San Francisco Classical Voice - March 12, 2019
'“The small Boston Court Pasadena theater was gripped by powerful string playing on Saturday night. The concert, “A Companion Guide to Women Composers and Rome” starred an all-women string trio performing works by women composers as well as Andrew Norman’s The Companion Guide to Rome.
[…] Kaija Saariaho’s Sept Papillons for solo cello allowed cellist Juliette Herlin to showcase a wonderful bowing technique. At times, her bow seemed to outline the shape of a butterfly as it followed the natural curve of the cello’s bridge. At one moment, the sound of her fingers tapping on the fingerboard rang out in the hall, before her bow arrived to produce an eerie whisper. She described this work as among her favorite to perform. Her use of harmonics lent a crystalline shine to the work. I saw Herlin perform this same piece several weeks ago at a concert of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra. The consistency of her quality is impressive, given the work’s technical challenges. […]”
- Ben Kutner
Full review: https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/boston-court-pasadena/women-reign-at-boston-court-pasadena