30-01-2021 Klassik.com
"The fact that the present CD still exudes considerable unity is due to the consistently high quality of the interpretations of the three disparate works, with emphasis on the fine textures in the solo part (Isabelle van Keulen) as well as in the orchestra (NDR Radiophiharmonie). [...] The conductors Andrew Manze (Prokofiev), Keri-Lynn Wilson (Walton) and Andrew Litton (Vaughan Williams) work equally well on the excellent skills of the orchestra.
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31-07-2019 NRC
"Fascinating how Isabelle van Keulen and her instrument merged, how her fingers blindly found the right note [...] how she let the high e-string whistle and the low g-string whisper.
(In Szymanowski's mythological miniature and the Violin sonata by César Franck) ... the rich poetry flowed back and forth between Van Keulen and Brautigam.
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01-01-2019 Luister
"It is nice to be able to compare them, and even better to once again establish that violinist Van Keulen also belongs to the top with the viola. Beautiful. Rating: 9."
21-12-2018 Jo Cornille
"Isabelle van Keulen plays it all with ease and contagious enthusiasm, one feels how these three works belong to her favorites."
13-12-2018 De Volkskrant
"Van Keulen is in her element and there is a nice exchange of ideas between the musicians in the orchestra and the soloist."
05-12-2018 Pizzicato
"Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto and Walton’s Vila Concert are somehow related. Together with Vaughan Williams’s rhapsodic The Lark Ascending they allow the versatile and brilliant Isabelle van Keulen to excel on both instruments. The orchestral performances are exciting as well.
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09-11-2018 Luister
"The preference of Isabelle van Keulen, "Music that cracks and scours""
01-08-2018 Gramophone
"The van Keulen Ensemble have set the bar so high, and so much of what's here is compelling and freshly thought."
28-07-2016 NRC Handelsblad
"''Here tone can be a bit sharp, but her intense musical talent and the fact that she's playing together with Hannes Minnaar makes it al up.''"
01-10-2015 Quadrevisie
""It strongly appears that Isabelle van Keulen and her outstanding musical partners have oriented themselves on the original Astor Quartet.""
23-02-2015 Diapason
"5 Tuning forks (diapasons)!!
"What ideas, alacrity, strength of conviction! Van Keulen’s Beethoven speaks, moves, describes his mood swings and rejoices.
[...]The violinist demonstrates great authority, to the side of the Dutch pianist Hannes Minnaar who by naturalness and phantasy, reminds us of a young Friedrich Gulda.""
19-01-2015 NRC Handelsblad
""Dark, whispering lines of Van Keulen above the incentive chords in the Adagio espessivo of the Tenth Sonata - unrivalled.""
14-01-2015 Fono Forum
"Both perform on the highest level, technically wide above the tracks and shape the continous dialog of equal partners, which is demanded from Beethoven all the time, in a confident way. (...) Isabelle van Keulen's playing of the violin is sparkling clean and full of colours and nuances, her sophisticated sound and her brilliant technique corresponds perfectly with the piano playing of Hannes Minnaar."
15-12-2014 Eindhovens Dagblad
"["].. The lingering melodious Adagio was wondrously beautiful. With eyes closed it was compliant - the name of the symphony- dreaminf well of a winter landscape with all of that vastness and romance.""
01-12-2014 Klassiek Centraal
"["].. Van Keulen en Minnaar are slightly more adventurous, inquisitive, and therefore perhaps still slightly more exciting.""
12-11-2014 SA-CD.net
"I would certainly recommend this set, especially for what it is: shedding a different light on, and giving another insight in Ludwig van Beethoven’s oeuvre for piano and violin."
28-11-2013 Kwadratuur
"With this very intense recording Keulen en Brautigam choose for drama without reverting to pathos."
01-11-2013 pizzicato
"the dutch violinist plays the music of Ástor Piazolla with a passion. Her Ensemble supports her with highest intensity and extremely imaginative. A great achievement!"
01-11-2013 The Strad
"This release from Dutch violinist and violist Isabelle van Keulen and the ensemble she formed to play Piazzolla's music, stands out both for its exemplary performances and for its release on CD, DVD and Blue-ray."
22-09-2013 www.opusklassiek.nl
""For lovers, and there are undoubtedly many, there is nothing else but to buy both formats, but than you have the crème de la crème of Piazzolla's performances at home""
18-09-2013 Kultur online
"They take Astor Piazolla's music by heart and this is how they play themselves into the hearts of everyone loving music - and especially tango."
09-09-2013 www.hdvdarts.com
"Grade: A
"Every bar demands your complete attention. But there's little cheerful or elating about it. The overwhelming emotion of most of the numbers is sadness, especially when the mournful bandoneón is doing anything other than rhythm""
17-08-2013 klassik.com
"Well, I've been askant: Once again a recording with Tangos of Astor Piazolla which is played by musiciansof the classical-sactor. But against my expectations the interplay of the Isabelle van Keulen Ensemble with Isabelle van Keulen (violin), Christian Gerber (bandoneon), Ulrike Payer (piano) and Rüdiger Ludwig (double bass) not only works blameless, what even more important ist, that the musicians strike the specific and harsh tone."
17-08-2013 klassik.com
"Hans Pannecoucke's Regie is cautious and considered: The camera floates slowly without deviating from the actual object, while the cuts are used in a contained way. "
05-08-2013 Music Emotion
"Striking is the almost unreal perfectionism which the ensemble is playing. Perfect timing, drive, energy and emotion. A production at the highest level"
05-08-2013 NRC Handelsblad
""The CD contains many classics, like Oblivion and Libertango, but also the drawn Contrabaijisimo and the beautiful melanchol song Tanti anni prima, from Piazzolla's soundtrack from the film Enrico IV Bellochio.""
09-07-2013 hr2 Kultur
"Isabelle van Keulen and her ensemble are not re-inventing Tango. But they play the popular compositions by Piazolla with such an intensity as they are discovering it for the first time - and they create an ispiring experience for the audience."
08-06-2013 NCRV Gids
"Isabelle van Keulen let her violin cry, whistle, scream and dance. Her bandmembers, a passionate bandoneon, a virtuoso pianist and rhythmic, and a versatile bassist, are from the same level of quality. "
01-06-2013 Villa d'Arte
"I often had to place myself in other people to review bandeon albums from Piazzolla, but with this release I finally get it. "
02-04-2013 The Strad
".. the composer's five melodies came across as a carefully crafted sequence of miniatures, sophisticated both for van Keulen's alluring tone and the imaginative dreamscapes she created."
01-04-2013 The Strad
"Van Keulen's account of the anguished work, at times pretty harrowing, feels like a true emotional journey with a superb control of light and shade, elegant yet meaningfully shaped phrases and a sure sende of pacing."
26-03-2013 The Strad
"What emerges most clearly, [...], is her astonishingly adaptable, flexible sound, with vibrato, tone, attack and phrasing all shifting second by second in response to the music."
19-01-2013 De Telegraaf
"With Van Keulen and Brautigam you experience their years of conjuction. As duopartners they are more evenly well-matched. The depth and vibrancy really benefits from their open approach. "
