The 27-year-old cellist Harriet Krijgh exulted in an extraordinary performance as a soloist of Saint-Saëns cello concerto in A minor: uplifting was the extensive, warm, faultless tone, her proficiency at endless, intimate phrases, and her never overpowering, charming and convincing presence, owing to her precious instrument as well.
Krijgh, Gimeno and the Symphoniker succeeded in offering a refreshing rendition of a valuable piece of music which often suffers from being referred to a musical
category of “ nice voices, nice melodies”.
For this concert the also in this country underestimated Saint Saëns attributed an emancipated role to the cello which Harriet Krijgh was able to wonderfully engage herself with.
Harriet Krijgh performed Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major at the Grant Park Music Festival.
…Harriet Krijgh has been making the rounds of major U.S orchestras in recent seasons, and the young Dutch cellist served up a notable local bow in music of Haydn.
Like many early Haydn concertos, his Cello Concerto in C major has feet planted in two musical eras. The first movement’s stately ripieno alternation is a vestige of Baroque style while the slow movement and bravura finale point the way forward to the Classical, and even Romantic eras.
Krijgh possesses a remarkable technique, which remained intact even on a moist, humid evening, and she performed with faultless intonation and even articulation. It certainly didn’t hurt to be playing Haydn’s concerto on a magnificent, nearly 500-year-old instrument; her 1620 Giovanni Paolo Maggini cello, on private loan, offered striking richness and depth with a wide range of tonal hues…
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Source: chicagoclassicalreview.com
Photo: Norman Timonera
★★★★½ English masterpieces by Elgar and Vaughan Williams in superbly played programme.
The solo part in Elgar’s Cello Concerto was played by the young Dutch cellist Harriet Krijgh. Though her tone is not as full as some of the great cellists who have essayed this work (notably Jacqueline Du Pre, whom she somewhat resembles in looks), her pitch was sure and she projected the solo line strongly into the house. This late work contains a built-in strain of melancholy that was never over-emphasised in Krijgh’s rendition: she produced a line of seamless lyrical beauty in the first movement, great delicacy and immaculate control in the scherzo (matched by the orchestra), then more openly heartfelt phrasing in the slow movement and the concerto’s touching coda.
It was an impressive performance that will only grow more personal and deeply felt with time. Spano and the orchestra’s contribution proved a great asset; to take just one instance, they made a sharp point of Elgar’s offbeat accented chords in the finale. Overall, this was not just a fascinating program but a genuine showcase for the orchestra, and a wonderful introduction to an expressive young cellist.
20.04.2017 Limelight Magazine (Australia)
Cellist Harriet Krijgh, who studied at the Kronberg Academy, and conductor Dominik Beykirch, mesmerized with their debut in the Frankfurt HR-Sende Hall.
With a for this age rare sovereignty the young cellist, who received her education in Vienna and at the Kronberg Academy, fully brought to life Kabalewski’s first cello concerto in G minor opus 49. She made her instrument sing marvelously and found for her performance just the right balance between sensitivity and seriousness. Nothing was academically dry or pathetically overdone. The beguiling tone of her 400 year old cello from the workshop of Giovanni Paolo Maggini exuded music in its purest form. The audience present was spellbound by the virtuosity of the young musician and applauded so enthusiastically after the fascinating interpretation of the Russian work, that Harriet had to calm down the emotions. That she managed to do so felicitously with a quietly swaying Sarabande by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Voice from the audience
A riveting evening, that stirred enthusiasm in the audience. One of the euphoric listeners in the Sende Hall was the Frankfurt student Rosina Sfyridou. For her the evening was “”Balm for the soul”. She summarizes her impressions as follows: “the talented Dutch cellist Harriet Krijgh was, besides the emerging conductor Dominik Beykrich, the centrepoint of the evening. In her beguiling blue dress she literally sat in the middle of attention, even more accentuated by her central position in the Sende Hall in Frankfurt. It was fascinating to see with how much feeling she embraced her 400 year old cello. With full physical intention she felt herself through each series of tone, however complex. One could not only see and hear her but it could be fully sensed what she intended to express. With the Sarabande by Johann sebastian Bach as encore a sensation of peace filled the hall. I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and all that burdened me fell away. When I opened my eyes once again, I saw that sound and vision found themselves in perfect harmony. It was not only an outstanding concert, but also an extraordinary experience at a student friendly price”.
19.11.2016 Frankfurter Neue Presse
Brilliant in abundance
Event: Concert of top works from the Romantic period by the North Netherlands Orchestra under guidance by Michael Nesterowicz.
With: Harriet Krijgh (cello).
Program: Mendelssohn, “Fairytale of the beautiful Melusine” (ouverture); Saint-Saens, cello concerto no. 1; Tchaikovski, Symphony no. 5 (“Fate”). Heard: 27/10 in the Oosterpoort, Groningen.
The intensity of her tone, the magnificent glissando to which she for a last time returned to the first theme: all was of a pure beauty. Thus also the melancholy with Bach’s first cello suite which she played as an encore. For – even when this should of course not be said – with such a wealth of musical ideas which seems to spontaneously spring from a deep well, one is reminded of Jacqueline Dupre. And not only because of this – Harriet Krijgh radiates a similar, unlikely mingling of the mundane and ephemeral in her expression, plays with a similar graceful movement of the arms, yet also presents a look alike appearance with her listening face held up aslant.
After this wonderful event nothing could spoil our evening any more.
Minke Muilwijk
Dagblad van het Noorden (The Netherlands) October 29 th 2016
Innsbruck – there are works of music to which erotic qualities have been attributed. One of those is Cesar Franck’s sonata in A major for cello and piano, which Franck composed for his friend Eugene Ysaye as a wedding present. As if eroticism would not make sense for such a gift! Indeed, the performance which Harriet Krijgh (cello) and Magda Amara (piano) presented as the eighth concert of the chamber music series at the conservatory of Innsbruck was more or less like a musical wedding night.
With a tone that spoke to all senses Krijgh fully captured this illustrative combination of both poetic and sensual joy, of subtleness and passion. Such gripping abandonment was to no lesser degree heard in Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s symphonically laid out sonata for cello and piano no. 2 in D major, opus 58. The young, multiple prize winning cellist unfolded a sweet-spicy euphony and a pureness of intonation of a kind that is rarely heard.
2016 05 08 Tiroler Tageszeitung (Austria)
With cellist Harriet Krijgh one feels slightly reminded of the legendary Jacqueline du Pre…. Since naturally she possesses similar large gestures, and knows how to impress with the full tone of her instrument, a cello by Giovanni Paolo Maggini from the year 1620. Yet it seems with her sensations more so take place in secret. Her ability to give shape in a sometimes almost inaudible range compels the listener to pay attention with great acuity. Thus she succeeds to lend tension to the music.
2016 04 26 Westfalen Blatt (Germany)
..soon enough the cello smoothly soared into a solo that fully captured the melancholy, or even almost lament, of the second phrase. Through Harriet Krijgh’s interpretation the solo had the effect of a pause, as if to gather breath for the powerful,rich sounding explosion of the final part. The audience gave standing ovations and brought the cellist back to the stage twice. Krijgh gave her thanks in return with a Bach serenade. Time seemed to have stopped for a moment as the audience harkened to the contemplative cello music…
2016 04 22 Westfalen Blatt (Germany)
Stunning concert with Harriet Krijgh and Magda Amara in the Trau church during the Thuringen Bach weeks.
…This powerful work gave the perfectly well-rehearsed duo the prime opportunity to stretch their instrumental technical skill to its very limits. With a concert of such world class it was hardly surprising that the final applause, a long lasting Crescendo and Diminuendo, had its effect too and encouraged both stars to play a small encore…