On Thursday night, the renowned violinist Midori returned to Walt Disney Concert Hall to perform a recital of works by Schumann, Brahms, Poulenc and Ravel. Accompanied by her longtime collaborator, Turkish-American pianist Özgür Aydin, Midori held spellbound the audience of faithful fans while she gave a performance of the utmost musicianship.
Midori last performed at WDCH three years ago in March of 2022 (see https://culturespotla.com/music-review-midori-returns-to-walt-disney-concert-hall/).
The first half of the program on Thursday night was devoted to German music, the Five Pieces in Folk Style, Op. 102 by Schumann and the Brahms Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78. (Interestingly, Midori also performed works by Schumann and Brahms, although different ones, at her 2022 recital.)
Schumann’s Five Pieces are short explorations of folk melodies, originally composed for cello and piano but later rescored for violin and piano by the composer. The Pieces were not based on any existing folk songs nor are they obvious folk songs, but they imitate the folk song style, especially rhythmically.
What can one say about the Brahms except that it is a minor masterpiece of sublime Romantic writing for the violin and piano with both subtle and soaring melodies that tear at the heart.
The second half of the recital was devoted to French music. It began with the delightful three-movement Sonata for Violin and Piano by Poulenc. As with his flute sonata, the violin and piano sonata is filled with distinctly recognizable melodies, splashes of dissonance and musical mischief that one can find in many of his compositions. The more upbeat Poulenc was a delightful contrast to the pensive mood of the Brahms.
The next piece on the program was the Kaddish from Deux mélodies hébraïques by Ravel, two songs originally written for voice and piano but arranged for violin and piano by Lucien Garban. The Kaddish is a Hebrew prayer for the dead usually spoken or sung during the Jewish High Holy Days. Ravel perfectly captures the somberness in C minor with a recurring G major pedal.
The program concluded with the Tzigane, “a virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody,” consisting of “a string of successive variations juxtaposed without development,” according to Ravel. The Tzigane is a showpiece for the violin that pulls out all the technical stops on the instrument.
Midori’s selection of works for the recital was nothing short of genius. Each piece seemed to set the stage for the following piece, and they all fit together to create a distinct mood.
As she did in all the works on Thursday’s program, Midori became the music. And Aydin, who is a soloist in his own right, provided the perfect accompaniment for Midori, deferential when it needed to be and forceful when it needed to be. One could tell that the two musicians had long performed together because they often played as one, each deferring to the other when appropriate.
Unlike many younger soloists today, Midori is not flashy and does not make the performance about herself, except as a conduit for the composer’s music. She moved with the music and not to the music, sometimes stamping her foot. She was in a zone—her zone—and she permitted the lucky audience to come in with her. And they were captivated. During most of the evening, one could hear a pin drop, so intently did she demand the audience’s attention.
Midori’s technique is unusual, at least in the context of many of today’s younger violinists. Her vibrato is subtle, and she often did not use vibrato at all in some of the slower, quieter moments, for example, the second movement of the Brahms and the Kaddish. The result was a pure tone which offered a sense of calm. At the end of the slower movements, as Midori drew her bow slowly across the strings during a diminuendo, it was uncanny how long she was able to still move the bow before the music stopped — actually, the music never stopped; it just faded away. The audience sat breathless.
And speaking of breathless, after the Kaddish, Midori returned to the stage, put away the iPad and the music stand she had been using, and knocked out an exciting, spellbinding performance of the Tzigane, showing her full range of chops.
At the evening’s conclusion, the audience immediately jumped to their feet cheering and someone from the far reaches of WDCH yelled, “encore, encore!”
Midori and Aydin obliged by returning to the stage to perform the French singer, pianist and composer Pauline Viardot’s Haï Luli from her 6 Mélodies Et Une Havanaise.
—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA
For information about upcoming concerts, visit www.laphil.com.