MUSIC REVIEW : Monroe Plays Mostly in a Classical Mode

The gifted violinist Diane Monroe has made her presence felt and her crossover dreams known in the jazz world, as part of the Uptown String Quartet. But it was almost strictly a long-hair affair when she and pianist Christine-Marie Delbeau performed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Wednesday.

Still, there were moments when Monroe’s extra-classical instincts came to the fore, such as in the movement titled “Blues,” from Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, the boldest performance of the evening. Here, Monroe strummed the violin, guitar-like, and then maneuvered woozy glisses over an inside-out blues form.

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And the essence of jazz and blues suffused the house during Monroe’s dazzling solo arrangement of “Amazing Grace,” replete with improvisational asides, as well as a strong display of her idiomatic range and technical mettle. It was a long way from the servings of Fritz Kreisler and Mozart, with which she opened the concert and which she gave proficient, if not profound, readings.

Charles Ives’ Sonata for Violin and Piano, No. 3 took up the concert’s second half, and began on a nervous note, when it was announced that Monroe had misplaced her score and would read over Delbeau’s shoulder.

Contrasted with Ives’ notorious, polymorphous iconoclasm, this work is a tame yet fine example of tart American impressionism. The piece begins with a sweet and soulful adagio, moves through a furtive, even swinging, allegro, and back to an earnest adagio, spilling its anxious energies into a final hymn-like melody.

All was well that ended well in the case of the missing violin part: The pair gave a heroic accounting of this definitive American hero’s music.