United States Various: Midori (violin), Özgür Aydin (piano). Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92NY Center for Culture & Arts, New York, 9.3.2025. (ES-S)
R. Schumann – Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op.102
Brahms – Violin Sonata No.1 in G major, Op.78
Poulenc – Sonata for Violin and Piano, FP119
Ravel – Deux mélodies hébraïques: Kaddish (arr. Garban); Tzigane
Encore:
Pauline Viardot – ‘Haï Luli’
In one of those scheduling quirks, two great violinists – Midori and Leonidas Kavakos – gave recitals in New York City within the same week, each presenting a program that juxtaposed nineteenth- and twentieth-century works. Notably, their selections shared two pieces, Brahms’s Violin Sonata No.1 and Poulenc’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, which offered an opportunity for compelling comparisons. The contrast between their interpretations was not merely one of style but of temperament, though both violinists share a deep reverence for the music they play.
Kavakos, with his commanding sonority and expansive phrasing, projected the music with an almost symphonic breadth, emphasizing long, arching lines and structural grandeur. Midori offered a more introspective reading, shaping phrases with finely etched delicacy and an acute sensitivity to inner detail. In the Brahms especially, she emphasized intimacy and nuance where Kavakos sought breadth.
From the outset of the Brahms sonata, Midori and Özgür Aydin, her longtime collaborator, established a sense of unforced fluidity, revealing the sonata’s bittersweet undercurrents. The opening Vivace ma non troppo unfolded with a hushed, velvety quality. Rather than forcing synchronicity in Brahms’s rhythmic complexity, they allowed the asymmetries to emerge naturally. The Adagio, with its funeral march-like central section, was played with poised restraint, its intensity simmering just beneath the surface.
The sonata’s distinctive three repeated ‘D’s, introduced at the very beginning, returned in the finale as the violin’s dotted rhythms intertwined with the piano’s flowing sixteenth notes, rendered with clarity and rich tone. Echoes of Brahms’s ‘Regenlied’ (‘Rain Song’) permeated the music, its themes suggesting quiet nostalgia and reminiscence rather than overt drama. Midori’s phrasing captured an almost liquid quality, evoking the gentle persistence of rain or the shimmer of distant memories.
Poulenc’s Sonata for Violin and Piano is a study in contrasts, shifting between biting aggression and melancholy, with moments of elegance laced with irony. A composer who straddled both the sacred and the irreverent, Poulenc was rarely at ease with string writing. Yet this sonata – dedicated to Federico García Lorca, the poet murdered at the outset of the Spanish Civil War – retains his unmistakable voice, alternating between the sophisticated charm of Parisian salons and the charged intensity of political tragedy.
Midori and Aydin brought out the sonata’s dual nature with precision and intensity. The musical dialogue between the two conveyed far more expression than their restrained demeanor might have suggested. The Allegro con fuoco surged with nervous energy, its jagged lines and spastic outbursts delivered with sharp articulation. The duo maintained a keen sense of Poulenc’s rhythmic volatility, allowing moments of tenderness to emerge naturally. The Intermezzo, an homage to Lorca’s Spain, was imbued with understated sensuality, enhanced by Midori’s delicate touch and the subtle evocation of guitar-like textures.
In the Presto tragico, the duo navigated the tension between fiendish moto perpetuo and bittersweet lyricism, a juxtaposition so characteristic of Poulenc. The final climax – a swirl of frenetic energy and ominous final chords – rang with crushing menace, bringing a fittingly unsettled close to this restless and enigmatic work, regrettably too rarely performed.
The program was originally set to begin with a new work by Che Buford – Romances of the Spirit – but Midori and Aydin replaced it at the last moment with Robert Schumann’s Fünf Stücke im Volkston, offering a glimpse into the composer’s early chamber explorations. Originally conceived for cello and piano, the five-movement suite reflects Schumann’s folk-inflected idiom of the time while experimenting with texture and form. Midori navigated the violin adaptation’s lower- and mid-range figurations with remarkable clarity, ensuring that even the denser double stops never felt cumbersome. Her bowing technique illuminated the work’s contrasting moods, from the rhythmic verve of Mit Humor to the song-like lyricism of the second and third movements, the latter recalling the soundworld of Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte. Aydin, in turn, shaped the piano’s lines with vigor, the stormy interplay of Nicht zu rasch and the finale’s sharp passagework given striking definition. Though the Five Pieces lack the inventiveness, élan and lyricism of Schumann’s contemporaneous piano works, Midori and Aydin approached the score with sincerity, allowing its charm to shine without a hint of condescension.
Marking the hundredth anniversary of Ravel’s death, the recitalists included two of his works. Kaddish from Deux mélodies hébraïques (in Lucien Garban’s arrangement) felt at times somewhat subdued, but Tzigane – one of Midori’s calling cards – captured both the allure and the intensity of Ravel’s piece. Midori’s opening cadenza was controlled yet fluid, balancing its improvisatory nature with underlying tension, though a touch more spontaneity might have brought out its full rhapsodic spirit. Aydin provided crisp, well-paced support, maintaining momentum while staying in balance with the violin. Their phrasing had a natural flow, though some of the music’s wilder impulses felt restrained. The final section was vibrant and energetic, building excitement without feeling rushed.
The only encore remained French: a transcription of Pauline Viardot’s song ‘Haï Luly’, its simplicity and lightness echoing the inconsequential charm of the Schumann pieces that opened the recital. It also recalled Poulenc’s affinity for the straightforward, unpretentious character of café-concert music, thus serving as a fitting coda to the many stylistic threads embroidered in a worthy recital.
Midori last played a recital at Zankel Hall in 2023 and had not appeared at Carnegie Hall or as a soloist with the Philharmonic for a decade before that. Her return was a welcome reminder of her distinctive artistry – one hopes to hear her more often.
Edward Sava-Segal