A moving tribute to a violin great
Yehudi Menuhin @ 100 (out of 4) With Daniel Hope (violin) and Sebastian Knauer (piano) at Koerner Hall, Jan. 28.
It’s hard to believe Yehudi Menuhin, one of the most prominent violin virtuosos of the 20th century, has already been gone for 17 years. His spirit is still warmly remembered.
He created new possibilities for the violin and showed that it could sing every bit as lyrically as a dramatic soprano, or play every bit as smoothly as a viol in a Baroque court. Later in life, his technique waned, but he reinvented himself as a thoughtful and searching musical ambassador.
This is when young British violinist Daniel Hope first rose. The connection between them was so deeply felt that Hope proclaimed Menuhin was the very reason he became a violinist. The two performed together for many years and regarded one another as family.
This impact was intensely felt Thursday night under the microscopic acoustics of Koerner Hall in honour of what would have been Menuhin’s 100th birthday.
Hope, joined by pianist Sebastian Knauer, opened the Menuhin doors with J.S. Bach’s beguiling Violin Sonata No. 4, a piece Menuhin originally recorded with Glenn Gould in 1965. Playing at a snappy pace that would have dared any Baroque purist to oblige, Hope, using an iPad rather than a score, countered the perpetual counterpoint in the piano with a dangerously precarious rubato. The effect was an uneasy tension throughout the contrasting slow-fast-slow-fast movements.
The duo then introduced George Enescu’s swashbuckling, yet sincere Impromptu. Hope’s tone made swift converts out of those who take heart-on-sleeve romantic repertoire to task for its maudlin sensibility.
Menuhin’s now definitive version of Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Sonata in F Major provided an ideal vehicle for the interplay between Hope and Knauer. Each navigated the devilishly difficult final “Assai vivace” with finesse. The audience was heard gasping at the sheer virtuosity.
Next was Maurice Ravel’s darkly lit Kaddish. Hope played it as an encore for Menuhin’s last public appearance, just days before he died. The sentiment was powerful. Lines were shaped with a velvet tenderness while Knauer’s open chords sounded a prayer for the dead. Hearing it was alone worth the price of admission.
Other highlights included Bela Bartok’s six Rumanian Folk Dances, which were not so much played but danced, as they should be. There was also William Walton’s Violin Sonata, which Menuhin originally commissioned to help him cover a friend’s medical bills. Rarely played, these deserve to be heard more often.
Hope and Knauer closed the night with two encores: Georger Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” and Aaron Copland’s “Nocturne,” to reflect Menuhin’s love of jazz. Hope and Knauer played the first in a hybrid style between Oscar Peterson and Stéphane Grappelli. The second was drippingly lush and left everyone with a grin for the drive home.
All told, it was a moving tribute by one of the most authentically talented violinists of his generation. One could feel the spirit of Menuhin grinning along with us.