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MENUHIN COMPETITION
The Guardian
menuhincompetition.org
Wednesday April 16, 2008
Yehudi Menuhin wanted his biennial violin competition to be a
heartwarming and instructive event. This lived up to that vision. It
is in the Menuhin spirit, too, that members of the jury perform during
competition week as well as giving masterclasses, hence the appearance
on this occasion of Maxim Vengerov.
Originally intending to play the Tchaikovsky concerto himself, Vengerov
instead took the podium as conductor with Joshua Bell stepping in
as soloist. It could have been disastrous, with Vengerov apparently
focusing as much energy on driving Bell's trajectory as that of the
Menuhin Competition Orchestra, and Bell's body language conveying his
own intentions just as forcefully to both orchestra and Vengerov. In
fact, they proved a high-voltage combination. There was a wonderful
intensity in the first movement and, even if this was not a definitive
performance, their vitality created a genuine excitement.
The courtesy of commissioning new pieces from the host nation was
observed in Mervyn Burtch's Elegy for King Arthur, for choir, harp and
solo violin, setting words by Mark Morris. The piece was delivered
expressively enough by the Serendipity choir, with harpist Catrin
Finch and the 2000 competition winner Akiko Ono. Yet the piece could
not avoid seeming shoe-horned into the proceedings.
Ono also partnered the 2006 winner, Hrachya Avanesyan, in Bach's
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. Avanesyan's instinct for Bach
was matched by his fiercely dynamic performance of Ravel's Tzigane,
which marked the Armenian as a special talent and an inspiration for
this year's young hopefuls.
The Guardian
menuhincompetition.org
Wednesday April 16, 2008
Yehudi Menuhin wanted his biennial violin competition to be a
heartwarming and instructive event. This lived up to that vision. It
is in the Menuhin spirit, too, that members of the jury perform during
competition week as well as giving masterclasses, hence the appearance
on this occasion of Maxim Vengerov.
Originally intending to play the Tchaikovsky concerto himself, Vengerov
instead took the podium as conductor with Joshua Bell stepping in
as soloist. It could have been disastrous, with Vengerov apparently
focusing as much energy on driving Bell's trajectory as that of the
Menuhin Competition Orchestra, and Bell's body language conveying his
own intentions just as forcefully to both orchestra and Vengerov. In
fact, they proved a high-voltage combination. There was a wonderful
intensity in the first movement and, even if this was not a definitive
performance, their vitality created a genuine excitement.
The courtesy of commissioning new pieces from the host nation was
observed in Mervyn Burtch's Elegy for King Arthur, for choir, harp and
solo violin, setting words by Mark Morris. The piece was delivered
expressively enough by the Serendipity choir, with harpist Catrin
Finch and the 2000 competition winner Akiko Ono. Yet the piece could
not avoid seeming shoe-horned into the proceedings.
Ono also partnered the 2006 winner, Hrachya Avanesyan, in Bach's
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. Avanesyan's instinct for Bach
was matched by his fiercely dynamic performance of Ravel's Tzigane,
which marked the Armenian as a special talent and an inspiration for
this year's young hopefuls.