(Andrey Baranov)
Memorable performance by Andrey Baranov in a programme that
gave him ample opportunity to demonstrate his skills (Review by Michael Green)
The first 18th century violin notes of the latest recital in
the Durban Jewish Centre signified that here was a young master of his instrument.
The player was a 31-year-old Russian violinist, Andrey
Baranov. Accompanied by his sister, Maria Baranova (29), he gave a memorable
performance for the Friends of Music in a programme that gave him ample
opportunity to demonstrate his skills.
In his relatively short career Andrey Baranov has won many
international awards (as indeed has his sister) and it is easy to understand
why. His technical abilities are exceptional, but it is the consistently full,
rich quality of his violin tone that makes his playing truly remarkable.
It was this that immediately commanded attention with the
opening notes of the so-called Devil’s
Trill sonata by Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770). The work derives its name
from the composer’s ingeniously fabricated story that the devil played the
music to him in a dream.
The music is in fact much better than the story. It is
attractive and melodious, and Baranov played it with great poise and insight.
This high standard was maintained throughout the rest of the
programme. Two little-known and interesting compositions by Tchaikovsky were
followed by Paganini’s celebrated La
Campanella, which is perhaps most famous in its piano transcription by
Franz Liszt.
Then came:
A sonata for unaccompanied violin by the Belgian composer
Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931).
The gentle and romantic Poeme
by Ernest Chausson, who died in 1899 at the age of 44 when he rode his bicycle
into a stone wall.
Tzigane by Maurice
Ravel (1875-1937), vivid music in a gypsy style.
All these works demonstrated the versatile prowess of Andrey
Baranov. His sister Maria made a notable contribution with keyboard parts that
were often technically challenging.
In response to an ovation from the audience they played more
Paganini as an encore.
The prelude performer of the evening, supported by the
National Lotteries Commission, was Leila Poona, a 15-year-old pupil at Crawford
College, La Lucia. Accompanied at the piano by Liezl-Maret Jacobs, she played
two familiar pieces, Saint-Saens’s Danse
Macabre and Brahms’s second Hungarian Dance. - Michael Green
Posts
