With a nice Irish name like Tim Fain, can’t you just imagine him down at the pub playing darts with the lads? Well, the truth of it is that anyone who has ever heard Mr. Fain put bow to fiddle, would know in ten seconds that he was born to play the violin. Since last night’s recital presented by the Carmel Music Society at Sunset Center represented Fain’s third appearance in Carmel, we knew what to expect, and we were not to be disappointed. Fain brought along with him on this occasion a pianist we had not heard before, Cory Smythe, also an extraordinarily gifted and accomplished musician, whose presence added substantially to the evening’s success.
The concert’s first offering was a work familiar to generations of accomplished amateur musicians, Dvořák’s Sonatina in G Major, Op. 100, a charming work that is distinctly user friendly. However, what we heard in the performance by Fain and Smythe last night was a far cry from what we might experience from amateurs in an evening devoted to Hausmusik. We heard playing last night that was polished and honed to perfection, and doubly charming because it still retained a high degree of spontaneity.
There were two other familiar works on the program: the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor and Ravel’s Tzigane. We heard Fain play the Chaconne in 2007 in the intimate acoustical environment of All Saints’ Church in Carmel, where it made perhaps a greater impact. However, it was astonishing how Fain’s subtle dynamics and shaping a phrases still came across very effectively in the larger space of Sunset Center. As on the previous occasion, one of the great magic moments in his performance was the dramatic pause just before the hushed pianissimo beginning of the D Major section, and in all the difficult passages, Fain’s virtuosity made what was difficult sound very easy.
In the Tzigane, we heard a bold and dramatic performance with extraordinary playing from Fain and Smythe (who was especially impressive in this work and gave us a hint of what else he is capable).
However, the big hit of the evening were three contemporary works. The first was “River of Light” by Richard Danielpour, which Fain described as a very dark piece suggesting preparation for the end of life and entry into our state of un-being, whatever it may turn out to be. This is a contemporary work that is surprisingly tonal and comfortable for a first time listener. Its hauntingly lyrical moments combined with dramatic flights into dissonance (however, comfortable dissonance, not ugly or shocking), always managed to retain a cohesive center that held our attention throughout.
Fain added one work not listed on the program. It was a section of a suite written for him by Philip Glass. Not being an avid fan of Mr. Glass and his sometimes irritating minimalism, I was amazed to hear in this fragment from Mr. Glass some of the loveliest sounds I have ever heard coming from a violin. Once again Fain exhibited an amazing range of dynamics, plus beautiful precision and intonation in double stops and harmonics.
Another contemporary work that made a powerful effect was Sicilienne for Violin & Piano by Lev Zhurbin. Lovely sounds and lovely playing made an immediate impression on us and made us yearn to hear more from this gifted composer.
The greatest hit of the evening, however, was the suite for solo violin, “Arches,” by Kevin Puts. This is an amazing work that received an amazing performance − eliciting bravos and a standing ovation from the audience at the end of the first half of the concert. With a distinct kinship to the Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Violin, this work has it all. We heard lyrical arias sandwiched in between dazzling flights of virtuosity suggesting a cross between Paganini and Bach.
Fain and Smythe played one encore: an arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise. It was rich, subtle and, in a word, gorgeous.
End
