“Henri Dutilleux’s Arbre des Songes was performed by Japanese violinist, Sayaka Shoji, whose strong aura and mystery, while alternating strength and letting go on her instrument, stunned the astounded audience.”

“…midway through the first movement, Allegro non troppo, she had found her footing, and the cadenza was masterful, a real dialogue for one. Shoji’s tone continued to bloom in the Adagio, which she imbued with appropriate anguish, complicating a movement that’s sometimes glossed over as straightforwardly beautiful. Brahms’ music is rife with strange dissonances, and these require a certain confidence to pull off.”

“The lengthy first movement with its complex and demanding cadenza was breathtakingly performed… [she] received, as was to be expected, rapturous and prolonged applause. Her delivery throughout was astonishing in that she somehow made the sound of this comparatively small instrument fill the entire hall with its warmth and beauty.”

“Shoji’s violin had silky beautiful tunes and presented deep and smooth expressions. She understood the composer’s intention and made a variety of expressions which added sharpness to the piece. Her performance was attractive and like a long novel as it was so rich and varied in content.”

“Shoji brings un-showy musicianship, a sense of structure and architecture, pleasing tone and flawless intonation to the performance of the Beethoven Concerto. It’s evident that she has the composer’s music in her blood.”

“Wednesday’s soloist in the concerto was Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji, who in 1999 became the youngest winner and first Japanese to capture the Paganini Competition. Playing a 1729 Stradivarius, she displayed a tone that was luxurious in the lower registers, especially at the beginning, and sweet as she ascended to the upper reaches in the second movement. She sailed effortlessly through the third movement’s pyrotechnics and was joined throughout by sympathetic accompaniment from Temirkanov and Co.”

“She allowed the music to speak for itself and wisely focused instead on technical matters, on tone, articulation, and dynamics.”

“The first Japanese and youngest-ever winner of the Paganini Competition in 1999 has ample technical ability, but it was her beautifully crafted playing that truly impressed. Shoji treated her listeners to amazing permutations of articulation, tone colour, dynamics and phrasing, while keeping everything coherent and un-forced.”

“Sayaka Shoji is not big, but she certainly has a powerful sound. This was impressive, muscular playing, the bow biting into the string up near the bridge, a hair’s breadth away from ponticello. She has a gorgeous tone, is passionate and expressive, and she takes risks, playing with a rubato that is never excessive and constantly aids the shaping of the music and its direction. She could be ravishingly soft as well, although she ignored Tchaikovsky’s request for a mute in the Canzonetta. The finale was a devil-take-the-hindmost affair, full of dash and colour, with the air of a caprice and a hint of recklessness. This was a proper, thrilling, live event.”