Midori returns with the Houston Symphony
A comforting story amid the unsettling news of the last year lies in the latest album release by one of the world’s most preeminent violinists today.
On the recording, which was made in Switzerland shortly after a last-minute performance cancellation caused by the pandemic, Midori and the musicians of the Festival Strings Lucerne play Beethoven’s one and only Violin Concerto, complemented by his two Romances, in honor of the composer’s 250th birthday last December.
Her soulful expression is nothing short of captivating, her bow gracefully gliding over the strings as if an extension of her own physicality. To watch a brief preview of her performance, available on the Warner Classics label’s YouTube channel, is to experience an artist so deeply moved by the lyrical piece that the music seems to emanate from the very depths of her being.
This weekend, her charisma, along with Beethoven’s beloved concerto, will come to life on the Jones Hall stage with the Houston Symphony. Beginning on Jan. 15, the orchestra will present three socially distanced performances (plus a livestream viewing option on Jan. 16) that will also include works by two living composers of diverse backgrounds. “Elegía Andina” by Gabriela Lena Frank and “Lightspeed” by Kevin Day provide a contrast to the German composer’s three-movement masterpiece — which was composed for Franz Clement in 1806 but was largely forgotten until it was revived by the prodigious Joseph Joachim nearly 40 years later.
While the original plan was to highlight Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, the program, led by conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya, was adjusted to better reflect current circumstances. With the spotlight now on Beethoven, it joins the global celebration for the momentous anniversary of the composer’s birth, which has been extended in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“These times seem to call for Beethoven’s creative soul and artistry, his will to live and create amid great challenges. His music seems to be a great choice to lift everyone’s spirits,” said HarthBedoya, who curated the program with the intent to connect the old with the new. Although the two contemporary composers he selected differ culturally and stylistically, their work, he explained, bridges various musical traditions — a poetic concept that aligns with his mission as founder and artistic director of Caminos del Inka, a nonprofit organization dedicated to unearthing and preserving the rich musical legacy of the Americas.
Like Harth-Bedoya, who is also an environmental advocate and co-founder of Fort Worth’s Cowboy Compost, Midori is very involved in the community, not only as a visionary artist but also an activist and educator. Alongside founding Midori & Friends to provide enriching music programs to children in New York City schools in 1992, she has established the Japan-based Music Sharing, Partners in Performance and the Orchestra Residencies Program.
“Music can be a reflection of our minds and can also help us explore our emotions,” said Midori, who was designated a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2007. “It can help us express ourselves or to receive other people’s expressions. It offers energy, consolation, inspiration and courage.”
Born in Osaka, Japan, the former child prodigy, whose full name is Midori Goto, moved to the United States with her mother, who was also her first teacher, in 1982 to further her musical studies. Soon after, at the tender age of 11, she was invited to play with the New York Philharmonic. That was only the beginning of an illustrious career, as she performed with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood a few years later and then made her Carnegie Hall recital debut four days before her 19th birthday. Now based in Philadelphia, she continues to transfix audiences around the world with the help of her violin of over 20 years — a 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù “ex-Huberman.”