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San
Francisco Classical Voice Joined by longtime recital partner Robert McDonald at the piano, Midori presented a rich and satisfying recital to a sold-out house at Herbst Theater on Friday. It was a program full of a variety that bespeaks a real generosity of spirit. ... At times, it was only the especially dense, rather than merely bright, quality of Midori's sound that kept her from being swamped. Before the concert, I noticed several young violin students of my acquaintance in the audience; I hope they were watching this woman's bow. I was struck by how loose the hair seemed, as if she could wrap it around each string. Playing down close to the bridge (as a teacher friend of mine tells his students, "the rich musician lives near the bridge") she is able to produce a focused sound that stays in your ear even when it seems utterly surrounded by the piano. ... [In Leos Janáček's Sonata, which followed] it was Midori's turn to be truculent, negotiating the jagged landscape with terrific intensity. When the music waxed lyrical, as in the soaring slow movement, the seemingly effortless tone was there in abundance, but it was the haunting finale, with its eerie, twitching refrain, that proved most compelling. ... Saint-Saëns ...could not have received a better introduction — his huge First Sonata of 1885 came off like a work of utter genius. c Midori and McDonald delivered a wonderfully persuasive performance, making something wonderfully dramatic out of the spinning first theme, and revelling in the completely over-the-top horserace that is the Finale. Though opportunities abounded, they did not patronize the music for an instant, and the ovation at the conclusion was no mere reflex reaction to a flashy finish. |
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