VIVIEN DIXON

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23914, 5 April 1943, Page 3

VIVIEN DIXON

VIOLIN RECITAL An excellent recital was given by Miss Vivien Dixon in Charles Begg’s Concert Hall on Saturday evening. Miss Dixon, partnered by Miss Althea Harley Slack, played Mozart’s D major Concerto, Brahms’s A major Sonata, Chausson’s Pofcme, and a new sonata by Douglas Lilburn. The programme, ideal in length and style,’ will, it is hoped, be the first of many to be given by these well-matched players. Miss Dixon is a most capably equipped violinist. It is only after the recital is over that we recall her techr nical accomplishment, bowing that makes the music come alive, clean intonation, and so on. At the moment of performance all that was taken for granted; and we listened only to the music that was being made, with enjoyment for the crisp, clear attack on every note, for the zest of her virile Mozart playing, and for the poetically conceived Chausson. The closing bars of this sensitive music were most beautifully realised. For the Brahms, a warm lyrical reading seemed not even to be sought; what was given came from a finely drawn and serious apprehension of the music. The phrase, “finely serious,’’ well describes Miss Dixon’s music. Miss. Althea Harley Slack was a capable partner. She has always a firm grip on Brahms. The end of the slow movement of the Mozart won loveliness from a stubborn instrument. Both players gave a first-rate performance, with some reservation for the last movement, of |Mr Lilburn's latest work, a . sonata, l in good old, or good new, sonata form. To judge from the final kick of the heels that the violin gives in the last bar of the rondo, Mr Lilburn has been having a holiday from the rigpurs of his “Allegro for Strings.’’ His new sonata has an open-air ring, a feeling of sunshine and strength. Immediate impressions are; for the first movement, magnificent opening pages, a grand embracing second ,tune, a harmonic background that is convincing; for the second, a sense that good music is going on, but that we are not getting it all yet; for the third, admiration for his resource, the rhythmic vitality (he dearly loves a skirl), but a feeling that the players were not letting us hear the main tune.coming “round” again. This is good music; let it be heard again.