Midori - Our generation’s virtuoso?
July 19th 2006 07:30
Having recently had the pleasure of attending a concert of the Britten and Bruch (No. 1) violin concertos performed by the virtuoso violinist, Midori, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (under Miguel Harth-Bedoya), I thought I might relate some of my impressions of Midori and her playing.
The hype surrounding Midori tends to precede her. And well it might. Despite rare occurrences in each generation of people, such as Yehudi Menuhin, it is rare to find a performing artist that reaches maturity and launches successful, critically acclaimed tours in many countries around the world before their 30s. But Midori has managed to do just that.
On the other hand, virtuosic violinists are a dime a dozen. Norman Lebrecht in ‘The Maestro Myth’ relates how every year graduates from large music schools in America seem to be able to play Paganini’s caprices faster and faster. It could be seen as incredibly unfair that in a world of talent, a generation seems capable of only really latching on to a handful of virtuosos.
Considering this, it would be hoped that these stars when they emerge are capable of fulfilling the superhuman expectations that are placed on concert soloists. Fortunately, Midori fits this bill well and remarkably retains and maintains some non musical bastions in her life to boot.
It is a feat in itself to manage the performance of two concertos in an evening. The work involved can only be seen as absolutely draining. The composure and intensity demonstrated by Midori throughout the concert was impressive. There were slight imperfections in the attack of her sound during the Britten, but this is an understandable trade off in generating the projection to speak above an entire 20th century orchestra. Where Midori really sparkled though, was undoubtedly in Bruch’s first violin concerto. She displayed astonishing technical skill, and the slow movement of the work showed a great amount of thought in her interpretation. I was particularly amazed at how she did so much with repeated notes. It was a tremendous performance rewarded with 6 curtain calls, which for an Australian audience is pretty good. It was occasionally slightly distracting however to hear audible stomping from her, as she moved around the stage. This is testament to how involved she was in the performance though, and it was mesmerising to watch.
Apart from her performance, I was impressed by the relative balance of Midori’s character. She completed a Masters degree in psychology in 2004, and maintains institutions for the purpose of furthering the education of musicians. She writes her own program notes which are quite interesting to read, and apparently does a small amount of knitting for when there’s not enough time to be absorbed in reading. She does research in musical and non-musical fields for the sake of research alone, and spends much of her time studying in libraries.
For all of her assets, I find Midori as a very satisfying virtuoso to be taken into the world’s collective hearts. Any slight imperfections in her performance are more than made up for by her intelligent and inspiring character, and in her playing she reveals a sensitivity and intensity that are impressive indeed.
The hype surrounding Midori tends to precede her. And well it might. Despite rare occurrences in each generation of people, such as Yehudi Menuhin, it is rare to find a performing artist that reaches maturity and launches successful, critically acclaimed tours in many countries around the world before their 30s. But Midori has managed to do just that.
On the other hand, virtuosic violinists are a dime a dozen. Norman Lebrecht in ‘The Maestro Myth’ relates how every year graduates from large music schools in America seem to be able to play Paganini’s caprices faster and faster. It could be seen as incredibly unfair that in a world of talent, a generation seems capable of only really latching on to a handful of virtuosos.
Considering this, it would be hoped that these stars when they emerge are capable of fulfilling the superhuman expectations that are placed on concert soloists. Fortunately, Midori fits this bill well and remarkably retains and maintains some non musical bastions in her life to boot.
Midori
Apart from her performance, I was impressed by the relative balance of Midori’s character. She completed a Masters degree in psychology in 2004, and maintains institutions for the purpose of furthering the education of musicians. She writes her own program notes which are quite interesting to read, and apparently does a small amount of knitting for when there’s not enough time to be absorbed in reading. She does research in musical and non-musical fields for the sake of research alone, and spends much of her time studying in libraries.
For all of her assets, I find Midori as a very satisfying virtuoso to be taken into the world’s collective hearts. Any slight imperfections in her performance are more than made up for by her intelligent and inspiring character, and in her playing she reveals a sensitivity and intensity that are impressive indeed.
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Comment by Anonymous
I so wnt to see her perform as well! She is a fantastic violinist! Hope you had a marvellous concert experience. keep up the posts!
Bec