![\"MSO](\"https:\/\/www.mso.org.uk\/Images\/msologotrans1.gif\")
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Rarely have I watched a performer who exuded as much palpable pleasure in the music as Mayumi Kanagawa playing Bruch\u2019s first violin concerto<\/em>. She smiled several times at the leader during the piece and rocked appreciatively during the orchestral passages. Perhaps, since this was MSO\u2019s first concert for 20 months, she was as delighted to be playing live as the audience was to be there.<\/p>\n Technically pretty impeccable, Kanagawa gave us some fine cross string work and double stopping and, later, dug out lots of romantic richness in the allegro moderato. The orchestra, meanwhile, accompanied her warmly. I occasionally hear in colours and perceive G minor as a navy blue key. Kanagawa\u2019s simple dark blue outfit reflected that so perhaps she does too.<\/p>\n Her showstopper encore, Paganini\u2019s The Hunt<\/em>, was very welcome icing on the cake. Played with expert insouciance and lots of colour, her flamboyant double stopping and \u201cimpossible\u201d leaps certainly impressed this indifferent amateur violinist.<\/p>\n The concerto was sandwiched between an incisively dramatic account of Beethoven\u2019s Coriolan overture<\/em> and, after the interval, Mendelssohn\u2019s third symphony \u201cScottish<\/em>\u201d. I was pleased to note that Brian Wright took the whole symphony more or less attacca so that there was no space or temptation for audience applause between movements. It makes the work so much more cohesive than if it\u2019s chopped up. Despite occasional fragments of raggedness, it resounded with melodious energy. The management of dynamics un the opening movement created a lot of lively interest and I liked the way Wright let the wind interjections, especially bassoon, shine through the texture. We were also treated to an elegantly understated second movement and as for the adagio \u2026 a conductor I was working under once commented: \u201cThis is one of the most sublime melodies ever written but you musn\u2019t milk it\u201d, MSO didn\u2019t \u2026 but I still felt something in my eye at the end.<\/p>\n Yes, it\u2019s utterly brilliant to see MSO in action again. They still sit at separate stands which makes page turning difficult for string players and the distancing changes the sound slightly but it\u2019s hundreds of times better than the long, long silence we\u2019ve all been through.<\/p>\n Susan Elkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rarely have I watched a performer who exuded as much palpable pleasure in the music as Mayumi Kanagawa playing Bruch\u2019s first violin concerto. She smiled several times at the leader during the piece and rocked appreciatively during the orchestral passages. … Continue reading