The Red Rocks Music Festival capped a season of remarkable performances with a display of the exceptional talents of violinist Shlomo Mintz at the Sedona Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Nov. 11. A violin prodigy who debuted with the Israel Philharmonic at the age of 11, Mintz is a childhood friend of festival founder Moshe Bukshpan, and was joined for the occasion by Phoenix pianist Vitaly Serebriakov.
Mintz chose to open the concert with Antonin Dvorak’s Romance in F Minor — Dvorak has been quite popular in Sedona this season. The Romance began with a very familiar, haunting theme rendered by the piano before being joined by the violin, which added a warm, emotion-laden sound to the piano’s uncertainty. Mintz stood alone in the music, eyes closed, a half-smile on his face, lifting his instrument to the sky, the sort of artist in whose hands the violin becomes a voice. He played with delicacy and finesse through melodies filled with constant tugs of familiarity, with entrancing use of vibrato as the music alternated between questing and confident. Serebriakov also had the chance to hint at his own force in the work’s central passage.
The Dvorak was followed by the Arizona premiere of Mintz’s own “Sonatina,” the only piece he played from a written score, in four short movements reflecting various images. The first movement, which Mintz described as reflecting the emergence of order from chaos, had a distinctly 1930s feel. It was disorderly at first but not dark, instead fast and forward-looking with a great deal of staccato technique culminating in an energetic climax. By contrast, the second passage, inspired by French composer Gabriel Faure, was almost old-fashioned, with an 18th-century flavor to it. The violin again dominated while the piano took a continuo role.
In the third movement, hurt morphed into resignation and even the hope of redemption. Serebriakov was very involved in his playing here, crouched over the keyboard as if to spring. The final section, a tribute to Niccolo Paganini, blazed with complexity and elaboration like a rapid, upbeat conversation. Viewed as a whole, the “Sonatina” was an impressively able composition, full of good musical ideas without egotism or showing away. Likewise impressive was the liquid sound Serebriakov was able to extract from the somewhat battered house piano during the finale.
Camille Saint-Saens’ Havanaise in E Major followed Mintz’s work. A gentle, dancing, almost flirtatious prelude with elements of call-and-response gave way to a whirl of skirts as the two artists music-painted the portrait of a leaping gamin. In a particularly interesting touch, the piano counterpointed the violin to give the impression of an ardent admirer in constant, unsuccessful pursuit of the girl. They kept going round and round the floor of the dance studio in the enthusiasm of the chase — but he never quite caught up with her.
Mintz demonstrated a particular gift for the whistling tones and atmospheric slurs that lend vividness to the piece. Incidentally, the Havanaise was a thematically-appropriate choice for a November concert given that, as conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt once pointed out, the key of E major was regarded as the key of the Christmas season in the musical language of the 18th century.
The audience responded with great enthusiasm to Mintz and Serebriakov’s treatment of Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy” with its instantly-recognizable themes from one of the most familiar of operas. Especially in the suite’s adaptation of the “Habanera,” the piano took the orchestral role while the violin played the vocal line. It turned out that Mintz could sing the part of a factory girl of loose morals quite naturally through his violin. A short, mournful passage gave way to fast, uncertain gypsy chords capturing the disturbing qualities of the original opera and an impressive speedy finish resolving their uncertainties.
For an encore, Mintz and Serebriakov performed Fritz Kreisler’s “Tambourin Chinois,” inspired by the composer’s turn-of-the-century visit to San Francisco. The low notes in the entry showed the greatest influence of Chinese musical style, while the work as a whole was structured using traditional sonata form, with a brisk opening, a slower display of violin virtuosity and a reprise that had the two musicians leaning into their instruments from the vigor of the writing.
The Red Rocks Music Festival will return next autumn for its 23rd season. Board member Yvonne Boutell will be taking over as president from Jeffrey Bush.
