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First Unitarian Church
June 16, 2013
The main attraction at this concert was clearly the home-coming violin prodigy Nikki Chooi, aged 24, winner of numerous international competitions and about to complete his graduate studies at Juilliard. In her introduction, Laura Backstrom told the audience how she first heard him play when he was 12 years old, and how he put everyone's hair on edge - presumably from pleasure. All eyes and ears were on him throughout the concert, and some in the audience couldn't resist applauding between the movements of the Mozart and the Debussy Violin Sonatas. Rather than giving these enthusiasts a well-deserved evil eye, Chooi graciously acknowledged the accolade.
Chooi and pianist Lorraine Min opened with Mozart's Violin Sonata in B flat minor, K.378. Since everybody else seemed focused on Chooi, I decided to devote my attention to Min. Her technical virtuosity and great self-confidence made her a spectacle in her own right. Perhaps she got a little carried away on the Baldwin grand, because the piano tended to drown out the violin.
It is an uncanny experience to make out a familiar theme in an otherwise unfamiliar composition, like recognizing a long-lost friend in a crowd of strangers. Thus, in the Andantino, I heard the opening bars of "Fairest Lord Jesus" and was looking forward to the remainder of my favourite hymn, but it was not to be, and I felt as if my friend had disappeared in the crowd without recognizing me.
Chooi and Min then performed another Violin Sonata, the G minor L.140 by Debussy. This was the composer's final work, and he himself played the piano part in his last public appearance before he died. The dynamic range of the three movements was such as to break a strand in Chooi's bow. The Intermède, with its jazzy sweetness, brought to mind George Gershwin. Upon the abrupt ending of the Finale, many in the audience rose to their feet in delight. Chooi responded by tearing off the errant strand and playing one of Paganini's "Caprices" as a solo encore before the intermission
After the intermission, the full ensemble gathered for Brahms' Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34. To illustrate Brahms' attention to detail, Backstrom told the following anecdote. The composer goes into a bar. (Giggles from the audience in anticipation.) The bartender asks him how things are going. "Well," says Brahms, "this morning I added an eighth note, and this afternoon I removed it." Although Backstrom declared that this is the very best example of Brahms' chamber music, and while the ensemble performed it with great esprit, it is not easy listening. The opening Allegro is mind-splitting, for lack of a better word, and the subsequent Andante therefore comes as a relief. The Scherzo begins with a Pink Panther-style thunk thunk by the cello before bursting into a sequence of two heroic marches. These are quite sing-able, and it is surprising that no country has adopted and adapted either of them as their national anthem. Chooi's and Min's performance stood out once again in the Finale. The standing ovation that followed was mingled with truly heartfelt jubilation.
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