MUSIC REVIEWS : KYUNG-WHA CHUNG

Violin recitals rarely get better than the one played by Kyung-Wha Chung on Saturday in Royce Hall, UCLA. All the elements of success were on display: balanced, unhackneyed programming; solid, inspired musicianship, and a poised yet friendly stage demeanor. The only objection one could drum up might be to the swooping, swaying, crouching style of Chung’s playing--but even here, such uninhibited mannerisms seemed to fit in with her onstage intensity.

With pianist Jonathan Feldman providing exemplary assistance throughout, Chung traveled easily from the lyricism of early Beethoven (Opus 12, No. 2 Sonata) to the brash romanticism of early Strauss (E-flat Sonata)--an unusual, and successful, first-half pairing. Equally fascinating was the post-intermission repertory: From Webern’s four brief, icy pieces of Opus 7, Chung turned immediately to Brahms’ leisurely, warm E-flat Sonata (originally for clarinet).

As a program closer, the violinist succumbed to the Perlman syndrome--the need to send them home with sugary bon-bons--in the form of two confections by Elgar (“Salut d’amour” and “La capricieuse”) and Ottokar Novacek’s greatest hit (“Perpetuum mobile”). Though these trifles revealed the virtuosic side of Chung’s technique (much to the delight of her audience), she proved more convincing in the luscious sonorities and grand statements of Brahms and Strauss.

In encore, Chung offered a small piece by Kreisler and Heifetz’s setting of “Beau Soir” by Debussy. A “lovely evening” indeed.