San Francisco Classical Voice

The warmth and affection with which audiences greet Itzhak Perlman have been earned over a 35-year period. Perlman is a marvel tonally, and technically is still a wizard, even if the technique occasionally gets a bit frayed. Playing to a capacity Davies Hall audience Sunday evening, Perlman and his splendid pianist, Janet Guggenheim, programmed a recital which would not have been out of place in the early years of the last century, i.e., the 1900s.

Opening with the famous D Major Sonata of Handel, Perlman and. Guggenheim showed a tonal beauty and structural sense in this "evergreen" work that must have amazed every one of the young violinists in the audience. With Guggenheim adding a bit of baroque ornamentation to the keyboard part and Perlman reining in his well-known vibrato, the sonata took on a luster and interest that captivated.

The G minor Bruch Concerto, which so many young violinists play with piano accompaniment, gave the impetus to Perlman to show how it really should be played. Taking no cuts in the orchestral tutti passages, Guggenheim brought to attention, with a wonderful sense of balance, all the voices that are sometimes missed by conductor and orchestra in the usually perfunctory accompaniments. Only a touch of excess by Perlman with his vibrato, and a tendency to be a little high in pitch in the upper positions marred an otherwise splendid performance.

After intermission came the Perlman candy shoppe. Performing a group of eight bonbons by Kreisler, Schumann-Kreisler, Brahms-Joachim, Sarasate, Dvorak-Kreisler and Wieniawski-Kreisler, Perlman showed why he is a beloved artist, The Kreisler Tempo di Menuetto was noble, the Schumann Romance was contemplative and sad, the Brahms-Joachim Hungarian Dances in E Minor and G Minor had enough taste of paprika to satisfy. Only the Sarasate Malaguena and Habanera somehow missed stylistically. The essence of aristocratic Sarasate morphed instead towards a slightly Central European character.

The formal program ended with the Wieniawski-Kreisler Caprice in A Minor, but Perlman and Guggenheim came through with 3 encores of the same genre as the previous eight selections. They were the Tchaikowsky Chanson sans parole, Kreisler's Humoresque and the Spanish Dance from La Vida Breve by de Falla-Kreisler. A well nourished and satisfied audience then left the hall.

(Stuart Canin is the former Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony and of Hollywood film orchestras, and former Music Director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra)

©2000 Stuart Canin, all rights reserved