{"id":7144,"date":"2011-12-14T10:36:03","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T18:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=7144"},"modified":"2013-02-07T21:00:28","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T05:00:28","slug":"amazing-recital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/12\/14\/amazing-recital\/","title":{"rendered":"amazing recital"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Eugene Ysa\u00ffe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last night (Tuesday) at the Old Church I had the great fortune to attend one of the most mind-blowing performances I’ve ever seen. The violinist was the Oregon Symphony’s (and Arnica Quartet’s) own Shin-young Kwon, and she played, in one concert, all of the six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27<\/strong><\/a> by the great violin virtuoso Eugene Ysa\u00ffe<\/a>. All. Six.<\/em> And it was, in a word, amazing.<\/p>\n

As a feat of sheer memory, it was astounding. As a feat of virtuosity, it was astounding. As a feat of stamina, it was astounding. And as a seamless arc of superior musicianship, it was awe-inspiring. As violinist Greg Ewer said afterward, “Who else in the world does this?” And the answer, so far as I know, is no one. Earlier this year, violinist Jennifer Koh played all of Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas in one concert, and Soovin Kim played all 24 Paganini caprices in recital on tour in years past, but I’ve not heard of a violinist touring today who has done all six Ysa\u00ffe sonatas in one sitting in concert.<\/p>\n

Generally, I’m not a huge fan of complete-ist concerts. Quartets play all of the Bartok quartets in a concert (with lengthened intermission), and cellists play all of the Bach suites in marathon concerts, or all of the Beethoven sonatas. But there is an advantage of hearing all of a set of works side by side. You hear the prevailing similarities that bind all of the pieces, and also the differences. For me, it was realizing the remarkable style and fluency with which Ysa\u00ffe wrote these six wonderful pieces. Through the way he wrote for the violin, it becomes more evident how he viewed the instrument, and how his own idiosyncratic technique influenced how he wrote for the violin.<\/p>\n

As I was listening to one sonata after another, I began to think about how Ysa\u00ffe treated the violin as compared to Paganini. Both were extraordinary virtuosos. But whereas Paganini was simply on a quest to push the boundaries of what was possible on the violin, Ysa\u00ffe sought to put those possibilities to actual musical use. I liken it to figure skating. There are skaters who simply skate to do quads in all of their iterations, and then there are those who spend the extra energy that would go into landing a quad into a more fluid, artistic presentation.<\/p>\n

In any event, when a concertgoer finds themselves thinking such thoughts at a recital, it’s not because they’re bored. It is because they are inspired, stimulated, and intrigued by what is happening on stage. It’s the highest compliment that can be paid to a performer, and it’s what happened to me last night as I listened to Ms. Kwon’s playing last night. Bravo!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Shin-young Kwon (with scarf, center) with her host of admiring OSO colleagues.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night (Tuesday) at the Old Church I had the great fortune to attend one of the most mind-blowing performances I’ve ever seen. The violinist was the Oregon Symphony’s (and Arnica Quartet’s) own Shin-young Kwon, and she played, in one concert, all of the six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27 by the great violin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[135,21],"tags":[2892,3666,3662,184,1501,2891,3659,2890],"class_list":["post-7144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-soloists-recitals","category-violin","tag-old-church","tag-oregon","tag-portland","tag-recital","tag-shin-young-kwon","tag-solo-sonatas","tag-violin","tag-ysaye"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1Re","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8233,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/29\/symphonyquartet-violinist-gives-recital-tonight\/","url_meta":{"origin":7144,"position":0},"title":"symphony\/quartet violinist gives recital tonight","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Violinist Shin-young Kwon, who is a member of the Oregon Symphony and also the Arnica and Mousai Remix string quartets (!), gives a recital tonight (Tuesday, January 29th) with pianist Yoko Greeney at Portland State University's Lincoln Recital Hall (Room 75). The recital begins at 7:30 p.m., and is free\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo: \u00a9 Charles Noble","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/shin-young-8x10-300x375.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":567,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/06\/repeal-day-recital\/","url_meta":{"origin":7144,"position":1},"title":"repeal day recital","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon Symphony violinist Greg Ewer gave a recital at the Old Church last night in honor of the 74th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition.\u00c2\u00a0 As a way of signaling the importance of the date, Ewer brought a cooler full of tasty beverages for lucky audience members to imbibe during\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/us_const.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":203,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/02\/10\/spring-recital-planned\/","url_meta":{"origin":7144,"position":2},"title":"spring recital planned","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"My first major, formal recital in Portland (it only took 11 years!!) will take place on Saturday, April 7th at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Music Center (3350 SE Francis St, Portland, 97202). I'm delighted to be able to invite some of my incredibly talented colleagues to join with me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/03\/07\/quartet-concert-portland-oregon\/","url_meta":{"origin":7144,"position":3},"title":"Quartet Concert – Portland, Oregon","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Haydn op. 20 no. 4 Beethoven op. 59 no. 2 Shin-young Kwon and Sarah Roth, violins Charles Noble, viola Heather Blackburn, cello Wednesday, March 8 at Noon The Old Church SW 12th and Clay Free Admission","rel":"","context":"In \"News\"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/tag\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4539,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/04\/28\/perlman-recital-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":7144,"position":4},"title":"perlman recital review","author":"Justin Kagan","date":"April 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"[Justin Kagan, cellist and coffee roaster extraordinaire, was at the Itzhak Perlman recital Tuesday evening - the following is his exclusive review. - C.N.] AN INFORMAL \"REVIEW\" OF ITZHAK PERLMAN RECITAL @ THE SCHNITZ 4-27-2010 Since my esteemed friends and colleagues of the OSO were doing yeoman's work in Salem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/perlman2_byAkiraKinoshita_orig-327x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/03\/10\/quartet-concert-redux\/","url_meta":{"origin":7144,"position":5},"title":"Quartet concert, redux","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Haydn Quartet op. 20 no. 4 Beethoven Quartet op. 59 no. 2 \"Rasumowski\" Shin-young Kwon and Sarah Roth, violins Charles Noble, viola Heather Blackburn, cello Sunday, March 12 @ 5:00 p.m. St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church 1704 NE 43rd Ave Portland, Oregon Free Admission Google map location","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}