Music Reviews : Violinist Takezawa Opens Ambassador Series

Ambassador Foundation’s Gold Medal Violin Series got off to an impressive start Monday evening, as a young Japanese player, winner of the Indianapolis Violin Competition, offered a challenging and engaging program at Ambassador Auditorium.

Commanding an impeccable technique and a suave, liquid tone, Kyoko Takezawa played with remarkable poise and concentration. Her reading of Bartok’s Sonata No. 1 proved rich in expressive nuance, and the lyrical Andante of Prokofiev’s F-minor Sonata shone luminously. She dispatched the vigorous movements, such as Bartok’s finale and the Allegro brusco of the Prokofiev, with dash and elan.

Takezawa also delivered two Tchaikovsky works sensitively. But she took little of the rubato available to her; neither the “Serenade melancolique” nor the “Valse scherzo” showed enough flexibility, though in the latter she capitalized on the many opportunities for display of bravura.

The violinist’s able partner was Juilliard graduate Rohan de Silva. Possessing fine instincts for tempo, balance and musical phrasing, the Sri Lanka-born pianist proved an empathic and accurate accompanist.

The duo began with Leclair’s Sonata in D, Opus 9, No. 3, read with an unyielding sense of flow, but approached more from a 19th- than an 18th-Century angle. Sarasate’s Introduction and Tarantella gave Takezawa one final opportunity for technical display.