Georgiadis recital

Press, 27 November 1980, Page 23

Georgiadis recital

By PHILIP NORMAN The “Romany Romantic,” John Georgiadis, was back in Christchurch on Tuesday evening for a solo violin recital at the State Trinity Centre: or rather, it was a solo violin demonstration, of technical mastery and consummate showmanship, Mr Georgiadis is not merely a player, he is a performer whose obvious enthusiasm for his material is infection*. Mr Georgiadis was accompanied in the recital by Pilar Fernandez, a voung Mexican pianist whose mere presence enhanced the attractive packaging of the music. Miss Fernandez also proved that nof only her fingers could dance for before the items of Span- • ish flavour — "Spanish ■‘Dance,” from "La Vida Breve” by de Falla, arranged by Kreis ler; and “Zapateado,” by Sarasate

— she illustrated some appropriate Spanish dance steps. • ' ' The strength of the recital lay in the opening three works: Sonata in G Minor (the “Devil’s Trill”), by Tartini, Sonata No. 2 in A Major by Brahms, and "Tzigane,” by Ravel. The Tartini was ex-> quisitely played with a beautiful cantabile tone, Mr Georgiadis offering a definitive account of Baroque ornamentation. Only the cadenza was anti-cli-mactic with its banal sequential development of the devil’s laugh motif. The Brahms was of an equal high standard to the Tartini. Sensitively phrased, perfectly intoned, frequent octave" double-stepping and lyrically executed, it provided the high point of the programme. The Ravel is a curious work, a tongue-in-cheek composition poking gentle fun at, as well as eulogising, the

art of gipsy violin. Gradually the music transforms itself from sobriety to inebriation. The resultant tipsy gipsy atmosphere was tellingly mirrored in Mr Georgiadis’s facial ex« pressions. The rest of the pro- . gramme delved into what one could call the salon repertoire: an early Elgar "Romance” . that had all the emotion squeezed out of it through its predictability, and three virtuosic works that called for the sacrifice of musicality to technical demands. In these, Mr. Georgiadis tended to schmaltz his phrasings by indulging in little touches of bathos at cadence points. , . In all, the concert was a "' superb- display of violin technique, good-humoured showmanship, and symbiotic, relationship between soloist and . accompanist.. Mr Georgiadis and Miss Fernandez must be congratulated.