Elmar Oliveira gives spirited recital for Community Concerts at Second
It has been quite a while since I've seen Elmar Oliveira in performance -- longer than I realized. The last time, he had hair.
Oliveira, the first and still only American violinist to earn a gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition (in 1978), was in town Sunday to give a recital for Community Concerts at Second. This was the organization's annual benefit to help support its otherwise free series of events at Second Presbyterian Church. The value of those many free concerts each season cannot be overstated.
In a sonata-dominated program with pianist Robert Koenig (equally bald, by the way -- not that there's anything wrong with that), Oliveira demonstrated that his technique remains basically secure, his musicality refined. He hit a peak in Prokofiev's Sonata No. 1, a work that packs in a remarkable amount of drama and poetry. The violinist made much of the eerie, whispery flurries that suggest icy winds over a doomed landscape in the outer movements, and dug powerfully into the volatile scherzo. This is deep music, provocative music. Oliveira and Koenig made it ...
speak vividly.
A pair of A major sonatas by Mozart and Schubert passed by pleasantly, if without a great deal of charm and nuance. Those qualities were in abundance from both players, though, for the closing group of short pieces. The F.A.E. Scherzo by Brahms had lots of dash and fire. Two charming Heifetz transcriptions rounded things off, Rachmaninoff's Daisies and Ponce's Estrellita, both delivered quite stylishly, recalling a very different era from our own. Oliveira's tone had a delectable sweetness, his use of portamento was natural and elegant. A wonderful tribute to the Heifetz, still the gold standard of the violin world.
In case you never heard Heifetz play Daisies, I've appended a video filmed late in his career:
PHOTO OF ELMAR OLIVEIRA BY TUCKER DENSLEY COURTESY OF SCHMIDT ARTISTS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Comments
I appreciate Tim Smith's positive review of the Oliveira recital at Second. I've been playing violin for 55 years and it's been my only career. My impression is that the Mozart and Schubert were rendered with beautiful charm and nuance, and in my opinion, more so than any Heifetz performance of Mozart or Schubert that I've ever heard. I had to leave after the second movement of the Prokofiev for a wedding gig. My personal "gold standard" consists of Leonid Kogan, David Oistrakh, and increasingly, Oliveira. I'm familiar with much of Elmar's work and was a little surprised at what seemed to me like his very mature, artistic and reverent performances of the Mozart and Schubert. For me, most of our great soloists miss the essence of the greatest classical (I include Schubert) composers. Oliveira combined the artistry of Szigeti with the mastery of Kogan. Are you familliar with Kogan? I appreciate your coverage of this great concert. Thank you for this nice review.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. I'm an admirer of Szigeti and Kogan, although your message reminds me that I need to dig out my recordings of both men, as it has been too long since I listened to them. There definitely was something different about the old days, and Oliveira clearly has a great appreciation for that style.TIM
Posted by: Paul N | May 26, 2009 3:17 PM