a long time to remember a comparable debut of a virtuoso. (Quote from: Südostbayerische Rundschau, Dr. Christoph Bauer)

Dillingen, November 19th 2007
Tschaikovsky violin concerto: Rebekka Hartmann celebrated
... Excellent combination of discipline and feeling. With an excellent combination of discipline and feeling, Rebekka Hartmann makes manifest at the same time both the virtuosity and the romantic infatuation of the piece. It is fascinating to see how the soloist effortlessly joins and distinguishes with contrasting colors the emotional polarity of jubilance and melancholy. With masterful aplomb Rebekka Hartmann sails through the tricky double fingering passages, the top register tone sequences, meets the flageolet challenges but still finds the precise singing quality needed in the Canzonetta... Top violinist in a state of trance. With eyes mostly closed as in a trance, the top violinist magically transports the ardent complexion of folklore and the ecstasy of popular ballad to the concert hall therewith enabling the audience to contemplate the German understanding of the Slavic soul... (Quote from: Donau Zeitung, Erich Pawlu)


Starnberg, 17th of November, 2007
Violin virtuoso Rebekka Hartmann gives brilliant concert to benefit humanitarian projects.
... Bach’s Partita D-Minor BWV 1004 embracing both grand gesture and profound solemnity... Yet she does not go too far afield. This is characteristic of her style – not to allow her 1703 Stradivarius to tempt her into a pure display of tonality, but to give due regard to sensitive intermediate tone nuances as well... Miss Hartmann gradually escalates the Giga to spark the dramatic finish of the Chaconne flush with emotionally laden substance... (Quote from: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Reinhard Palmer)


Coburg, 14th of November 2007
... Enthusiastically celebrated violin soloist in Antonin Dvorak’s concerto in a-minor was young rising Munich star Rebekka Hartmann who seems to be on her way to a great career ... Playing on an exquisite Stradivarius from 1703 not only allowed her to easily stand out against the orchestra but also to demonstrate convincingly her brilliant technique and differentiated intonation. With seeming effortlessness, she mastered the most difficult passages - with clean intonation on double fingerings and into the highest registers coupled with elegant bowing and scintillating temperament in performance ... After the thunderous applause and „Bravo!” cheers for her terrific rendition of this challenging work Rebekka Hartmann, far from being exhausted by her efforts, impressed her audience with two contrasting encore performances of the highly virtuosic Recitative and Scherzo caprice from Fritz Kreisler and the meditative Sarabande from the Partita in d-minor from Johann Sebastian Bach... (Quote from: Coburger Tageblatt, Gerhard Deutschmann)


Bernried, 20th of October 2007
Rebekka Hartmann captivates with Bach and Hindemith
As manifest from her program list, Rebekka Hartmann (vintage 1981) had chosen to create a solo evening featuring philosophical earnestness and soulful profundity... And, it was perhaps less amazing that such a young performer should not be seduced by the brilliant potential of her loan Stradivari from 1703 than that she should choose to play music ranging from the ascetic to the nearly lugubrious. But perhaps Miss Hartmann was not particularly interested in celebrating the glow of grand gesture and superficial iridescence... the vivacious violinist from Starnberg seemed to concentrate her entire energy on the internalization and expression of the cryptic thought... Hartmann understood to utilize her virtuosity and tonal substance to exploit its full potential. Through disciplined dynamic in varying registers, she was able to achieve a differentiation between individual passages providing a high degree of clarity and transparence. Despite threading her way through a maze of complexly broken arpeggios she never loses sight of the theme line or her feel for its steady underlying pulse... Enthusiastic ovations and an encore piece composed by Fritz Kreisler that Rebekka Hartmann performed in anything but perfunctory fashion brought the evening to a satisfying conclusion. (Quote from: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Reinhard Palmer)


Bernried, October 19th 2007
... Already in Bach’s sternly melancholy «Dance of Death»... Rebekka Hartmann plays as though with Bach everything has been said and there is no afterward: Here she plays with a great introspection and tranquility albeit decisive and wondrously colorful. Thereby she dispenses to a great degree with vibrato and with grandstanding of any kind entirely. Her Bach sounds so intimate and at the same time so expressive, so modern as one has often hoped in vain to experience... Her performance is like a form of meditation, a prayer, intelligent, intensive, intimate.... Miss Hartmann crosses with an initial stern and earnest mien which progresses to great concentration, the meditative and passionate before resolving into a feverish frantic nightmare. Simply furious. (Quote from: Weilheimer Tagblatt/Münchner Merkur, Katja Sebald)


Bayreuth, 15th of May 2007
Whoever expected a sorceress to step up to the hair-raising complexities of this work was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of an attractive young woman albeit possessed of a high degree of artistic understanding and athletic technique. Rebekka Hartmann - winner of the 2005 Lichtenberg Marteau competition and recently successful with Bach in Selb - emphasizes the musicality of this work rather than its potential for the naked virtuosity of a circus performance. This, notwithstanding, Miss Hartmann’s surging arpeggios, pizzicato, blinding runs and interval leaps, trills and doublefingerings, flageolets on one and several strings at once are all masterfully performed at a blistering tempo. And where called for - not only in the Adagio passages - she uses her extraordinary tone with its dark radiance, legato, inward seeking, nostalgic quality, to provide the contrast needed for differentiating passages of over strung turmoil from the more sentimental melodic lines. (Quote from: Frankenpost, Michael Thumser)


Selb, April 12th,2007
Bach a-moll Violin Concerto
... full of confidence on the other hand with a wiry straight, stable and yet resilient tone she commences with her solo in front of the fresh and directly performing string orchestra. With a sense of urgency she practically thrusts herself into the outer movements, files meticulously on the tempi and the dynamic ebb and flow of the phrases. In the Andante movement it is sufficient that she insinuates a bit of vibrato for the sound of her violin to become soulful. With temperament she leans into the curves of the final Allegro. The performer impresses with a bold display of power but never loses control within the bounds of her courageous yet at the same time moderating musicality. (Quote from: Frankenpost)


Augsburg, March 14th 2007
The violin becomes a ‚will-o’-the-wisp’
The violinist, Rebekka Hartmann and the pianist, Caroline Bergius, performed works from Mozart, Schumann und Ravel in the „Kleinen Goldenen Saal“ – Sonatas of incredible variety from a period less than 150 years.... Heartfelt tones, new timbres, of an extremely lively intonation made possible through an astounding bowing technique were there to be admired and gave each piece a profound musicality. Rebekka Hartmann seemed to master effortlessly their inherent difficulty with a performance at the highest level of virtuosity. The passages never lost their tension nor did Ravel’s music lose its fascinating quality. (Quote from: „Augsburger Allgemeine“, ubie)


Bad Reichenhall, March 14th 2007
... Hartmann captivated her audience with excellent legato technique and expressive phrasing... She let each phrase sing out drew clear lines... (Quote from: „Reichenhaller Tagblatt“, Elisabeth Aumüller)


Gilching, March 13th 2007
A window to Schumann’s World
Rebekka Hartmann demonstrated in striking fashion that music must be lived, breathed and seen if one is to stand out in the crowd of talented musicians... (Quote from: „Süddeutsche Zeitung“, Sabine Zaplin)


Hainburg, 29th January 2007
The „Capella Istropolitana” and the Munich violinist, Rebekka Hartmann, inspire their audience in the ‚Haydn-Saal der Austria Tabak’ with tremendous virtuosity and power of expression.
... The 25 year old violinist, Rebekka Hartmann, delighted the audience both with her stage presence and her masterful performance. Together with the renowned ensemble, ‘Capella Istropolitana’, Miss Hartmann performed Mozart’s Concert for Violin and Orchestra Nr. 5 in A-Major. Afterwards, Miss Hartmann, the recipient of several international awards, gave two wonderful encore performances. It was fascinating to see the way Miss Hartmann drove her Stradivari through the hoops of Paganini’s devilishly difficult Caprice No. 24 with abandon only to witness shortly thereafter the delicate tone nuances she would tease from the instrument in the next piece. (Quote from: „Niederösterreichische Nachrichten”)

Hereford, October 31st 2006
And what a jewel was Monday evening’s recital. Rebekka Hartmann comes from Munich. For 20 of her 25 years she has played the violin; and how well she plays it. In 2002 she won the Jascha Heifetz Prize: and though, of all the great fiddlers, Heifetz perhaps stands alone and unrivalled, Rebekka’s name deserves the link with his. A wonderful bowing arm, dazzling security of intonation even in the stratospheric heights of her encore; and a command of colour and emotion to match her repertoire. (Quote from: The Hereford Times)


Starnberg, June 19th 2006
... Leaving her admitted technical perfection to one side for the time being, one must at first be astounded by the sheer physicality of her performance... Yet her interpretation of the ‘Seasons’ seemed to emanate a deep humility and introspection in contrast to the often heard ceremonial sweetness of other renditions. With her even the most fragile tones despite their aesthetic beauty retain enormous power of expression. She virtually savours the Largo of ‘Spring’ to its full measure with an exquisite yet minimalist intensity. All in all, she handles each of the melodic theme elements which follow through the seasons as if they were kaleidoscopic in nature with boundless expressive intensity but without once resorting to the theatrics of the showman. (Quote from: „Münchner Merkur“, Katja Sebald)


Weiden, 19th of November 2005
Playing a string instrument in concert without accompaniment – great artists know the strain connected with continuous performance
... Rebekka Hartmann not only took on the challenge and strain of performing alone in concert, she also selected a most demanding work to begin her performance. The Partita No.2 in D-Minor (Bach Register # 1004) by J.S. Bach is considered by music connoisseurs to be one of the most grandiose compositions for solo violin and Miss Hartmann’s introductory Allemanda reverberated with a remarkable fullness of tone. This striding rhythm was then succeeded by the dancing momentum of the Corrente which in turn yielded to the ceremonious double-fingered tones of the Sarabande and finished in a Gigue which though quick in step reflected the dance as it was intended to be... No listener could remain aloof from the intensity of Miss Hartmann’s presentation. Whether it was her breathtaking arpeggios in explication of the theme variations or her ascending chord progression preceding the return to the minor mode, everything was right and convincing. Next on the program was Max Reger’s Prelude and Fugue in E-Minor, Opus 117/3 which seemed to have borrowed some of its structure from Bach while expressing Reger’s individuality and musical understanding. The perpetual motion characterizing the movement immediately preceding the Fugue and the sheer inertia generated by Rebekka Hartmann’s performance of the Fugue itself left the listener with the feeling that this was the only way the piece should be played. (Quote from: Der neue Tag, Reinhold Tiez)


Dießen, 8th of November 2005
The violinist, Rebekka Hartmann is still a bit of a hot tip among music connoisseurs. But with her concert in the „Blaues Haus” she confirmed her reputation for astounding mastery of the instrument to music lovers generally. The audience was enthralled from the first note with the artist’s confident unerring play and full vibrant tone... Rebekka Hartmann, however, is not an artist that needs to exploit the technical sophistication and difficulty of demanding compositions to profile her performing abilities. Instead she proved a pilgrim with the strength and courage to plumb the deeper dimensions of these masterpieces for the gratification of the willing listener... the ability of this young violinist is to shatter the seeming well-ordered cosmos of baroque thought and to control emotions itself with her musical depth and power... Rebekka Hartmann is able to conjure laughter and tears while delving into the inner recesses of emotion and producing a multifaceted and exquisitely shaded musical experience. But the recollection would be incomplete without reference to her fantastic technique... The purely physical aspect of the 24 year old’s performance to this point has to be considered worthy of note... Hartmann’s articulation was as clear as glass and even in the quickest passages the individual note glowed like pearls... The finishing notes of this piece seemed as fragile as fine porcelain and as the piece found its somewhat removed and otherworldly end the audience was left holding its breath in anticipation. This was an experience for which the audience rewarded the artist with standing- ovations. (Quote from: Landsberger Tagblatt)


W. A. Mozart, Sonata in A-Major
... Here, Hartmann did almost without any vibrato and closed the sound of the violin in to a singers voice. Thus the second movement (andante) became immensly brilliant and enthralled largely because of the talking violin... Poème op. 25 by Ernest Chausson... Hartmann was completely absorbed within, conjured up rich moods which spread from a dreamy melancholy to a lucend blessedness. (Quote from: Süddeutsche Zeitung)


... The immense artistic ambition of Rebekka Hartmann manifested itself in the choice of J. S. Bach’s Partita in d-minor as opening piece of the evening... But Hartmann came up to the partita extremly well: Rich tone, differenciated sounds and a congenial adapation of both the dancing metric and the improvised melody gave her interpretation an immense musical density... Beethoven, Sonata in c-minor, op. 30/2: Rebekka Hartmann demonstrated effortless, how to evolve the problematic microstructure of the first movement, with the help of generous phrasing und intelligent structure-giving, into a powerful finale of the early romantic period... with a soulful introduction and an almost flickering rondo Hartmann uncovered a deeper layer of musical sense... (Quote from: Süddeutsche Zeitung)


... There is perhaps only one thing to say to Rebekka Hartmann’s playing the 2. and 3. movement of the Sibelius concerto: The denomination „demonic” seems to be invented for such interpretations. What she did with the highly energetic last movement is pure magic. (Quote from: Bayreuther Nachrichten)


J. S. Bachs violin concerto no. 1
... Rebekka Hartmann adopted the swelling attacks of the period-performance school to a self-conscious degree. Yet Hartmann turned right around and played Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Sonata for Solo Violin with full modern tone and vibrato, brilliantly executing the obsessive trills... (Quote from: Los Angeles Times)


Sibelius violin concerto
... Hartmann showed her passion for the concerto from the beginning as the warm tone of her special violin floated out over the audience, especially in the lyrical adagio movement when she played against the buzz of strings. Composed in 1904, the concerto includes virtuosi cadenzas that kept the soloist busy with rapid runs, double stops and lovely arpeggios, which Hartmann executed with intensity and utmost control all the way through to the allegro finale... (Quote from: Daily Breeze Los Angeles)

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