I can’t remember when I last heard a violin-piano recital that was as
ingenious and exhilarating as this. On the sleeve, the Franco-Hungarian
programme looks a bit odd – the Poulenc sonata written for Ginette
Neveu in 1943, a Dohnanyi setting of a waltz from Delibes’ Coppélia, the
full-on Bartók sonata of 1922 and Ravel’s Tzigane to close.
What do these pieces have in common?
On April 8, 1922, Béla Bartók gave a recital in Paris
with his compatriot Jelly d’Aranyi. Ravel was the page turner for Bartók
and Poulenc for d’Aranyi. In the audience were Stravinsky, Szymanowski,
Milhaud, Honegger and Roussel. The violinist said it was the most
thrilling concert of her life. She had already sat through a long night
with Ravel playing him gypsy tunes, which he turned into Tzigane. This
single concert fused three distinct cultures.
Only Patricia Kopatchinskaja would have made these connections, and
no other violinist could bring them to life with such wildfire
exuberance, verging on madcap abandon. The Russian pianist Polina
Leschenko, rather than offering a steadying hand with big, bold chords,
is a subtle provocateur, forever daring barefoot Pat Kop to do something
really wicked.
The Poulenc sonata delivers winsome blues, a mild dig at the Nazi
occupation. The Coppélia waltz is undanceable at this speed. The Bartók
sonata aches with homesickness for Balkan steppes and Tzigane is
absolutely electrifying. There is more voltage on this record than a
nuclear power plant on the Seine. (Norman Lebrecht)
GRACİAS !
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