Violinist Helen Hwaya Kim and pianist Robert Henry. (KSU/Bailey)

Fauré and Beethoven highlight recital by Helen Hwaya Kim and Robert Henry

CONCERT REVIEW:
Helen Hwaya Kim & Robert Henry
March 20, 2023
Morgan Hall, Bailey Performance Center
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia – USA
Helen Hwaya Kim, violin; Robert Henry, piano.

Fritz KREISLER: Praeludium and Allegro
Gabriel FAURE: Sonata in A Major , Op. 13
Max RICHTER: Mercy
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Sonata, Op. 30, No. 3
George GERSHWIN/tr. Heifetz: Three Preludes

Mark Gresham | 22 MAR 2023

On Monday evening at Kennesaw State University’s Bailey Family Performance Center, violinist Helen Hwaya Kim and pianist Robert Henry performed a recital of music by Kreisler, Fauré, Ricjter, Beethoven, and Gershwin.

The recital opened with a familiar showpiece, Fritz Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani, a great vehicle for showcasing Kim’s technical skill and sense of musicality. The music is written in a Baroque style and was one of Kreisler’s many hoaxes in which he initially passed off one of his compositions as being by a historical composer. The piece begins with a slow, stately intro with a cadenza-like section in its middle before launching into a lively “Allegro” full of energy and vitality.


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They then turned to another staple of the violin repertoire, Gabriel Fauré’s Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 13, one of the composer’s earliest compositions that reflects the influence of his teacher Camille Saint-Saëns.

Kim and Henry made the meticulous “Allegro molto” first movement shimmer. The reflective “Andante” movement led to a scampering scherzo (“Allegro vivo”) with a more melancholic trio. The performers brought the rippling rondo of a finale across as a thrilling tour-de-force within a framework of restraint. (How very French!)

Mercy by the contemporary German composer Max Richter (b. 1966) opened the program’s second half. Hilary Hahn commissioned the piece as part of her In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores project. The haunting, gentle work lasts around fine and a half minutes, building slowly to a poignant climax near its end. Serendipitously, Monday’s performance came only two days before Richter’s 57th birthday (March 22).


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Next came Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, the third of three violin sonatas published as Op. 30, representing a significant turning point in Beethoven’s development as a composer, marking the emergence of his ‟middle period” or ‟heroic style.”

In the opening “Allegro assai,” Beethoven begins to get adventurous with syncopation and off-beat sforzandi. The graceful “Tempo di minuetto” that is the second movement nodded more toward his more classical first period. Like the first movement, the third proved relentlessly buoyant in vitality.

Kim and Henry closed with Three Preludes, one of several pieces by George Gershwin transcribed for violin and piano by his friend, the world-renowned violinist Jascha Heifetz. Originally written for solo piano, Heifetz’s transcription captures the essence of Gershwin’s music while showcasing violin technique. The outer Preludes’ syncopated rhythms and playful melodies contrasted with the second’s languid blues melody.

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About the author:
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. He began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.

Read more by Mark Gresham.
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