Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos is renowned internationally, but you wouldn’t know it as he greets the audience at the Ordway Concert Hall. He doesn’t strut or wave or even smile. Instead, he brings his tall figure to center stage, his lengthy figure slightly hunched over, and without flourish, begins to play.
Kavakos, who has just been nominated for a Grammy Award along with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax for their performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Archduke” trio, is performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin as part of the Schubert Club’s International Artist Series. Tuesday afternoon’s concert featured two of the sonatas in the set, and one of three partitas, with the other half of the series continuing Wednesday evening.
Tuesday’s matinee began with Sonata No. 1 in G minor, a piece that opens with a somber Grave movement. Kavakos appeared nonchalant as he played the opening notes. There was no intensity in his facial expression, just a clear attention to his instrument. The only hint of all the work that goes into playing this music was the instrumentalist’s heavy breath.
His bow became like a brush, just lightly passing over the strings in the floating melody. The short opening movement ended with a kind of question mark, before moving into the Fuga movement.
That’s when Kavakos began to really shine, playing harmonies with his instrument in skillful double stops and skipping rhythms. From there, Kavakos moved into the Andante movement, a sadder, almost aching piece of music where there’s almost never just one note at play. Along with the melancholic melody, Kavakos moved back and forth with the lower strings to create an accompanying bass line — all with just one instrument.
The piece ended with the show-stopping Allegro movement, and the audience in the Twin Cities sat rapt by the great interpretive artist sharing his craft.
Then Kavakos performed Partita No. 3 in E major, composed of six different dance-form pieces. It opened with the mad-dash Preludio. As Kavakos played, you could imagine the most agile of dancers in Bach’s day moving across the dance floor with breathless pace.
Playing the Gavotte en rondeau movement, Kavakos breezed through the complex patterns, inserting a sneaky pause toward the end before returning to the movement’s theme. As the Partita continued, he didn’t carry a preciousness of tone. Rather, with his relaxed and unassuming focus, Kavakos played the complex patterns of Bach’s music with elegant mastery.
After intermission, the program moved to Bach’s Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Here, Kavakos continued his deliberate, careful style, playing the difficult passages with confidence. It’s not that he makes the playing look easy, necessarily. Rather, the musician maintains a calm demeanor even as his astounding virtuosity can be heard clearly through the music.
After the impressive Fuga, Kavakos moved through the lighter Largo movement into the immensely fast Allegro assai. When the audience erupted in applause, the international guest graced them with a smile, before playing a short encore.
If you go
What: Schubert Club International Artist Series
Who: Violinist Leonidas Kavakos
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13
Where: Ordway Concert Hall, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
Tickets: $36-$75
Accessibility: Elevators access all floors of Concert Hall, accessibility seating for all mobility devices (request when buying tickets); service animals welcome (inform ticket representative); listening units and large print available upon request. One single-occupancy, accessible restroom in the Music Theater lobby. Ordway.org/visit/accessibility.
Capsule: With quiet mastery, Leonidas Kavakos performs Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin.
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