Kondonassis and Vieaux have carved out their respective niches by showcasing their instruments’ standard repertoire while also forging the blueprints for prospective concert programming for guitar and harp. That kind of dedicated
investment was more than evident as an eager and attentive audience witnessed what was only Kondonassis and Vieaux’s second tandem concert – a fact that is startling, given the pair’s chemistry - University of Buffalo concert with Jason Vieaux, BUFFALO NEWS, October 27, 2012
The program continued with Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera‘s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, a dramatic, cinematic and sometimes dissonant piece from 1965 that showcased Kondanassis, one of the most famous and accomplished purveyors of what she described in her post-concert comments as “one of the great underknown instruments.“ She‘s devoted her career to changing that. Her first performance with the El Paso orchestra certainly
made an impression, and resulted in an encore Saturday. - El Paso Symphony, EL PASO TIMES, October 21, 2012
"Kondonassis and Vieaux deserve to be termed magicians for the way they shaped phrases with natural fluidity, grace and, when required, fiery drama. Their program of duo and solo pieces, presented by Arts Renaissance Tremont, was a joy from top to bottom." - Arts Renaissance Tremont concert with Jason Vieaux, THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, April 23, 2012
"Friday night's "French Impressions," with Mark Sparks and Yolanda Kondonassis, was a beautiful, intimate performance by two extraordinary artists.... The music was well-chosen, beautifully and stylishly played, and presented in a friendly, intimate atmosphere, for a delightful end-of-work-week entr'acte of its own." - St. Louis Art Museum, Recital, STLtoday.com, November 19, 2011
"American harp virtuosa Yolanda Kondonassis proved an outstanding advocate for Alberto Ginastera's fiendishly difficult Harp Concerto, making the most of the work's drama and intensity while showing her technical command of the instrument along with the musical imagination of a great artist." - Ginastera Concerto, Spokane Symphony, The Spokesman-Review, November 23, 2009
"During the huge climaxes, powered by surging strings and winds, the harp is anything but a sweetly ethereal instrument. It's wild and bold. So fearless is Kondonassis' virtuosity, and so assured is the orchestra, that a question springs to mind: Could this CD be the San Diego Symphony's first Grammy contender?" - CD Bright Sheng, Never Far Away, The San Diego News Network, August 25, 2009
"Yolanda Kondonassis was a marvel of incisiveness and passion in the harp sonata, which was written for her in 1995." - Donald Erb Tribute Concert, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 31, 2009
"Guest harpist Yolanda Kondonassis was splendid, making a brittle aggressiveness as palatable as the delicacy of her soft phrase shaping." - Ginastera Harp Concerto, Lexington Philharmonic, The Lexington Herald-Leader, February 16, 2009
"Kondonassis, who is a brilliant and expressive player, did her part with great flair." - Bright Sheng Concerto w/Leonard Slatkin, The Dallas Symphony, The Star-Telegram, January 25, 2009
In order to download the complete version of the reviews, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it free here.
University of Buffalo concert with Jason Vieaux, BUFFALO NEWS (October 27, 2012)
