Wednesday evening’s Piccolo Spotlight concert at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park was one of the best-buzzed of the bunch – and no wonder: Featured were Charleston’s most famous resident violinist and cellist: Lee-Chin Siow and Natalia Khoma, plus their equally renowned piano partner, Volodymyr Vynnytsky. Siow and Khoma teach their instruments at the College of Charleston (Siow is Head of the Strings Department). Along with Vynnytsky, they form the core of the college’s regular season chamber series that got started just this past season, to considerable acclaim. In fact, it was yours truly who first told Charleston that their work was just about on a par with Spoleto’s chamber glories.
The word must’ve gotten out, ‘cause it was standing room only. And guess who showed up? Charles Wadsworth, of big-festival chamber fame. And he really liked it, too – he told me so afterwards. With that said, I suppose I could end the post right there – but you deserve a little more than that.
Our very pretty pair of strings players got things going with a spectacular duet called Passacaglia by a Norwegian violinist known as Halvorsen. It’s based on a theme by the great Handel – and it really puts its performers through the wringer, with passages that call for blazing speed and utmost dexterity. They didn’t hit full stride until they’d gotten through the first few of the piece’s many variations – but they sure polished it off in a blaze of glory.
Then it was on to Bela Bartok’s well-known Romanian Folk Dances, heard here in an arrangement for cello and piano. Khoma and her pianist dispatched them with skill and spirit. Siow then traded places with Khoma for Henryk Wieniawski’s glittering Polonaise Brillante, one of the famous violin showpieces that players save for special occasions. Then, speaking of showpieces, pianist Vynnytsky pulled off a minor solo miracle with Franz Liszt’s slap-dash Mephisto Waltz – one of the pieces that pianists fear the most. Apparently, Vynnytsky didn’t: he was simply amazing.
Still, they saved the best for last: Bedrich Smetana’s poignant, richly romantic Piano Trio in G Minor – one of the most beloved works of its kind. Khoma and Vynnytsky, being Russian, brought their characteristic heavy pathos and rich sound to this masterpiece – and Siow, who’s no slouch in the fiery temperament department, happily followed suit. The result was a big-boned, but finely wrought reading that milked the score for every last drop of its inherent passion. And Charles Wadsworth was one of the first to jump to his feet in a standing ovation after it was all over. ‘Nuf said.
