Violin and piano

Press, 3 September 1986, Page 6

Violin and piano

David Gilling (violin) and lola Shelley (piano) at the Arts Centre Gallery, Tuesday, September 2, at 1.10 p.m. Reviewed by Roger Flury. The late-Baroque composer, Francesco Veracini, has been called the Beethoven of the eighteenth century. It was appropriate, therefore, that both composers should feature in yesterday’s violin recital by David GillIng with lola Shelley. Veracini was renowned as a violin virtuoso, but his long-winded sonatas found little favour with his contemporaries. Even today, I suspect that they are more interesting to play than to listen to. The grandiose opening, in the style of a French overture, promised much,

but the subsequent movements failed to deliver anything of more than passing interest. It all sounded rather dull and heavy. Most of the blame for this can be laid at the door of the performing edition, which clogged the keyboard part with monotonously thick textures. The Beethoven Sonata in G, 0p.96 came as a breath of fresh air. Piano and violin were freed from the editorial yoke of the Veracini, and each took on a new lease of life. lola Shelley provided a secure accompaniment, and one’s ear was often tempted away from the violin to listen to the more interesting piano part. The Scherzo, in particular, was well co-ordi-

nated, but over all, a greater range of tone-col-our and dynamics would have been appreciated. This same criticism applies to the violin playing of David Gilling. In the confines of the Centre Gallery, every moment of uneasy intonation, every slight error or untidy ornament is exposed to the audience. Mr Gilling withstood this scrutiny remarkably well, and proved that he had technical mastery of the music. The violin tone, however, was a little thin and lacking in warmth. Visually, too, one would like to see more commitment in his playing. This would make all the difference between simply playing through the works, and really giving a performance.