SHERYL STAPLES PLAYS AT GINDI

It’s been quite a summer for flashy, young fiddlers. If you’ve been taking notes, add the name Sheryl Staples to the list.

The 18-year-old local prodigy, now studying at USC, has fast fingers that seem inevitably to fall perfectly in place. She draws a heavy bow, and she is not shy at all about digging into the music at hand, producing big, rich sounds.

The music at hand Sunday evening in Gindi Auditorium of the University of Judaism was strictly off the ready-to-play rack. Staples may be the only violinist whose name describes her repertory.

What rock-solid technique and vigorous, forthright playing could do for Franck’s tired Sonata, was done, and then some. This was not the spacious, elegant Franck so often brought forward, but rather an intense, slightly harried, and even angry Franck.

With Chausson’s “Poeme” and Ravel’s “Tzigane,” Staples rid herself of an often constricting literalism, in eloquent, emotionally balanced and impressively controlled efforts. Her account of two Baroque stand-bys--the Vitali Chaconne and Leclair’s Sonata in D--proved stylistically naive.

The sensitive accompaniment of pianist Anita Swearengin was of real benefit, particularly in the Franck and Chausson works. The large, supportive audience brought the pair back for a commonplace encore: Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”