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Date: | Sat, 13 Mar 1999 22:56:16 -0500 |
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I went to a performance of a local "community" symphony orchestra of
Westerville. Westerville is a a tiny suburb of Columbus. The only reason
an orchestra exists here is because a small private college (Otterbein)
with a sizeable music department happens to be located in Westerville. The
orchestra gives only 4 concerts a year, and this is the first time that I
noticed it was giving a concert....
The first work on the program was Mendelson's "Reformation" symphony no.
5. This was my first time hearing it, and I am not impressed. It might
have been the orchestra's fault though. This was the most uninspired live
performance I've heard to date. There were many mistakes made which were
apparent even to my not-so-musical ear. Any merit Mendelsohn's music might
have had was erased by the clumsy performance.
The reason that I got interested in this concert is because I heard a
young Russian violinist will be the soloist. Being Russian myself, I
tend to gravitate to other things Russian ;-). The violinist was Anton
Barachovsky. The radio announcement that I heard mentioned a few awards
that he won, so I thought it should be a worthy performance to attend.
I was right for once!
The second and the final piece on the program was Beethoven's violin
concerto with Barachovsky as the soloist, of course. Wow! Suddenly the
orchestra did not sound so bad. For the first time, I heard Beethoven's
violin concerto performed in a way that transcended anything I've heard
before. The sensuousness of the first movement is impossible to describe.
Many times I caught myself holding my breath as he would just fiddle at an
amazing speed, yet putting so much feeling into his playing. Then came the
andante where Anton just let the melody flow out of his fingers, and what
a beautiful melody it turned out to be. The finale was just as satisfying
as the first movement. Again, immensely good playing that kept me at the
edge of my seat throughout.
The way he handled himself on stage also showed how much he respects the
music, and how the music affects him. Whether he was playing, or waiting
for the orchestra to play its part, his face expression and movements were
completely in sync with the music, and you could see how he felt every note
of this Beethoven masterpiece. I haven't seen this with other violinists
which are supposedly better than Barachovsky.
I haven't heard of Barachovsky prior to this concert, and some simple
web searches tell me he is not a famous figure that I just totally missed
hearing of (as one would assume after today's wonderful performance). I
have no idea why he isn't being invited by the top orchestras, as he is too
good for playing with third-rate orchestras such as the one he played with
today.
Anyone else know more about this virtuoso violinist?
Igor
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