Here's something highly improbable: Christian Tetzlaff and Leif Ove Andsnes in a wonderful performance of the Brahms Violin Sonata No. 3... sounding anticlimactic. Unlikely, yes, but that's what happened tonight in Herbst Theater. The reason: the program opened with Janacek's Sonata for Violin and Piano, and after that, it was difficult to concentrate on anything else - it was an overwhelming experience of a rarely-played fabulous piece of music, performed with passion and precision. It is a turbulent-romantic-surprising-"modern"-gripping work, the kind you want to hear again immediately after the performance. Yes, even more than the Brahms...:) This was only the second time I heard the Janacek live. The first was 15 years ago, same venue, same performers. It was in 1994 that Ruth Felt first brought in Tetzlaff and Andsnes, and the Janacek Sonata was on the program. With all those years since then, I am not sure how the performance went then (except that we all raved about the discovery of these two young musical supermen), but I am certain that it could not have had the burning intensity, the effortless elegance of tonight's performance. (I looked for a recording, and found a discontinued [!] one on Amazon - is there another?) Also on the program: a flawless Mozart Sonata in F Major, K. 377, and robust Schubert Rondo Brillant in B minor, D. 895; two Sibelius miniatures: Dance Champe[with a hat]tre, Op. 106, No. 5 and 2. For a proper review, check Michelle Dulak's tomorrow on SFCV.org. Janos Gereben www.sfcv.org [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html