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Midori as daring as she is flawless

By JOHN FLEMING
Published April 18, 2005

CLEARWATER - With Midori the flawless technique is a given. What comes as a pleasant surprise is how daring an interpreter of the classics she is.

Midori the interpreter was on display right from the start of the violinist's recital Saturday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall, as she and pianist Robert McDonald gave an exceedingly slow treatment to the opening phrase in the Largo of Mozart's Sonata in B flat major. The dramatic sense of that deliberate approach became clear as the pair worked their way into the lively Allegro, full of perfect little exchanges between violin and piano, then into the dreamy, heartfelt slow movement and dancelike finale. It was virtuosic all the way, but with just the right touch of offbeat individuality to make the performance different from standard-issue Mozart.

Ravel's G-major Sonata was written to exploit the violin as a jazz instrument. In the beginning there was a restless dissonance to the violin's part, supported by the characteristic brightness of Ravel's piano writing, but it took a while for the classical atmosphere to slip away. Not until the fancy fiddling and sax-style slides by Midori and McDonald's ragtime rhythms in the second movement did the piece sound like a French impressionist's homage to 1920s hot jazz.

Midori is galvanizing to watch, the toughness of her playing belied by her porcelain doll appearance. Tossing her hair, swaying and bending deeply from the waist, she threw herself into the frantic 16th-note runs of the finale, as if possessed by the music.

The highlight of the evening was Midori's brilliant traversal of Bach's unaccompanied Violin Sonata in A minor. Though Bach is remembered primarily as a keyboard artist, the violin was his first instrument, and he might well have played his sonatas during communion at Leipzig. There was a deeply spiritual quality to the way Midori played the work, as in the achingly beautiful, long-held high note that ended the first movement. The polyphonous effect was painstakingly subtle in the Andante, and her combination of poise and intensity in the Allegro was amazing. A purity of tone shone through in even the flashiest passages.

Two less-known pieces wound up the program, Einojuhani Rautavaara's brief, brilliant and difficult Dithyrambos; and Karol Szymanowski's Notturno e Tarantella , which succeeded in evoking an ancient, solemn feel in the first half and wild passion in the second.

[Last modified April 18, 2005, 00:52:13]