Birmingham Post, April 16 2004

Subtle intimacy covers a vast scale
By DAVID HART

Intimacy is not easily achieve in the vastness of Symphony Hall, especially when there are only two performers ...; yet this recital was unusually intimate in mood and sound.

Midori is a violinist whose sweet, elegant tone and warm refinement demand close listening. Her Bach - Sonata in A, BWV 1015 - was a restrained joy, clear-cut and leanly phrased with stylishly judged and extremely subtle dynamic changes, immaculately complemented by Robert McDonald's neat-fingered and lightly-pedalled piano part.

She conveyed the wistful lyricism of Hindemith's Sonata No. 1 very well, especially in the enigmatic second movement that always seemed ready to, and eventually did, drift into silence. Brahms also received Midori's gentle touch, the G major Sonata blissfully unforced and often dreamily tranquil... .

The Adagio [of Saint-Saëns's Sonata No. 1 in D minor] seemed rather like a wait-and-see interlude before the drawing-room delights of the scherzo and the finale's bravura scampering, which at last showed Midori and her excellent pianist in full virtuoso regalia.

Two encores perfectly encapsulated Midori's artistry: one, a quietly sentimental song by Engel, the other, her own blistering version of Liszt's La Campanella (out of Paganini) that Kreisler himself would have approved of.