Promenade Concert

Promenade Concert

               
Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
November 11th, 2008
James Conely



  

   An amazing pair of former winners of the Montgomery Symphony's Blount-Slawson Competition continued to amaze a standing room only audience on Monday evening at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.


   Performing in Auburn-Montgomery's Promenade Concerts, violinist Anna Lee, this year's winner of that competition, accompanied by pianist Naomi Kudo, the 2004 winner of the same competition, have already received international acclaim individually in concerts here and abroad along with winning several other competitions. Their remarkable talent was evident in works by Tartini, Saint-Saëns, Chopin, Bartók, and Sarasate.


  Tartini's G minor sonata known as the "Devil's Trill" opened the program. Its subtitle refers to the number of devilish trills for the violin, but the same appellation might just as well have been applied to Saint-Saëns' G minor sonata, which they played next. Both sonatas made exceptional demands on the performers, but the extended, stunning finger work for piano as well as violin in Saint-Saëns' final "Allegro molto" was spellbinding for power, speed, and accuracy.


   Nathan Milstein's arrangement of the C-sharp minor "Nocturne" by Chopin followed, a contrast in style and mood for its haunting, lyrical melody and improvisatory cadenzas for violin. Then the program turned to the jaunty rhythms and quaint melodies of six "Roumanian Folk Dances" by Bartók as transcribed by Zoltan Szekely.


    Continuing with folk idioms, Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen," or "Gypsy Airs," completed the published program, ending with a stunning flourish and blazing finale.


   The whole program was played without intermission or any other break except to acknowledge enthusiastic applause, which brought the performers back on stage for an encore: Edward Elgar's "Salut d'Amour."


    The performance was brilliant by any standard. Playing an Amati violin, Lee's tone was strong but ostensibly unforced, and her technique was equally impressive, even more so considering that she is only 13 years old. At age 21, pianist Naomi Kudo also played with exceptional maturity, sensitivity to the solo violin, and consummate skill.
 

    These two are indeed international artists and seasoned performers even at their ages. They have separate careers as individual soloists but have played together for a little over a year. Hearing them again whenever there is an opportunity to do so would be welcome.