By CHANG TOU LIANG

Midori's first appearance with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra was something truly special. Those sated with Tchaikovsky's ever-popular Violin Concerto would have to reassess their stand after this most magnificent of performances. Her opening entry [...] was so breath-taking as to defy words. Her shaping of every phrase and passage was thoughtful and perfectly weighted. Armed with flawless intonation and immaculate fingering, hers was playing to dream about. It was as if Tchaikovsky himself had bared his soul through a world of grief and inner torment. The inherent flashiness was never made to sound gratuitous and seldom has the central Canzonetta been sung with such desolation.