INGRID MATTHEWS
baroque violinist

Reviews

Ingrid Matthews
"What drew listeners beyond the level of Matthews' imposing technique was the sense of passionate commitment beneath... the audience was wildly, and deservedly, enthusiastic."
Seattle Times
"A splendid performance... Swift speeds, gleaming sonorities and infectious rhythmic verve infused the music with energy and character. However, Matthews's intelligent direction ensured the strong contrasts in tempo and dynamics never became overemphatic."
the Australian
"She danced and throbbed with vitality, allowing the music to play her as much as she played it; her extraordinary virtuosity was dazzling in the breadth of movement and emotion she conveyed."
ArtsHub Sydney
"Matthews sustained a clear, rich tone while surmounting the relentless virtuosic challenges with dexterous brilliance. ... (her) solos in the concerto exhibited a winning mix of flamboyance and subtlety."
the Australian
"Ingrid Matthews…. has raised the interpretation of these masterpieces (the Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin by J. S. Bach) to a new level….this is the finest complete set of these works I have heard."
Third Ear's Classical Music Listening Companion
"This superb recording (of the Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin by J.S. Bach) is now my top recommendation for these works… on either period or modern instruments."
American Record Guide
"Matthews' braving of Bach's Solo Sonata in A Minor… delineated the near-sublime beauty of its andante and mapped out the inroads of its treacherous and massive fugue with more clarity and commitment than one hears from many of today's most famous violinists, baroque or otherwise."
Winston-Salem Journal
"Both luminous and illuminating…. Matthews made the D Minor Partita (of Bach) wondrous yet precise."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Matthews dazzled in her astounding performance of the Partita No. 2. Who hasn't heard at least its finale? Who has ever heard it like this? The audience was basically spell-bound during this work and particularly so in the 16-minute chaconne. Those who have not heard Matthews play it are unlikely to be able to imagine what it was like in the hall. She brought to bear the special tones and textures of a superior instrument played with flawless technique and fueled by her superior artistry, atop which she's a player who throws every fiber of her body into her work. There are alas times when words fail us, and this is one of them."
Classical Voice of North Carolina
"Violinist Ingrid Matthews played J.S. Bach’s Solo Partita in E major with ready technical assurance and an engaging sense of style. Apart from the virtuosity of the Prelude and Gigue, there was the delicacy of her double-stops in the Gavotte that provided just the right amount of harmonic support without jostling the smooth melodic line."
Indianapolis Star
"vigorous and stylish… a searching temperament married to keen instincts for melodic ornamentation"
DMV Classical (Washington DC)
"Soloist Ingrid Matthews played with virtuosic panache"
Washington Post
"Matthews' energy, propulsion and amazing, quicksilver ornaments drew the ear… exciting, furious and exuberant."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Matthews' playing embodied the description used for one work on the program as an "elevation of the soul." She combined intensity with delicacy, technical excellence with nuance in every piece she played."
Winston-Salem Journal
"Extravagantly expressive… expertly, artfully performed."
Classics Today.com
"Taste, insight and alluring technique… Matthews is an instrumentalist, one of few, who actually gives body to her gut-strung violin and adds an assured technical facility that seems to permit no falterings or errors. There is a sureness to every note she plays."
Bloomington Herald-Times
"Matthews brought an improvisatory flair to long arcs of intricate, virtuosic passagework, all executed with nimbleness."
Boston Globe
"Mention must be made of the artistry of violinist Ingrid Matthews, who puts gut and horse-hair together in a way which is constantly, truly beautiful. Every note is impeccably tuned and imbued with meaning…"
Orange County Register
"Matthews… is considered one of the lights on early music’s international circuit."
San Francisco Chronicle
"Violinist Ingrid Matthews was particularly felicitous, playing with great verve and style."
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Of Seattle Baroque Orchestra
(Ingrid Matthews, Music Director)

"Led by violinist Ingrid Matthews, the (Seattle Baroque) orchestra switched perfectly from lulls to sudden tempestuous gusts, with every thunder roll, wave or lightning strike transparently clear…. The concert sounded fresh and vibrant, beautifully balanced and absolutely together throughout the concert."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"The vitality and passion of the SBO quickly overrides any misconceptions about stuffy early music..."
Seattle Times
"Seattle Baroque Orchestra shows us what dynamic leadership can achieve…Seattle is fortunate to have such an accomplished baroque group."
Chicago Tribune
"It was a night of joyous energy and spirit."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Of La Luna
(Ingrid Matthews, first violin)

"Effortless superiority… was all at the service of the music, which… moved the capacity audience to cheers and stamping."
Boston Globe
"(the musicians) were at once bracingly vigorous and exquisitely subtle. They can play with amazing speed, and while they're at it pepper the music with a world of accent and dynamic subtlety. Matthews and Metcalfe are especially clever with a sotto voce effect, which they somehow manage to do abruptly at high speed. It’s almost as gripping as their explosive bursts of energy."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Particularly impressive is Ingrid Matthews' performance of Georg Muffat’s 12-minute sonata… This is an important work and filled with the same difficulties of interpretation as works by Biber and JJ Walther, and I prefer Matthews’s sensitive approach to the earlier recordings of this work by Ingrid Seifert and Marianne Ronez."
American Record Guide
"This is perhaps the best recording of baroque chamber music that I have experienced. The performances by the members of La Luna are exquisite, both in terms of technique and style."
American Record Guide
"Violinists Ingrid Matthews and Scott Metcalfe are scorching in the virtuoso passages but also bring cool grace and intellect to the more serious-minded works…. Magnificently performed."
Early Music America
"In La Luna’s deeply introspective yet virtuosic performances, the music cumulatively has an intoxicating, sensuality-drenched intensity all its own."
Gramophone
"This is one of the most enjoyable recordings of early 17th century violin music I have heard…. superb, both technically and artistically. The rich, supple tone of the violinists Ingrid Matthews and Scott Metcalfe is at times so beautiful that the first time I listened to this disc I found myself several times hitting the replay button before moving on to the next sonata….The panache, style and technical brilliance of these four relataively young musicians and the sheer beauty of the works they have chosen make this a truly irresistible disc."
Goldberg

Of Stradella Cantatas recording for Harmonia Mundi with Christine Brandes
(HMU 907192)

"The brilliant violinist Ingrid Matthews shines in the sinfonias."
Early Music America
"The instrumental work is brilliant… an unalloyed delight for the serious baroque collector."
American Record Guide