Quotes
“…adventurous and dramatic cello playing.”
The Whole Note
“Cellist Ariel Barnes, gave the night’s most mesmerizing musical experience… The epic nature of this composition was expressed ideally by Ariel’s dazzling technique and personal connection.”
The Live Music Report, Toronto, Canada
"Truly an inspiring Artist...it's always an event when he performs. (Ariel Barnes) is the outstanding Canadian Cellist of his generation."
Grammy and Juno Award Winning Maestro Bramwell Tovey
“Thought provoking…sheds new light on this work by drawing out expressive elements only hinted at in harpsichord or modern piano performance.” (J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations arr. Sitkovetsky)
Strad Magazine
"Barnes’ career choice seems almost pre-ordained."
"...his lucious tone and technical prowess marks him as a musician of real stature."
Vancouver Sun
“Bei Dvorák’s Cellokonzert konnte Ariel Barnes zaubern.”
Lahr Zeitung
”Faisant corps et âme avec son instrument et possédant une technique impeccable, il joue avec une musicalité envoûtante, sans artifices.”
La Liberté
“…played passiontely by Ariel Barnes…”
BBC Music Magazine
"Barnes bow work is elegant, his attacks dead-on, his command of a full palette of colors nothing short of impressive."
“The acoustic environment gave Barnes full reign to explore the extensive vocabulary of colours and textures that are such an integral part of Britten’s Suites, without straining to project”
Vancouver Sun
“…the ability to reach deep into his listeners’ souls…”
Music On Main
Reviews
“It’s always humbling to try (and) imagine how many times an artist has performed a cornerstone work for their chosen instrument. Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, an unfolding series of increasingly difficult variations based on a theme in the rococo style, is one such piece, with Barnes tackling the work with all the freshness of new discovery.
Hi immediately infused its opening theme with eloquent grace and lyrical phrasing before displaying his technical prowess, including agile figuration of his triplet figures during the second variation, tossing off relentless 32nd notes as easily as child’s play during the fourth section, and gleefully rendering his buzzing trills, including skating up and down his entire ranges during the fifth.
But he also revealed the work’s beating heart and Russian soul during its more somber sections. A highlight was its melancholic sixth variation, in which his solo voice seemed to bleed out of the orchestra, with his cadenza in particular soaked in world-weary pathos. Thankfully, these darker shadows were given relief during his bow-blazing finale fuelled by plenty of multiple stops and rapid-fire arpeggios that – as expected – led to a rousing standing ovation, with cheers of “Bravo!” from his rapt listeners.”
The program also featured the world première of award-winning Vancouver-based composer Marcus Goddard’s Cello Concerto, an innocuously titled work that provides little hint at what’s to come.
Once again, Barnes immediately got down to the task at hand, with the opening movement, Top Groove, driving forward with jagged angularity, as the cellist ripped off a rogue’s gallery of strident chords, polyrhythms, shifting metres, snap pizzicatos, woozy pitch bends and careening glissandi.
The finale, Hyperkinetic, lived up to its moniker, while also serving to further showcase Barnes’ fierce bravura with virtually not-stop playing, leading to another thundering standing ovation.
Winnipeg Free Press
Musik im Hauch des langen Atems
Der Kanadier Ariel Barnes eröffnet in der Klangmanufaktur die Hofer Cellotage. In zwei Programmstunden beweist er seine Meisterschaft.
Hof - Ariel Barnes legt den Kopf in den Nacken und holt Schwung. Diesen nutzt er, um sich mit einem sachten Impuls in die linke hohle Faust zu pusten, während er sein Haupt wieder hebt. Noch in derselben Bewegung nimmt er erneut Atem und startet beim Ausatmen ins Andante der Sonate op. 102 Nr. 1 in C-Dur von Ludwig van Beethoven für Violoncello und Klavier.
Einen Profi von Weltformat hat Organisator Markus Jung mit Ariel Barnes für das Eröffnungskonzert der 6. Hofer Cellotage gewonnen. Am Flügel begleitet wird der vielfach preisgekrönte, in international unterstützte Musikprojekte integrierte Solocellist der Nürnberger Symphoniker mit kanadischen Wurzeln von Emi Munakata. Die Japanerin arbeitet seit Jahren mit internationalen Musikergrößen zusammen und unterrichtet als Korrepetitorin an der Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker. In der Klang-Manufaktur der Hofer Symphoniker konzertieren sie vor nahezu vollem Haus - und das auf allerhöchstem Niveau. Ariel Barnes und Eni Munakata musizieren nicht nur miteinander, sondern sie verschmelzen zu einer musikalischen Einheit: Miteinander und mit der Musik. Vom sanften ersten Beethoven-Satz stürzt sich Ariel Barnes unter heftigem Ausschnauben ins Allegro Vivace. Emi Munakata nimmt seine Atemimpulse direkt auf und stimmt am Klavier musikalisch in seinen Atem ein. Selbst den einzelnen Tönen verleiht der Cellist mal mehr, mal weniger Luft, indem er die Saiten mit unterschiedlichem Druck auf den Bogen in wahnsinnigem Nuancen-Reichtum streicht.
In den Unisono-Passagen werden Cello- und Klavierklang eins. Und auch im Adagio lassen beide Künstler die Musik genau im Rhythmus ihres eigenen Atems fließen; lassen einen Blick direkt in ihre Seelen zu; ziehen sich musikalisch aus - und damit ihr Publikum absolut in ihren Bann. "Das war Musik aus Ihrer Heimat - jetzt möchte ich Ihnen Musik aus meiner Heimat vorstellen, die ein Stück meiner persönlichen Geschichte ausmacht", sagt Ariel Barnes vor zwei zeitgenössischen Werken kanadischer Komponisten.
"Triptych" aus der Feder des russischen Einwanderers Nikolai Krondorf und "Halcyon", das Korndorfs Schülerin Jocelyn Morlock geschrieben hat, stehen auf dem Programm - und lässt das Publikum erneut staunen. Während Emi Munakata am Flügel mit viel Pedal pausenlos um minimale Motive kreist, entfaltet Ariel Barnes auf dem Cello Doppelklänge von höchster Intensität, führt einzelne Töne in derart zartes Piano, dass sie im Nichts verklingen und steigert sich anschließend zu einer Lautstärke und Intensität, die einem als Zuhörer durch und durch geht.
In sphärisch-atmosphärischen Klängen erzählt das Duo von göttlichen Begegnungen und geistiger Umwandlung - und lässt die Beethoven-Sonate vom Beginn, die eigentlich leicht und frisch daher kam, durch die fragilen Klanggebilde der Zeitgenossen beinahe bodenständig wirken. Sehr leidenschaftlich präsentieren sie die Sonate op. 38 in E-Moll von Johannes Brahms. Überwältigende melancholische Kraft entfalten sie im ersten Satz Allegro non troppo, bevor sie mit feinfühlig-filigranem Klang im Allegretto quasi Menuetto die Eleganz der Brahms’schen Romantik voll und ganz auskosten. Hoch impulsiv und virtuos beschließen sie nicht nur die Sonate, sondern ihr Konzert mit dem dritten Satz Allegro. "Keine Zugabe?", raunt ein Zuhörer im Applausgewitter seinem Sitznachbarn zu - doch gesteht das den Künstlern sicher jeder zu, haben sie doch mit zwei intensiven Programmstunden wahrhaft langen Atem bewiesen.
Frankenpost
Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto is heard all the time, but not heard like it was with the combination of cellist Ariel Barnes and conductor Bramwell Tovey. The pair’s interpretation was something quite extraordinary. Both were happy to indulge Elgar’s swagger as well as his sentiment, plumbing the work’s deepest feelings and never, ever, shying away from its almost stifling sense of melancholy and loss.
The myriad ways this was accomplished would gain nothing by the telling, but this remarkable concerto pairing immediately brings to mind the Tovey/James Ehnes collaboration on Elgar’s Violin Concerto last season. How profligate it would be to lose both as one-time only events; if anything in recent VSO memory needs to be preserved on disc, it is these two Elgar performances.
The Vancouver Sun
"Composed by Vancouver’s Jocelyn Morlock and performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with cello soloist Ariel Barnes, it was a highly charged and emotional performance. As he dove into the three-movement concerto, with a score featuring winds, horns, harp, percussion and strings, Barnes’s cello wound through jarring codas and vibrant passacaglias before reaching its dramatic conclusion, evoking a lucid dream: a kind of “waking dream” where the dreamer has some control over the narrative."
"...rising star (Ariel) Barnes..."
Macleans Magazine
engaging performance by cellist ariel barnes leaves mco fans wanting more
One of the hallmarks of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra has always been its savvy programming that balances well-loved chestnuts with modernistic fare. It also knows how to present newer artists that its loyal audiences regularly fall in love with.
The concert showcasing guest cellist Ariel Barnes Tuesday night again proved the point.
Hailed for his luscious tone and technical prowess, the rising star has served as principal cellist for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Bramwell Tovey, conductor) since January 2013. He’s also been recently selected by the CBC as one of six Canadian cellists for its celebrated Canadian Bach Cello Suite Project.
The program led by Anne Manson opened with an excerpt from Ernest Bloch’s three-part From Jewish Life (1924). Barnes immediately infused its first movement Prayer with soulful longing — albeit somewhat restrained — that at first seemed a plea not born of passion, but world-weary resignation. However a great artist is one that paces with an eye on the whole, so that his final declamatory bursts gained greater strength by contrast.
Barnes also treated us to a classical confection: Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, H.VIIB:2 that brims with sunny spirits as much as technically treacherous passagework.
After a leisurely introduction in Allegro moderato by the now expanded orchestra, the cellist once again leapt in with ease, navigating its series of double stops underscored by lyrical phrasing.
A warmly engaging performer — just what MCO audiences love— Barnes often beamed at the other musicians, communicating infectious joy to all those around him. A highlight proved to be his cadenza that scaled the heights before plummeting back to tonal depths.
The Adagio allowed greater opportunity to hear his honeyed tone emanating from his 1730 New-land Johannes Franciscus Celoniatus cello from Turin, Italy, on loan to him for three years courtesy of the 2012 Canada Council Instrument Bank Competition.
Then it became time for the rollicking Rondo that steadily grows in complexity. Barnes showed us his dramatic side as the folksy theme temporarily veered into minor key territory, before finally returning to its buoyant self including lightning speed figuration....Hopefully this dynamic performer will return — and soon.
Winnipeg Free Press
Il n’y a aucune dichotomie entre la compréhension intellectuelle de l’œuvre et son interprétation musicale chez Barnes. Ce qu’il en dit se reflète dans son jeu. Faisant corps et âme avec son instrument et possédant une technique impeccable, il joue avec une musicalité envoûtante, sans artifices. Le son est toujours limpide. L’élocution des phrases est subtilement accentuée et nuancée, avec un débit très fluide. Il sait où il va et ce qu’il veut exprimer. (Haydn D Major Concerto)
Barnes a joué cette brève pièce avec grande ferveur, imposant une ambiance de profond recueillement. Il transcende la technique, exprimant une émotion qui jaillit des profondeurs du cœur. (Ernst Bloch, “Prayer”)
La Liberté
“The sold-out house on Tuesday was one of the quieter and certainly more attentive audiences I’ve encountered in recent months…Britten’s demands on his instrumentalist are considerable, but always well thought out and idiomatic. Writing for a performer of Rostropovich’s stature inspired Britten to create music of commensurate status. Barnes negotiated the virtuoso detail with considerable aplomb. He has a big sound—when he needs it—and an extensive palette of attractive string colours. His assimilation of Britten’s often enigmatic style was mature; there was no sense of effects for the sake of effects, no untoward theatrics or cuteness. His readings were bold and thoughtful and his spoken introductions on target. In all, an evening of serious music-making given additional lustre by a fresh and creative presentation.”
The Vancouver Sun