By LAWRENCE A. JOHNSON

Midori shows first-class artistry in rich program at Ravinia

Midori is one of those artists whose consistency, technical excellence and lack of interpretive excess can sometimes allow her gifts to be taken for granted.

Yet, as shown in her well-balanced program Monday night at Ravinia, Midori remains an artist of the very first rank, bringing an intensity, poetic eloquence and fizzing bravura to a varied array of works. Pianist Ozgur Aydin was her simpatico keyboard partner.

Midori and her superb pianist put across an uncommonly fresh and vital performance [of Beethoven's Sonata No. 4] that yet retained a Classical poise and gracious element. In the Andante, Midori brought a wry teasing lilt to the main theme, and the finale had fine drive and light virtuosity in a performance that conveyed the quirky humor without inflating the drama or scale...

Midori tackled Bloch's sonata with a passionate, almost physical intensity without sacrificing an essential tonal grace and elegance, even in this most florid of works. The long single movement can seem episodic, but Midori masterfully held the broad canvas together, the music unfolding, ballad-like, in a single breath. The violinist and her pianist conveyed the tart folk element and surging rhapsodic qualities while giving the music's austere, brooding expression its due with finely colored and dynamically detailed playing. ...Midori and Aydin's full-tilt advocacy making one wonder why this terrific work has yet to enter the regular fiddle repertory.

If anything, Midori's impassioned commitment and technical gleam were even more daunting in Szymanowski's Mythes.

Midori showed she can toss off the glittery bon-bons [Wieniawski's Souvenir de Moscow] with the best of them vaulting through the high harmonics and complexities with apparent ease.