Buffalo News, March 27, 2004

An Exhilarating Night with Midori
By MARY KUNZ

Midori makes playing seem as natural as talking. She was amazing as a child prodigy violinist, and she's still remarkable.

This weekend, she joins the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director JoAnn Falletta for John Adams' Violin Concerto. [...] Adams' concerto was commissioned as a ballet piece, and it has an undeniable sense of movement and rhythm. The first movement beats with a steady pulse, the second seems to glide gently, and the third never stops to take a breath. Furthermore, the piece is a test not only of musicianship but of endurance. Most concertos give the soloist time to rest now and then. In this one, it's go, go, go all the way through.

Petite and childlike in her long shimmering gown and silver shoes, Midori barely stirs as she plays. All her movement is concentrated in her upper body. But what energy she puts into the music! [...] In the first movement, her playing was even, steady, perfectly regulated and timed. The orchestra filled in around her; its sound was abstract, murmuring, like a crowd of people conversing. The orchestra tackled well the music's changes in texture, its percussive patterns and sometimes hypnotic cycles. Midori soldiered on, with unswerving commitment. Her tone was strong and good-natured. The slow movement passed like a dream, with Midori playing with a singing, birdlike tone. She did a wondrous job with the Toccata, full of double stops, berserk rhythms and jagged halts and starts. The piece's end, full of pounding drums and tumultuous strings, was a happy thrill.