Ilya Gringolts

"The technically stupendous Ilya Gringolts and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire under Pascal Rophé bring an electrifying tension to this work [Michael Jarrell's violin concerto]."

Pizzicato, 25/12/2023

“As it unfolded, it seemed tailor-made for Gringolts’ mastery of the expressive qualities of his instrument, from the otherworldliness of harmonics to the rustic colours of folk song and the dark echo of Baroque refinement.”

BACHTRACK, Christopher Woodley, 05/11/2023

“[I]t was easy to understand why Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts is such a star in the classical music firmament. To see him playing live on stage was to marvel at his immense technical prowess and his incredible empathy with the music he plays. […] Superlatives always abound in any discussion of Gringolts’ virtuosic playing and in this case they are not exaggerations, especially given that this concerto is considered one of the most challenging in the great orchestral repertoire. Playing a 1718 ‘ex-Prové’ Stradivari, Gringolts brought out every nuance in this rich and highly variegated score. From its early dreamy melodies to the scherzo with all its fireworks, Gringolts and Prokofiev are a match made in heaven.”

ARTSHUB, Diana Carroll, 26/09/2023

“Another day, another soloist. And then there is Ilya Gringolts. This violinist possesses a special brand of wizardry that is completely his own, and when matched with music that suits his particularly adventurous inclinations, one has to seriously ask if there could be any other violinist on this planet who can rival his unique set of powers.”

InDaily, Graham Strahle, 25/09/2023

“Ilya Gringolts is one of the best violinists in the business these days. His playing of this work was everything one could have wished for, and more, in terms of tonal beauty and shading, virtuosity of execution and sheer musicality. During the performance, one was also constantly aware of the creative interaction between Gringolts and the [Tasmanian Symphony] orchestra. While conductor and soloist shaped the contours of the concerto with great sensitivity and dynamic nuance, one could also sense that everyone was listening to each other and responding accordingly.”

LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE, Peter Donnelly, 10/09/2023

“A violinist’s violinist. It’s difficult to imagine a more complete violinist than Ilya Gringolts. And even harder to imagine a more perfect performance than the one he gave of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G major, scaled down to fit the Australian Chamber Orchestra.”

LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE, Steve Moffatt, 08/02/2023

“He launched the 35-minute work in a way that felt like bubbles coming up to a surface and, with an almost constant musical presence, played his complex part with a precision that was breathtaking. [...] Gringolts showed himself a true master of expression and exactitude.”

Bachtrack.com, Sarah Batschelet, 11/02/2022

“His individuality is reflected right down to the programming, when he mixes classical and contemporary music as a matter of course, understanding the old music as a source of inspiration for the new. [...] To present a work as if you were hearing it for the first time, that is Gringolts' self-imposed goal - more is really not possible.”

FAZ, Lotte Thaler, 09/01/2022

From the opening track onwards, elegant playing launches a programme rich in charm from Ilya Gringolts and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, all on sparkling form.

Gramophone, Editor’s Choice March 2021 (Locatelli SACD with Finnish Baroque)

Soloist and director, Ilya Gringolts, produces exciting and profound readings of Locatelli’s music, and he is very ably supported by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra in the 9th, 11th and 12th concertos of the set. 

Early Music Review, D. James Ross, 7/03/2021 (on the Locatelli SACD with Finnish Baroque)

"[...] the whole thing sounds fabulous. First, there’s the sheer energy and joy radiating out from what is a deliciously luminously stringy sound from the orchestra […]. Then in comes Gringolts, equally full of stylish, multicoloured élan on his gut-stringed 1770 Gagliano […]. Under Gringolts’s fingers they’re [Locatelli’s cappricios] swooningly silky, sweet-toned, subtly shaded and curved of contour."

Grammophone, Charlotte Gardner, February 2021

“Ilya Gringolts is a virtuoso of the highest order. The arpeggios of the “Il labirinto armonico” flutter airily and a sense of ease permeates the runs, with the highest notes climbing up to the 5-line octave.”

Helsingin Sanomat, Jukka Isopuro 12/01/2021 (on the Locatelli SACD with Finnish Baroque)

“Ilya Gringolts’ recording [of Locatelli's L'arte del violino] with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra does justice to the virtuoso as well as to the elaborate ornamentation.The performance is consistently fresh, inventive, detailed and clearly phrased. It shows that Locatelli had a distinctive individual style and why he was called by contemporaries as an ‘unrivalled virtuoso’, by Diderot even as an ‘apostle of new music’. Gringolts emphasizes all aspects of Locatelli’s tonal language, whether lyrical, sentimental, virtuosic or dance-like.”

Pizzicato, Remy Franck, 9/01/2021

“Every note, every harmony, every individual tone and glissando has its right place in this work. The precision and intensity with which the MKO and Ilya Gringolts – who, both technically and musically, is nothing short of masterful – illuminate the score and render it an event leaves the listener completely enthralled. This is how contemporary music should be: urgent and compelling.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Klaus Kalchschmid, 17/10/2020

“The sensual surface of Beat Furrer’s violin concerto could be best described as a heady mixture of “sex and Formula One”. [...] In contrast to the majority of recent violin concertos, Furrer’s piece places the emphasis on the soloist.”

Münchener Abendzeitung, Robert Braunmüller, 15/10/2020

“Gringolts compares Furrer’s music to lava. But he, the violinist, is clearly the volcano in the room. Without any excess movements, but inwardly glowing and furious, Gringolts blasts rapid cascades of sound into the room. [...] No one could step in ad hoc – particularly not for Ilya Gringolts. Especially since none of the other great violinists even comes close to having the unfettered expressiveness that Furrer’s twenty-minute eruption absolutely requires.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Reinhard Brembeck, 14/10/2020

“The Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts [...] fully absorbed in the moment, made his violin sing and shriek with delight, without misplacing a single note – a virtuoso piece [Schubert's Rondo in A major D 438 with the MKO] that goes down easy but is very difficult to play.”

Schwäbische Zeitung, Dorothee L. Schaefer, 14/10/2020

“The musicians from the Gringolts Quartet and Meta4 fuse into a single body, finding in certain moments a sort of orchestral fullness – just as Mendelssohn was aiming for with his eight-string instrumentation.”

WDR 3 Tonart, Markus Stäbler, Albums of the Week 16/03-20/03/2020

“[Joannes Maria Staud's Oskar sets] the violin ablaze [...]. Throughout the virtuosic 20 minutes, you’re on the edge of your seat worrying over the fingers of the famed Ilya Gringolts, who vibrates so often at the bridge, suggesting a heightening and heating up of the action, that you feel the flames just by listening to it.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Klaus Kalchschmid, 04/02/2020

“This concert was in a class of its own, a positively unforgettable experience, featuring a musician who was committed and inspired down to his bones. [Ilya Gringolts'] interpretations [are a testament] to his profound engagement with and deep understanding of the works [Sciarrino, Widmann and Paganini], and to his unflappable, confident mastery of the instrument.”

Pizzicato, Uwe Krusch, 16/01/2020

“The concerto [Heinz Holliger Violin Concert "Hommage à Louis Soutter] – played here with harrowing conviction by soloist Ilya Gringolts – draws on the starkness of Soutter’s visual images.”

The Scotsman, Ken Walton, 9/12/2019

“The Russian violinist draws from his Guarneri del Gesù a sound of such luminosity and rich timbre that it renders the Finnish work [Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor op.47 by Jean Sibelius] an immense aurora borealis, to which his attentive and warm interpretation lent a shimmering quality.”

El País, Julián Carrillo, 24/03/2019

“It has been proven countless times that Ilya Gringolts is one of the best violinists of his generation [...]. A Korngold of stunning transparency, Gringolts brings, with almost ridiculous ease, a clarity of execution to even the most difficult passages.”

L'ape musicale, Mario Tedeschi Turco, 6/03/2019

“The Russian violinist also demonstrates the feat of making music from the solo part [of the concerto for violin and larger chamber orchestra Op. 36 No. 3 by Paul Hindemith]. [...] His tone is not only filigree-fine, but also so radiant that the figurations are highly enjoyable, the mechanics soothing.”

Münchener Abendzeitung, Michael Bastian Weiß, 1/02/2019

“Ilya Gringolts played Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, Opus 6 with a hugely impressive display of apparently effortless technical mastery, grasping harmonics, extreme high notes, elegant double stopped slides and rich G-string melodies with nonchalant playfulness.”

The Sidney Morning Herald, Clive O'Connell, 14/10/2018

“To Gringolts’ dazzling assurance in Paganini’s First Violin Concerto (here heard in a string-orchestra-only version), no mere reviewer can do justice. Surely the sports world’s equivalent of such assurance would be doing handstands on a unicycle while singing the national anthem backwards.”

The Limelight Australia, R.J. Stove, 2/10/2018

“Most impressive is Gringolts’ musical intelligence. Still, serious and visually unassuming, he shapes Paganini’s flourishes into stylish sweeps, avoiding virtuosic overstatement, yet allowing phrases to drive forward with a sense of complete freedom. Joyously exposing the work’s lyrical foundations, he keeps his lines sweet and carefree, never hunting for gravitas where it cannot be found.”

The Australian, Eamonn Kelly, 3/10/2018

“Bartók’s monumental Sonata for Solo Violin, made a perfect vehicle for [Gringolts' deep musicality and intense fire]. Playing from memory, Gringolts mastered this beast of a piece, displaying every technique under the sun and, more importantly, providing a convincing interpretation.”

Bachtrack, Mark Thomas, 23/07/2018

“A thorough survey of Stravinsky’s violin music, Gringolts’s mastery of the composer’s idiom makes his CD and its earlier companion credible front-runners, or at the very least level-pegging with the excellent though rather less comprehensive Marwood collection.”

Gramophone, Rob Cowan, 10/2017

“A performance of the century – one truly heard Paganini’s Capricci for the very first time. […] the phrasing was so elegant, nimble and illuminating, the intonation so squeaky-clean, the line so multi-faceted.”

Der Standard, Heidemarie Klabacher, 23/08/2017

“Gringolts’ playing has a character, gesture, expression and a musical language that composers can only dream of. […] One can hardly play the violin more expressively and uncompromisingly than Gringolts.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Harald Eggebrecht, 30/08/2017

“It’s [Adams’s violin concerto] played with authority and spark by Gringolts (…) Korngold’s 1974 concerto is an even better showcase for Grigolts, whose strikingly expansive lyricism keeps schmaltz at bay.”

The Guardian, Erica Jeal, 6/04/2017

“Ilya Gringolts mastered the exceedingly difficult solo part [in Ligeti’s Violin Concerto] with stoic serenity and did not shy away from the composer’s extremely tricky cadenza, but rather replaced it with one played at an even more breakneck pace.”

FAZ, Max Nyffeler, 20/12/2016

“[Ilya Gringolts, James Boyd and Nicolas Altstaedt] played not only amazingly flawlessly, but also with captivating spirit. […] A sublime sensation - small but perfectly formed.“

FAZ, Eleonore Büning, 23/09/2015

“Ilya Gringolts was the soloist this time [Bach’s A minor Violin Concerto] – rather luxury casting for a work that lasts barely 15 minutes, but his playing had enough panache and swagger about it to turn the concerto into a convincing showcase for his virtuosity.”

The Guardian, Andrew Clements, 12/03/2015

“Few recordings [of Paganinis Caprices] search out the musical depths as convincingly as the youngest ever Premio Paganini competition winner, Ilya Gringolts. […] and it is not too fanciful to imagine something of Paganini’s own ‘other-worldliness’.”

The Strad, David Milsom, 5/01/2014

“[Ilya Gringolts] presents here what may be ‘a work of archeology’ but is clearly a fresh, modern take on these technical masterpieces. What he has achieved is to make them playful. Having discovered the dramatic qualities within, he has reflected on them. What in other recordings is somewhat predictable here becomes an exciting journey. Where we were once content simply to marvel at the pyrotechnics, now, because of Gringolts’s [sic] acute sense of timing and close attention to dynamics, we hear the music.”

Gramophone, Julie Anne Sadie, December 2013 (on the recording of Paganini: 24 Caprices op. 1)

“But the ultimate highlight was Schoenberg's Violin Concerto, played with stunning command and tenderness by Ilya Gringolts. Big vibrato, big gestures – he's an old-fashioned soloist of sorts, and turned one of the scariest concertos in the business into a work of expressive, emotive necessity.”

The Guardian, 1/06/2012

“In the hands of a player of Gringolts' calibre, [the technical demands] simply rendered the performance all the more thrilling. The dare-devilry of the cadenzas was matched by Gringolts' immense musicality. Even the quiet moments were electrifying, especially the opening of the final cadenza, which simultaneously features double-stopping and trills. [...] Gringolts seemed as engaged in [orchestral passages] as when in full flight. He really seemed to thrill to the orchestra's playing, and he clearly loves the work. This joy was reciprocated in the beaming faces of the BBC SSO, particularly the violinists.”

Bachtrack, 30/05/2012