Reviews
Fanfare Magazine
Grażyna Bacewicz: A Portrait (Centaur) presents works for violin solo and violin/piano duo by the 20th-century Polish composer and violinist. The Partita for Violin Solo and Scherzo for Violin Solo receive world premiere recordings. The collection of works, spanning 1932 to 1968 (the year before the composer’s death) showcases her affinity for a range of approaches. Bacewicz is often associated with a neo-classical aesthetic, and that aspect of her craft is well represented. The Sonata No. 1 for Solo Violin (1941) (which Bacewicz premiered at an underground concert in Nazi-occupied Warsaw), Concertino for Violin and Piano (1949), and Partita for Violin Solo (1945) all pay homage to Bach, albeit in a 20th-century tonal idiom. There are unapologetic showpieces as well. The two Polish Caprices are a nod to Paganini, via Polish folk melodies and dances. The late Four Caprices for Violin Solo (1968) are in a similar vein, but with a full embrace of atonality. The Scherzo for Violin Solo (1935) and Capriccio for Violin and Piano (1946) combine virtuosity with a lightness of spirit. There are also three lovely, introspective miniatures, all scored for violin and piano: Melody (1949), Stained-Glass Window, and Cradle Song (1952). Here, Bacewicz is every bit at home as in her more austere Neoclassical works and virtuoso showpieces.
Bacewicz was a highly accomplished violinist, and her writing for the instrument is technically quite demanding. When those demands are fulfilled, the effect is thrilling. Such is the case on this recital. Violinist Kinga Augustyn has been the subject of several laudatory reviews by my Fanfare colleagues. She is in superb form for this recital, playing with a rich, concentrated tone that never falters and dispensing the technical hurdles presented in the Caprices (and elsewhere) with breathtaking confidence and ease. The neoclassical works have a marvelous sense of proportion and impetus. And in the trio of lyrical works, Augustyn plays with alluring sensitivity, charm, and tonal beauty. She has a worthy collaborator in pianist Alla Milchtein. To be sure, the violin is the center of attention in the Bacewicz duo pieces. But Augustyn and Milchtein convey a true sense of ensemble and balance, a credit to both artists. The recorded sound is excellent. Ted Mirecki provides informative program notes. This is a marvelous recital.
— Grażyna Bacewicz: A Portrait. Ken Meltzer. Fanfare Magazine. June 2023
Ruch Muzyczny
BACEWICZ FROM THE NEW WORLD
Violinist Kinga Augustyn, born in Wrocław, Poland, has, since her graduation from the Juilliard School, been based in New York City, from where she pursues a world-wide career as a performer and teacher. Her artistic achievements include several records of demanding violin repertory (including a complete set of the Paganini Caprices). Her album Turning in Time was met with enthusiasm by listeners and critics. One of the key numbers on that disc is the Second Sonata for Violin Solo by Grażyna Bacewicz. This time, Augustyn has recorded an entire disc of this composer’s music, also issued abroad.
The bulk of the program consists of works for solo violin, which Bacewicz, who performed concerts until 1953, endowed with a technically advanced character, refined and explicitly demonstrating her artistic personality. Of special note are works which form the gist of the collection – the expansive, expressive First Sonata (1941) and Four Caprices (1968), in which Augustyn presents many complex virtuosic elements with masterful skill. These are no mere stage acrobatics, but musical renditions well thought-out in their details and based on a deep sensitivity. The performer does not seek to impress with spectacular effects, does not strive to be forcefully extravagant – even in what is possibly the most famous work in Bacewicz’s violinist legacy, the Polish Caprice (1949). Other great assets are the Partita (1945) and Scherzo (1935). Notably, on this disc these works are world premiere recordings.
The compositions for violin and piano have a different character. Except for the Capriccio (1946), they are dominated by lyricism (Melodia, Lullaby) or impressionism (Stained Glass). In their interpretations of these works, Augustyn and her pianist Alla Milchtein invoke the spirit of delicate, sensual salon miniatures. In another mode, the two artists present, with humor and energy, the brief, simple, but so charming Concertino (1945), styled in the Baroque fashion.
This recording not only presents an accurate portrait of the composer, showcasing the various facets of her style (from à la brillante exhibitionism, through folklore and neoclassicism, up to avant-garde sounds), but also an intriguing insight into the accomplishments of Kinga Augustyn herself – a mature, unconventional performing artist, undoubtedly deserving the title of ambassador of Polish culture.
— Grażyna Bacewicz: A Portrait. Witold Paprocki. Ruch Muzyczny. April 2023
Ruch Muzyczny
The three pieces that we heard the last Friday of May at the Lower Silesian Philharmonic are not well known to the general public. After listening to the concert, I have no doubt that they deserve more interest from the performers.
In the first half of the evening, the outstanding violinist Kinga Augustyn performed for music lovers two pieces by Polish composer Romuald Twardowski: Capriccio in Blue and Violin Concerto, together with the Lower Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under Przemysław Neumann. From the very start, the audience’s attention was drawn to the beautiful sound that the artist produced from the eighteenth-century violin that she affectionately calls "Józio”. In the first work she performed, we could hear clear references to the work of George Gershwin - starting from the instrumentation, through the jazz-inspired syncopated rhythm, to perhaps the most glaring example of the American composer's influence, i.e. the melody.
The Violin Concerto enabled Kinga Augustyn to showcase her technical and interpretative craftsmanship. The piano [quiet moments], which the violinist achieved by a touching, gradually fading out diminuendo, made an especially great impression. The artist delighted in both the daringly played spectacular solo sections and cadenzas, as well as in the [singing] cantilenas requiring a long phrase. The Concerto was poignantly performed and showed an emotionality that was not so clear in the Capriccio. The orchestra harmoniously accompanied the soloist in a well-thought-out and convincing interpretation, creating an atmospheric background. As in the first piece, there is a reminiscence of the work of another composer here as well- this time of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. These similarities were manifested, inter alia, in the instrumentation devoid of the wind instrument section. As an encore, the soloist performed Sarabanda from Johann Sebastian Bach's 2nd Violin Partita BWV 1004. The concert was an unquestionable treat for music lovers from Jelenia Góra, who rewarded the performance with thunderous applause. It should be emphasized that the collaboration between the conductor, the soloist and the orchestra was very successful. CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL TEXT IN POLISH
— Concert with Lower Silesian Philharmonic and Przemysław Neumann. Barbara Żurakowska. Ruch Muzyczny. May 2022
Music Web International
Grażyna Bacewicz is receiving more and more interest from soloists. As she was herself a violinist and recorded a swathe of her own violin music for the Muza label, it’s right that this should be a primary focus for contemporary performers. In Centaur’s disc we have a wide-ranging ‘Portrait’ that moves from 1932 to 1968, the year before her death when she was still in full spate and moreover includes two claimed world première recordings.
Kinga Augustyn has selected with acumen, ensuring that larger Sonatas and Partitas take their programmatic place alongside small Melodies, Scherzos and Caprices to create a balanced picture of the composer-executant’s range of influences in her position as a bridge between Szymanowski, by whom she was clearly influenced (and one of whose pieces she also recorded) and the later post-60s generation of Polish composers. The Sonata No 1 for example is a restless wartime piece, whose withdrawn, vaguely neo-baroque elements fuse with a contemporary use of variation form in the finale, where one finds a seamless flow of invention. Augustyn plays this with eloquent refinement at a steady tempo. Click HERE for a full review.
— Grażyna Bacewicz: A Portrait. Jonathan Woolf. Music Web International. October 2022
Kurier Muzyczny
Kinga Augustyn, while performing the selected repertoire, discovered an immeasurable variety of qualities, presenting herself as a violinist of exceptional technical efficiency, and an excellent musicianship at the same time. The opening work Elliott Carter's "Four Lauds", sometimes brutally expressive, draws you in from the very first sound. The artist proves that complex structures can be played precisely and with precise expression, while maintaining excellent sound quality, which is the case in the entire repertoire on the album. We are pleased with the presence on the disc of Grażyna Bacewicz's Sonata No. 2, an excellent work, though not often played - considering the international activity of the violinist, the inclusion of Bacewiczówna's Sonata in the repertoire should significantly contribute to the popularization of the composer's work, which in recent years has been painstakingly gaining recognition in the world (and otherwise too late, and too slow). Finally, closing the album "Turning in Time" by Debra Kaye, a beautiful, eclectic composition commissioned by Augustyn, played with great refinement in terms of the selection of performance means and with a completely absorbing introverted emotion. CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL TEXT IN POLISH
—Turning in Time. Kurier Muzyczny. January 2022
Ruch Muzyczny
“Intensity in several doses”
The name of Kinga Augustyn will certainly keep coming back, surrounded by superlatives - she is an extremely skilled virtuoso. It is also worth reaching for this disc, although it is better to take it in several doses. The Polish violinist Kinga Augustyn, living in New York, is known for her solo recitals and her liking of Bach and the latest music, composed especially for her. Her playing is lively and technically perfect. You can hear it all on the album Turning in Time with such intensity that it's hard to catch a breath (…) It is an hour of bold, intense, sometimes even brutal music (…) I listened to individual compositions one at a time and that’s how I absorbed them all with real curiosity. I could also appreciate the violinist's inventiveness and extraordinary technical skills (the lightness in performing the most difficult phrases is really impressive) (…) I find Kaye's piece particularly convincing - Augustyn, to whom it is dedicated, shows its thoughtful eclecticism and leads a dialogue between the past and the present in an interesting and imaginative way (…) In the performances you can hear the hours spent on interpretive maturing. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW IN POLISH
—Turning in Time. Piotr Mika. Ruch Muzyczny. October 2021
World Music Report
The young violinist Kinga Augustyn has outdone herself with the release of her second album of 2021, Turning in Time, probably reaching the apogee of performance and what it means to play the instrument of Paganini, Kreisler, Joachim, Heifitz, Oistrach, Kennedy, Hahn and others. This inference is drawn from several aspects of Miss Augustyn’s performance. The first is the challenging works by Elliott Carter, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Grażyna Bacewicz [among other works] that she has chosen to represent her artistry with. But perhaps more significantly, she has chosen to perform the works solo – something that is akin to making a proverbial leap off a musical cliff without any measure of safety. Accordingly, it is the edge-of-your-seat readings of each work records that are the true measure of her success.
The disc begins with Carter’s “Four Lauds”, and Miss Augustyn’s performance springs out of a seemingly different universe altogether. It is an exhilarating musical jeu d’esprit, in which the violinist matches her formidable technique to the composer’s bold yet oblique neo-classical nods. Her arresting performance in each segment begins innocently enough before accelerating to a vanishing point; throughout expressing Carter’s effusive lyricism set against complex metronomic pulses. Her world premiere of Penderecki’s “Capriccio” perfectly expresses the searing nature of the composer’s own brand of modernism. It is a benchmark performance marked by uncommon fervour and sensitivity. Berio’s “Sequenza VIII” is quite magical, perfectly capturing the composer’s zany virtuosity that was intended as an instrumental parallel to the vocalistics of Cathy Berberian. (…) In everything that she does throughout this repertoire Miss Augustyn has succeeding in recording a fine album – one that is absolutely to die for…TO READ FULL REVIEW PLEASE CLICK HERE
—Turning in Time. Raul Da Gama. World Music Report. August 2021
Gramophone
Heritage and training play significant roles in Kinga Augustyn’s remarkable recording of unaccompanied violin works by 20th- and 21st-century composers. The Polish-born musician, who studied at the Juilliard School and lives in New York City, performs pieces by compatriots Grażyna Bacewicz and Krzysztof Penderecki alongside works by American composers Elliott Carter and Debra Kaye and two other contemporary masters, Luciano Berio and Isang Yun.
The album draws its title from Kaye’s Turning in Time, an expressive amalgam of Baroque and modern elements, including jazzy gestures, that are seamlessly woven together. The narrative somehow leads (spoiler alert) to the pinnacle of solo violin repertoire, the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No 2. In this premiere recording, Augustyn plays with vibrant intensity, caressing the phrases and bringing bold focus to the eclectic unfolding of creativity.
She is equally compelling in the remaining fare, which encompasses a spectrum of contemporary techniques and styles. Carter’s Four Lauds (1984-2000) pay tribute to friends and colleagues Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, Goffredo Petrassi, Robert Mann, Ole Bøhn and Rolf Schulte, as the composer noted, in spiky, poetic flights to which Augustyn brings pinpoint clarity and gleaming sonority. Berio’s Sequenza VIII grips attention as the violinist keenly balances the music’s violence and tenderness.
Penderecki’s brief, eloquent Capriccio, in another first recording, gives way to Bacewicz’s Sonata No 2, a bounty of virtuoso writing – the composer was a superb violinist – that pulsates with adventurous spirit, compassion and warmth. Augustyn is in full command of the varied aspects of these works, as she is of Yun’s Königliches Thema, based on the theme from Bach’s A Musical Offering, which melds bustling 12-tone quips with Baroque musings.
—Turning in Time. Donald Rosenberg. Gramophone. July 2021
Gapplegate Classical-Modern Review
(…) And in so doing Piazzolla and Kinga suspend dance time as we might conceive of it and instead fall nicely into violin solo unaccompanied virtuoso expressions in which one recognizes readily a Piazzolla elan, something that sets him apart from virtually any other composer.
Much of this "halfway-here, halfway-there" quality works especially well in the way that Ms. Augustyn straddles the "Tango/not Tango" qualities of the writing. It is a pairings of composer and performer that stands out, that seems ever-fresh no matter how many times one listens (…) TO READ FULL REVIEW PLEASE CLICK HERE
—La Pasión. Grego Applegate Edwards. Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review. March 2021
New York Concert Review
(…) Ms. Augustyn has the natural musicality, keen intellect, and highly developed technique to turn the thorniest of compositions into child’s play, and so it is hard to imagine a better advocate than she is for a program of such challenging violin works of the 20th and 21st centuries (...)
Starting off with Four Lauds of Elliott Carter, (dedicated to musicians Aaron Copland, Goffredo Petrassi, Robert Mann, and Roger Sessions), Ms. Augustyn opens with a beautiful sound right from the start. One is reminded of yet another reason “modern” is sometimes used pejoratively, and the reason is that not every violinist is Kinga Augustyn! (…)
Ms. Augustyn, has intonation so true and a tone so singing that one can imagine a listener actually humming a few bars of Four Lauds after hearing her (…) TO READ FULL REVIEW PLEASE CLICK HERE
—Turning in Time. Rorianne Schrade. New York Concert Review. February 2021
Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review
(…) The point is that the whole gives us more than the sum, but then it is a whole that feels just right in terms of our Modernity right now. Then again it gives us a gorgeous snapshot of the warmth, brilliance and intelligence of Kinga Augustyn, a violinist very much at the forefront of today. Bravo!(…) TO READ FULL REVIEW PLEASE CLICK HERE
—Turning in Time. Grego Applegate Edwards. Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review. February 2021
Pizzicato
(…) Augustyn finds a unique tone for each of these works. She already plays the Louds by Carter with all the gruffness expected of his works as well as with an expressively beautiful tone. She continues this in the other pieces. She can express the music with a delicate hand without it sounding cloying. On the other hand, she drives the compositions forward when necessary without using a harsh or edgy tone. She also plays in her style in the abstract-sounding Sequenza III by Luciano Berio. She is able to maintain this sound quality, no matter what, without diminishing the effect of the music (…) TO READ FULL REVIEW PLEASE CLICK HERE
—Turning in Time. Use Krusch, Pizzicato. February 2021
The Art Music Lounge
(…) Augustyn plays [the 4 Lauds by Elliott Carter] with an absolutely gorgeous tone without sacrificing the occasional edginess in the music (…) She knows how to caress a phrase without making it sound too sugary, and she knows how to push the beat when called for without making it sound awkward or abrasive. To a certain extent, her playing reminded me of Josef Szigeti but with a more beautiful tone. Indeed, the initial good impression she made at the very beginning of this program continued throughout the CD. I sat mesmerized by her playing; she is a wizard who casts a spell on her listeners, and if she can do this through the “cold” medium of a CD, just imagine how potent her playing is in live performance. In the last Carter piece, “Fantasy—Remembering Roger,” she makes her violin getup and dance, and baby, if you can make your violin dance to a tune by Elliott Carter, that’s saying something! She continues this lyrical approach even in the very non-lyrical Sequenza VIII of Luciano Berio (…) It is clearly a firm musical statement by a musician who is not only committed to playing modern composers but also an absolutely first-rate technician. She goes straight to the top of my favorite living violinists, and you can be assured that I will be on the lookout for further releases by her. If this album had been released by EMI, I would nominate it for a Great Recordings of the Century designation (...) TO READ FULL REVIEW PLEASE CLICK HERE
—Turning in Time. Lynn René Bayley, The Art Music Lounge. December 2020
Presto Magazine
(...) The highlight of the evening was the performance of Kinga Augustyn, who performed the Second Violin Concerto in D major - "Military" op. 21, by Karol Lipiński. The composition is extremely difficult, yet it sounded very precise under the artist's fingers, and at the same time very singing. There is something very spiritual in Augustyn’s playing, besides the mathematical precision. As one of the listeners said - it is like she is telling stories with the violin. And I find it difficult to disagree. In both a "combat" form packed with difficult technical passages, as well as in every other composition played by the artist, one can hear how deeply she experiences each note she plays. She is not just playing the notes. She lives the music with her whole self, and the emotions pass onto the audience.
– K. Lipinski Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Major “Military” with Sudeten Philharmonic Orchestra and Bartosz Żurakowski. Adrian Nowak, Presto Magazine. March 2019
Music Web International
(…) In the four very disparate works for violin and orchestra here Kinga Augustyn is quite amazing, bringing to life music of merit that otherwise might languish in total obscurity. (…) In the two-movement Spanish Fantasia Ms. Augustyn and the orchestra infuse the music with energy and incandescence and evince a sun-filled Spain in all its prismatic harmonies and rhythms. The violinist manipulates her tone so deftly, makes the music dance with resilience, and subtly accents and caresses phrases to great effect, all to capture convincingly the Andalusian spirit. She delivers a brilliant account of the second movement cadenza. By the way, the composer uses only original themes in this work, which is testimony to how thoroughly he soaked up the native music styles during a sojourn in Spain.
Ms. Augustyn’s accounts of Niggunim and Capriccio in Blue are equally convincing, offering further evidence of her uncanny ability to interpret effectively totally different styles of music, to move seamlessly with idiomatic genuineness from Spanish to Hasidic music and then to the blues. But her performance of the Concerto may be the most impressive here. She captures perfectly the emotional tenor and signature character of each movement: the dark lyricism and disquiet of the first, the tranquil beauty of the second, and brilliance and wit of the finale. Try her stunning account of the cadenza in the finale, played about as well as one can imagine. (…) As for Ms. Augustyn, she is emerging as a rare talent, perhaps soon to be a major star of the concert stage.
– Romuald Twardowski: Violin Concerto and Other Works. Robert Cummings. Music Web International, February, 2019
Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review
(…) The whole of it is beautifully given to us with violinist Kinga Augustyn holding forth as needed with a sturdy yet impassioned robustness that always seems just right for the tenor of this music (… ) The "Violin Concerto" is the linchpin work as far as providing a soaringly singular voice for the solo violin that Augustyn responds to with angelic charm. All the concerted pieces serve to extend Twardowski's vision of the violin's role today in such things. Score and performance nicely conjoin in happy confluence. (…) Each work has a pronounced flavor, definite character, from the rhapsodous plainspokenness and then impish sprightliness of the "Violin Concerto" to the pronouncedly Jewish melodiousness of the "Niggunim 'Melodies of the Hasidim,'" the Gershwinian tang and tinge of "Capriccio in Blue," the lively and convivial Spanish tinge of the "Spanish Fantasia." (…) If you are a lover of strings you will appreciate what is done with them by Twardowski and the performers here. The music has Modernity without necessarily following the typical models of how that might come into play and harmonic-melodic strains are not so edgy as they are folk-like in some fundamental sense. There is a natural brilliance to his idea of what sorts of things the block of orchestral strings and the solo violin can do. (…) A big bravo to violinist Kinga Augustyn!
– Romuald Twardowski: Violin Concerto and Other Works. Greg Applegate Edwards. Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review, February, 2019
MusicWeb International
Following her impressive traversal of the 24 Paganini Caprices on Roven Records in 2016, Polish-born, New York City-based violinist Kinga Augustyn again takes on music for solo violin, this time the less frequently encountered Twelve Fantasias by Georg Philipp Telemann.
They are not as commonly heard or recorded as Bach’s sonatas and partitas, nor are they as difficult. Still, they present significant challenges for the performer, but more importantly offer the listener very rewarding music.
This Centaur album comes across in several ways as an attempt to impart a certain amount of authenticity to the performance. On the cover of the booklet Ms. Augustyn is shown wearing an exquisite gown, its olden style likely dating to the era of the composition. Telemann’s Fantasias were published in 1735, and the violin Augustyn is holding in the photograph, was made in 1734. It is a quite impressive sounding Antonio Zanotti instrument, on loan to her from a private collector. In his review of this CD, Dave Billinge perceptively noted that the bow and other accoutrements are of very recent vintage but suggested that these modernizations don’t detract from the performance. I’ll second that as I think the sound of the instrument is most pleasing and certainly appropriate.
The Fantasia, as Telemann used it, is a multi-section work in two forms: four-movement Church sonata structure, slow, fast (fugue), slow, fast – or the more conventional form, fast, slow, fast. To some listeners, the uninitiated in particular, the music here may initially sound dry and barren, in need of a second instrument for accompaniment, but the music becomes more appealing upon repeated hearings, becomes an acquired taste, so to speak. In performances this excellent, it is easy to develop that ‘acquired taste.’
As on her Paganini disc, Augustyn plays with accuracy, impeccable tone and virtuoso technique. Indeed, and her interpretations are convincing in every piece here, the Baroque spirit of the violin and Telemann’s mastery abiding throughout. The profundity and weighty nature of the slower movements, and energy and brilliance of the faster ones both brim with character and heart, and in the end are simply captivating.
Try No. 7, the E-flat major Fantasia, which is the longest of the twelve here, and notice that the sense of solemnity in the opening movement never drags or lacks spirit, but speaks its sadness eloquently. Dynamics are well judged and Augustyn’s tone is beautiful. The ensuing Allegro section bristles with life and strength here, and the digital clarity of the playing is exquisite. Another slow section (Largo) is profoundly moving in Augustyn’s deft phrasing and the brief closing Presto is vivacious and thoroughly convincing.
Pick any of the other eleven Fantasias on the CD and Augustyn is just as effective and compelling. The notes provided by Gabriel Schaff are very informative and Centaur’s sound reproduction is vivid, actually ideal for this kind of work. Violin aficionados and Telemann mavens will find this a most satisfying disc.
– 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin by Georg Philipp Telemann. Robert Cummings, MusicWeb International, October 2018
Fanfare Magazine
(…) Augustyn's Bruch really surprised me. I guess I was expecting another run-of the- mill performance that was note-perfect in all of its particulars but that didn't have anything special to say. That wasn't the case at all, however. The first thing that struck me was the richness and smoothness of Augustyn's tone, which seems to flow from her instrument with unforced naturalness. I was also struck by how expressively she phrases without resorting to heavy vibrato or persistent portamento. In fact, her use of portamento is so infrequent and so poignantly timed on the few occasions when she does use it that the effect is intensely intimate, as if she is imparting a personal secret. Most of what Augustyn accomplishes on the expressive, emotional level is done with the bow. The fingers find the notes, but it's the bow that makes them speak and sing, and Augustyn's bowing is exemplary. Where other players cut short the held note values, especially on double-stops, to set up for the next double-stop or chord, or in anticipation of a string crossing or distant shift, Augustyn gives the note values their full due ( ...
All in all, this is a really beautiful Bruch. Listen to what Augustyn does with the three Gs in the sixth bar of the second movement. She attenuates each note ever so slightly with her bow just after pressing into it, making each of those Gs speak in a knowing way that's extremely moving. Truthfully, I'd become rather jaded towards the Bruch No. I after hearing it played so often by so many violinists, but Augustyn's performance is not just another routine run-through. Her reading tells me that she has given the piece a great deal of thought and that this is music she responds to on a deeply personal and emotional level.
– Violin Concertos, with the Janacek Philharmonic. Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine, March/April 2018
Audio Video Club of Atlanta
Augustyn meets the technical demands in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with an impressive degree of poise, encompassing the rapidly descending opening passage and the arpeggiated chords in the middle of the Allegro molto appassionato with unflappable smoothness. She also shines in the Andante, where the soloist is obliged to play both melody and accompaniment with the greatest expressive beauty. And she manages the rapidly ascending and descending arpeggios in the white-hot finale with the same assurance. The solo playing becomes ever more flowing, rich, and expansive in the Adagio {of the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1} in which Augustyn does some of her best work. In the exuberant finale, she is called upon to execute sensational double stops and high-energy rhythms with the same high degree of competence. Jules Massenets Meditation from Thaïs serene, timeless beauty makes for a satisfying end to a program in which soloist and conductor allow the lyricism of three famous romantic works to unfold easily and naturally.
– Violin Concertos, with the Janacek Philharmonic. Phil Muse, Audio-Video Club of Atlanta, 2017
Classical Net
(…) Those acquiring this disc of the challenging 24 Paganini Caprices can be fully satisfied both in matters of technique and interpretation… Augustyn plays the set with finesse and confidence, conveying a sense these pieces are actually not a great challenge to her formidable technical skills. Polish-born, New York City-based Kinga Augustyn plays with seemingly perfect intonation and otherwise impressive technique, while convincingly capturing the musical essence of each piece. Perlman and Midori have offered very persuasive accounts of these twenty-four pieces, but I'm not sure I'd rank them over this new performance by Kinga Augustyn. She is that good.
Listeners who are new to this Paganini work, certainly will find Augustyn's performance an excellent version not only as an introduction to the music but as an enduring benchmark.
– Niccolo Paganini 24 Caprices, Op.1, Robert Cummings, Classical Net, 2016
Fanfare Magazine
(…) beyond amazing (…). Kinga Augustyn is one hell of a violinist. Her technique is tested to the breaking point in the virtuosic pieces, and she emerges unscathed. But also put to the test is her versatility in adapting to the wide range of music and styles presented, and again, she meets the challenge magnificently. Hallmarks of her playing are razor-sharp execution, even in the most taxing technical passages, and a tone of silvery purity high up on the E string, and of full-bodied mocha richness on the G string. That leaves a lot of notes in between, but they’re all produced with equal and even resonance."
– Polish Violin Music, Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine, 2013
Although Augustyn is noted for her technical prowess and the Caprices demand the ultimate in technique, she also makes the most of their lyrical moments. With completely secure technical control, she couples a tapestry of tone color to her innate musicality in tackling these most difficult pieces. Augustyn’s technique is in excellent form and she negotiates all of the Caprices successfully if not always with the finest tonal quality.
Kinga Augustyn enchants her listeners as she draws them to her playing like moths to a flame. Unlike the moths, we listeners are simply set ablaze with a desire to hear more of her playing. She is a fine technician and her download is a technical wonder interlaced with enchanting glimpses of her lyrical ability. I think it is a download every connoisseur of violin music needs to hear.
– Niccolò Paganini 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Maria Nockin, Fanfare Magazine, 2016
It’s her dead-on accuracy that astonishes. Her fingered octaves, for example, in the third caprice, are so perfectly in tune that they sound like a single note. Augustyn’s Paganini Caprices may quite possibly be the most spectacular realizations of these violin grotesqueries ever committed to disc… Kinga Augustyn proves that Paganini’s Caprices can be played, and she does so more stunningly and convincingly than anyone else I’ve heard. Kinga Augustyn’s performance of the Caprices is an absolute knockout.
– Niccolò Paganini 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine, 201
The Strad Magazine
"…Kinga Augustyn treats both mazurkas with charm and a certain coquettishness, relishing the melodic twists and turns and extrovert technical displays. In the Introduction and Cracovienne and the Andante-Polonaise she keeps a light touch in the energetic fast sections, dancing and laced with virtuosic flourishes. There is plenty of character to his Romance, and to Zygmunt Noskowski’s Chanson ancienne (…). She plays Gorecki’s Sonatina in one movement with driving intensity, before opening out into the more spacious Variazioni, in a performance embracing beautifully shaped, pensive melodic lines and darker, biting playing (…). She shows great sensitivity in miniatures by Paderewski and Lutoslawski before returning to the 19th century for the unashamed virtuosity of Lipinski’s Two Impromptus played with verve and superb control."
– Polish Violin Music, Tim Homfray, The Strad Magazine, 2013
Magdeburger Volkstimme
"We were regaled with a very interesting and memorable presentation of Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade (…). Ms. Augustyn’s flawless technique brought out Bernstein’s special violinistic effects with flair, while allowing the inspiring and moving melodies to speak for themselves. Her rich sound, unblemished double stops, and technical mastery of all difficulties were rewarded by warm ovations accompanied by clamorous 'bravos'."
– L. Bernstein Serenade with Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Maestro Francesco Corti, Magdeburger Theater, Ulrike Loehr, Magdeburger Volksstimme, 2008
New York Concert Review
"…Music of Ysaye, Lutoslawski, and Szymanowski proved that Ms. Augustyn is an adventurous programmer valuable to New York’s concert scenes (…). Her playing was riveting and stylistically and emotionally varied (…). her impassioned performances and especially her devotion to new music make her a violinist to watch."
– New York Debut Recital, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Anthony Aibel, NY Concert Review, 2008
