Last Saturday, I attended a Midori concert (yes, I said I would post yesterday, but I got sidetracked by various things) which I thought quite cool. Was it cool because I got to hear a Famous Person play? Undoubtedly. I found it interesting that she was able to pull off several different styles in one performance--to see the program notes that Midori wrote herself see here (pdf).
Sitting in the auditorium before the concert was somewhat odd. The backstage of the HOP is not soundproofed so I was able to hear Midori and the pianist Robert McDonald (who has accompanied her for about 17 years) warming up. Then again, I was fairly close to the stage--second row, center--a great seat--close enough to see the reflection of the first row on the Steinway, courtesy from non-procrastination when tickets to the concert went on sale. And as usual, the audience was a mixture of old snooty people (alumni?), college profs in tweed, and grungy college students. (Just so you know, I did not go to the concert looking grungy--being flagrantly rebellious of expected attire at classical concerts is so passé.)
Midori was shorter than I had imagined or perhaps this was the result of my preconception that all violinists appear statuesque on stage. At any rate, I couldn't help do one of those comparisons with the piano and violin--like a semi to a Miata. The problem with being a pianist is that you're sitting on a bench and you're showing the audience only one side. As a violinist, you're standing and you're free to move. Midori took advantage of this and literally glittered (she was wearing a shiny gold dress) as she performed.
At a question and answer session after the concert, Midori said that she liked all of the pieces because she got to play in different styles but my favorite was the third movement (Andante) of J.S. Bach's Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003. This was solo violin so none of the tone was muddied up by a background piano, but with all the double stops, it sounded like more than one violin playing. At that particular moment, it was as if Bach had been distilled into a pure Zen-like soundscape.
One question asked by the audience was--why did she have her eyes closed while she was playing? Actually, she didn't have her eyes closed. She was looking down at the bridge and fingerboard of her violin and to the audience, it appeared that she had her eyes closed. Anyways, it had the effect that she was concentrating on the music and the audience itself happened to be there to hear her play by coincidence.
How to describe Midori's style? "Light" would be the wrong word. I'd say her passion for the music is more easy-going and loose. Sure, she can be ferocious when the music calls for it, but unlike other violinists who grind away with sweat pouring down their temples, she goes with the flow letting each note speak instead of channeling them down some preconceived path.
