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Music: Perlman's Rousing Playing Highlight Of Zukerman's Final NAC G

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  • Music: Perlman's Rousing Playing Highlight Of Zukerman's Final NAC G

    PERLMAN'S ROUSING PLAYING HIGHLIGHT OF ZUKERMAN'S FINAL NAC GALA

    Ottawa Citizen, Canada
    Oct 3 2014

    Natasha Gauthier

    After last year's foray into pop, the 18th NAC Gala returned to a
    strictly classical format last night, headlined by legendary violinist
    (and Pinchas Zukerman pal) Itzhak Perlman.

    The Overture to Mozart's Magic Flute kicked off the gala, Zukerman's
    last. What should have been like the frothy pop of a champagne cork
    fell a bit flat, missing the mark both in the gravitas of the opening
    chords and the effervescence of the main themes.

    The fiendish 19th-century showpiece La Ronde des lutins, by Paganini's
    less well-known acolyte, Antonio Bazzini, showcased the gifts of
    another rising star Zukerman has taken under his generous wing. The
    14-year-old Armenian violinist Diana Adamyan is slight little thing,
    but although her sound is still small, she is hugely self-assured,
    attacking the work's notorious double stops and left-hand pizzicati
    with effortless panache. I would have liked to hear her in something
    less trite.

    For Bach's Concerto for Two Violins, Zukerman shared the spotlight with
    three talented young proteges. Daniel Khlaikov, Jessica Linnebach,
    and Ann-Estelle Medouze each took over the Violin 1 part for one
    of the three movements. Khalikov, second concertmaster of the
    Chamber Orchestra of New York, was elegant and refined. Linnebach,
    NACO's associate concertmaster, was the most old-school romantic
    of the three. Medouze, concertmaster of France's Orchestre national
    d'Ile-de-France, was the most energetic and authentic in her approach.

    The orchestra returned with Perlman for Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante
    for Violin and Viola, with Zukerman conducting from the latter. Gala
    performances can have a throwaway feel but this was actually an
    exceptionally satisfying reading. Perlman and Zukerman are naturally
    sympatico, and their easy, conversational complicity -- and gorgeous
    combined sound -- seemed to inspire the orchestra. There were, finally,
    true gossamer pianissimi, and the second movement was as plangent
    and earnest as one of Mozart's great opera arias, with beautifully
    executed and shaped long pedals from the horns and oboes.

    The concert closed with the scintillating last two movements
    Mendelssohn's Octet, bringing most of the evening's stars together
    on stage one last time. Led by Perlman from the first violin part
    (Zukerman joined NACO's Jethro Marks on viola), the players managed
    good cohesion, helped of course by the fact five of the eight are
    accustomed to playing together. The closing fugue was taken at furious
    speed and served as a rousing finale.

    The evening raised $917,000 for the National Youth and Education Trust.

    http://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/music/perlmans-rousing-playing-highlight-of-zukermans-final-naco-gala




    From: A. Papazian
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