[... And the guest soloists are internationally renowned musicians. Such is the celebrated violinist Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker, who is one of the very sought-after young musicians. She literally enchanted the audience with her interpretation of the very challenging D-Major Violin Concerto by Brahms during these four November concerts - with the underlying motto "Do you love Brahms?". In Schönebeck the soloist immediately won the hearts of all the music lovers and no less in Magdeburg, Barby and Bernburg.

Full of devotion, Höpcker ascended to wonderful heights with her violin playing, highly brilliant with a luminous expressive power. Deeply immersed in the work, the native of Hamburg, who now lives in Los Angeles, elaborated masterfully exactly those subtleties of the score, which already commanded respect from the greatest violinists at the time of the origin of the work.

Her interpretation of the Adagio drew the fascinated audience completely into her spell. The orchestra musicians prepared the musical ground for her impressively dynamic passagework and masterful doublestops, for her sensitive devotion and delicate phrasing.

The public celebrated the violinist with fervent applause, and so Höpcker and the orchestra gifted the audience with the slow movement (of the winter) full of nuances from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" as an encore.

In the intermission, the public could see the soloist in jeans and shirt casually chatting with eight-year-old violin student Magdalena.

This also makes up the concept of the orchestra which is 'being close to the audience', says Anita Bader, since November new managing director of the Central German Philharmonic. ...]

das Orchester, edition: February 2017
Uwe Kraus