MUSIC REVIEWS : DAVIDOVICH AND SITKOVETSKY RECITAL

Bella Davidovich and Dmitry Sitkovetsky presented a superb recital, and a ringing affirmation of the mother/son relationship, at Ambassador Auditorium on Sunday evening, although pianist Davidovich hardly looks old enough to be the mother of the strapping, bearded violinist.

Their performances never brought up questions of seniority or dominance. This is an immaculately balanced team, whose playing is as fiery in temperament as it is polished in technique.

Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata was lovely, in its Romantic way: the violin sound sweet and clean, with expressively varied vibrato, the piano tone rich and rounded, with liberal applications of pedal.

Grieg’s Sonata in C minor is not a work one is likely (or willing) to encounter with any frequency, what with its pretty, folksy tunes constantly subverted by Brahmsian heroics. So one was left to concentrate on the performers’ skills. Under the circumstances Sitkovetsky’s bull’s-eye intonation, perfectly focused tone, Davidovich’s relaxed virtuosity and the easy dovetailing of their efforts were reward enough.

The program proper concluded with the high-wire thrills and superheated lyricism of Prokofiev’s Sonata in D, Opus 94, dispatched with an impetuosity advisable only for those who--like Sitkovetsky and Davidovich--have nothing to fear technically.

Note: The exalted professionalism on stage was not matched by the auditorium authorities, who allowed a large, slow-moving and unusually gabby gaggle of latecomers to be seated after the first movement of the Beethoven, to the artists’ obvious consternation.