Itzhak Perlman in Recital @ Severance Hall 5/8 There are not too many certainties in life, but there is one event that would carry a 99.99% guarantee of satisfaction. Itzhak Perlman never fails to delight, always leaving his listeners in a happier mood then when they entered the concert hall before his recital or concert appearance. Regardless of the type of event, his sunny nature bathes the audience in a warm glow from beginning to end. There is seriousness, to be sure, as he never treats the music with less than great respect, but there are also numerous opportunities for his sense of humor and natural wit to shine, as well.

Mr. Perlman has appeared here, previously, in benefit performances sponsored by SRO Entertainment of Lakewood. On this occasion, the Community Care Network was the beneficiary of the funds generated by a sold-out house at Severance Hall. Mr. Perlman was ably assisted by the talented collaborative pianist Rohan De Silva.

The program began with a fairly straightforward rendition of the Sonata for Violin and Piano in B-flat Major, K. 454 by Mozart. This is a mature work with the two instrumentalists as equal partners, redefining the concept of technique. The piano was a bit too bright at the beginning, even thought the lid was up by the shortest possible amount. Mr. De Silva quickly adjusted to this fact, however. The total was light and delicate and sounded entirely effortless, which is, of course, not the case. Mr. Perlman discouraged the premature applause, but the audience persisted, anyway.

A different sort of sonata followed, that of the French composer Gabriel Fauré, his Opus 13, in A major. This impressionistic work not only allowed for torrents of beautiful notes from the piano, but also demonstrated how a violin should sound, but all too often doesn’t. The final movement, which was marked ‘presto’ was indeed just that, while still maintaining the beauty inherent in the work.

After intermission, just one work was listed in the program, with the promise of ‘additional works to be announced from the stage.’ Ahh. That promise! The scheduled work was Three American Pieces by the living American composer Lukas Foss. These were Early Song, Dedication and Composer’s Holiday. The first was a rustic sounding syncopated hoe-down with interesting harmonics from the violin. The middle piece moved to the city, for a somewhat bleak look at more syncopation. This was almost stark in nature, with no vibrato from the violin. The third, however, was an absolute delight! Primarily a violin showpiece, with fast bowing offset by pizzicato, the rhythms alternated between driving and bluesy, all wrapped up in a jazzy format.

Most of the ‘additional works’ were bon-bons by the famous and much-beloved Fritz Kreisler, who wrote a goodly number of pieces ‘in the style of. . .’ to provide encores for himself. In the beginning he claimed only to have arranged this music, but eventually he confessed that he had actually written it. The joy of listening to them as performed by Mr. Perlman is the seriousness with which he treated them, making them even more vivacious and scintillating than they would have been in lesser hands. Of course, they provided him with the opportunity to demonstrate all sorts of violin techniques and fireworks, to the great joy of the audience.

The final work could almost be termed his trademark – the Dance of the Goblins by the Italian composer, Bazzini. While performing this fiendishly difficult piece, Mr. Perlman wears a look of fiendish glee, as if to say, “Isn’t this fun?”

Indeed it was.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net (:divend:)