★★★★☆ A knock-out Brahms shares the bill with a double dose of Shakespearian innovation.

Hamer Hall, Melbourne
June 25, 2016

Brahms’ violin concerto can definitely be counted among the most technically challenging in existence. From the soloist’s first erupting arpeggio, that rockets from the depths of the G-string to the upper stratosphere of the instrument in the blink of an eye, there are very few virtuoso pyrotechnics this piece doesn’t call for. It’s also one of the most performed of the violin concerti canon; a litmus test of sorts for a particular performer’s skill. This bodes very well for Israeli-Ukrainian violinist Vadim Gluzman, who delivered an extraordinarily assured account with the MSO, under the baton of chief conductor Sir Andrew Davis.

Gluzman is the perfect balance between confident showman and reserved perfectionist, radiating both a quiet, sincere charisma and a wonderfully unselfconscious reverence for the music. Much like Gluzman himself, the tone of his playing is an interesting cultural hybrid. There’s the presence of a quintessentially Russian hard-edged bite, not dissimilar to David Oistrakh, softened by the luxuriant lyricism and capriciousness of the great Jewish virtuosi, like the playing of his mentor, Isaac Stern. Also...