By Lyn Bronson

The Monterey Symphony’s third concert of the season was promoted as “Sizzle from Iceland” featuring Icelandic violinist Judith Ingolfsson. She certainly lived up to her advance publicity in her brilliant collaboration with Max Bragado-Darman and the Monterey Symphony that not only sizzled, but also snapped, crackled and popped.

Violinist Ingolfsson demonstrated a charming personality on stage even before applying bow to fiddle. When she played, she produced a big gorgeous sound that enveloped you and carried you along on a rich and exciting musical journey. The concerto she chose for the occasion was Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, Op. 14, and its flowing rhapsodic nature suited her to a “T.”

In the first two movements she gave us solid rich playing, lovely shaping of phrases and an intensity that commanded your attention every inch of the way. Her frenzied last movement, Presto in moto perpetuo, was a knockout. Responding to audience applause, Ms. Ingolfsson played one encore for us — selections from Tartini’s famous Sonata, “The Devil’s Trill,” in an arrangement for unaccompanied violin that included some of the continuo parts woven into the texture — a few of these sections we heard in multiple versions, both semplice and embellished. Her beautiful playing in this encore featured double stops, with contrapuntal lines twisting through them, and some occasional harmonics. It was spectacular!

One of the great surprises in this concert was the opening Overture to La scala di seta, “The Silken Ladder,” by Rossini. The precision (and control of dynamics) the orchestra achieved in this performance was dazzling. This was a delicious performance! One of the great moments was to hear the strings playing fast moving and fussily articulated, totally violinistic passages, and then immediately after hear them echoed by a solo oboe, for whom the passages are considerably more awkward. Oboist Bennie Cottone took these cumbersome passages and tripped the light fantastic with them. You have to hear it to believe it.

Maestro Max and the orchestra ended the concert with a fine, fast moving performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major. Influences of Haydn and Mozart were there, but so were already Beethoven’s unique way of modulating to surprising places, extending musical ideas in new ways.

During this concert, the Monterey Symphony sounded very fine, with lovely controlled playing from the strings, plus superb solos from the principals.

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