Robin Sharp
"SHARP WAS BOTH ELEGANT AND IMPASSIONED IN HER PLAYING, IN TURN SWEETLY LYRICAL AND DAZZLINGLY VIRTUOSIC. AS SOON AS THE PIECE FINISHED, ALL I WANTED WAS TO HEAR IT PERFORMED AGAIN."
- SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
ROBIN SHARP OPENED THE PROGRAM WITH THE CHALLENGING SONATA FOR VIOLIN SOLO BY ROBERT KURKA, BEST KNOWN FOR HIS SATIRIC OPERA THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK (JUST NOW STARTING A MONTH-LONG REVIVAL AT GLIMMERGLASS OPERA IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.) KURKA, WHO DIED OF LEUKEMIA IN HIS MID-30S, DEDICATED THE THREE-MOVEMENT SONATA TO HIS WIFE MAY, WHO WAS PRESENT FOR THE READING. THE PIECE ITSELF IS SPIKY WITH ORIGINALITY AND MASTERY OF CLASSICAL FORMS. IT SINGS, DANCES, REFLECTS AND RHAPSODIZES, AND GAINS COUNTERPOINT THROUGH LIBERAL USE OF DOUBLE-STOPS. ITS FINAL MOVEMENT IS GIVEN TO A COMPLEX SET OF VARIATIONS. ROBIN SHARP NEGOTIATED ITS SOMETIMES-TORTUOUS PATH WITH FOCUS, CLARITY AND HEARTFELT DEDICATION.
-SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
"THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN LYRICISM AND BURSTS OF VIRTUOSITY MAKES THIS AN IMPOSING WORK TECHNICALLY,
BUT A LISTENER WOULD BE HARD PRESSED TO REALIZE IT. SHARP SEEMED TO HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT EXCEPT BRINGING HER ENTIRE EXPRESSIVE FORCE TO BEAR ON THE SONATA'S INCREASING COMPLEXITY."
-KEN SMITH, NEW YORK REVIEW
"THE VIOLINIST ROBIN SHARP....OFFERED A DISTINGUISHED SONATA AFTERNOON. AFTER THE FIRST BARS OF BACH'S C MINOR SONATA (BWV 1017) YOU COULD SETTLE BACK AND RELAX: THE SWEETNESS OF THE TONE, THE SPACIOUS BREADTH OF THE BOW PHRASINGS NEVER FAILED IN THEIR EFFECTIVENESS."
-VOLKER FRIES, COLOGNE RUNDSCHAU NEWSPAPER