Critics laud Krysa and Tchekina at London's Wigmore Hall (10/27/96)

Critics laud Krysa and Tchekina at London's Wigmore Hall

JERSEY CITY - Violinist Oleh Krysa and pianist Tatyana Tchekina appeared in concert in London's Wigmore Hall on May 1, in a program of classical and contemporary music, featuring works by Schubert, Brahms, Liatoshynsky, Schnittke and Szymanowski.

The concert by these highly regarded performers was reviewed by two leading British music journals, "Musical Opinion Supplement" (August issue) and "The Strad" (October). The concert was characterized as a compelling performance.

Musical Opinion Supplement critic Shirley Brown referred to the pair as "a formidable team, possessing a unison of style and expression that ...comes from years of performing together."

Strad critic Catherine Nelson, wrote that "...Jarring at first, his [Krysa's] distinctive, furiously fast vibrato became mesmerizing, intensifying the sweeping phrases of Schubert's Duo for Violin and Piano in A major.

As for Brahms's Sonata for Violin and Piano in D minor Opus 108, Ms. Nelson found it "equally intense but unexpectedly subdued. Krysa produced a sweet, melancholy tone, finely supported by the transparency afforded by Tchekina, which underlined the work's introspective nature."

Liatoshynsky's Sonata for Violin and Piano, (composed in 1926), was given its United Kingdom premiere at this performance. According to Nelson, Krysa played the piece "with fearsome energy and, on occasion, venom, as in the mechanical, repeated patterns of the second movement, built of fiendish double-stopped harmonics."

Ms. Tchekina was singled out by Ms. Brown in Lyatoshynsky's work, where "her solo virtuosic passages were wonderfully executed, although she never ventured out alone, and that invisible thread with Krysa was always present."

Noting that "Demonic string crossings and whirling effervescence are to be expected in a work for solo violin entitled 'A Paganini,'" Ms. Nelson went on to say that "In this piece, which was written for Krysa, Schnittke uses these familiar gestures as a basis for eerie forrays into rasping, frenzied climaxes and wispy pauses. Krysa achieved the fanatical edge required."

Ms. Brown characterized Mr. Krysa's performance of the Schnittke' piece as "an exciting, passionate performance, depicting, in the words of [violinist] Gidon Kremer, "diabolical forces threatening those who make dangerous forays beyond the appointed bounds in all areas of life."

Mr. Krysa's virtuosity was continued in Three Paganini Caprices for Violin and Piano, converted by Szymanowski from pieces for unaccompanied violin. Here Ms. Nelson declared that "Krysa demonstrated once again why he is held in such high regard, as he gave further voice to his extraordinary technical expertise, tackling monstrous feats with great composure."

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Oleh Krysa is professor of violin at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N. Y., and a former student of David Oistrakh.

Ms. Tchekina, a first-rate artist in her own right, has been performing with her husband, Mr. Krysa, in solo and chamber music recitals to wide critical acclaim.