BachtrackThe compassion he infused into the score, his repartee with the players, and his unabated energy showed him an étoile of the first order.
GuardianTechnically, he was faultless, as one might expect, but what was really so remarkable about his playing here was the way he made the music breathe and sing in lyrical, expansive paragraphs while remaining continuously alert both to subtleties of meaning and absolute directness of expression
GramophoneThis is playing that sorts out the men from the boys. I doubt if there is more than a handful of violinists alive who can match Kavakos in the tonal variety, accuracy and speed of his harmonics, or in the deft alternation of bowing and left-hand pizzicato. In fact, I wonder if Paganini would have equalled him.