Hartford Courant, 24 April, 2006

Midori Takes A Risk With Adventurous Music, And Wins

By MATTHEW ERIKSON

It's a dilemma facing many arts presenters. If classical music seems to be suffering in ticket sales and general attendance, do you cater to the public with known pieces and composers and let adventurous repertoire slide? Is atonal music - or for that matter, much of 20th-century repertoire - instantly off limits?

In a recital Friday evening at Wesleyan University's Crowell Concert Hall, the violinist Midori and her longtime partner, pianist Robert McDonald, insisted on answering "no" to both questions. With her star power backing her, the 34-year-old violinist attracted a sold-out audience for a concert of music written no earlier than 1979. ... Was the music demanding? Yes. Hard to hear? Sometimes. Was it worth every second of a listener's attention? Definitely.

http://www.ctnow.com/music/reviews/hce-midorirev.artapr24,0,3986439.story?co