Bruce Hodges hears the performance of Arvo Pärt, Amy Beach, Reena Esmail and William Grant Still at the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, on 14 January 2025
In this wide-ranging recital, violinist Melissa White and pianist Pallavi Mahidhara created magic with an easy-going naturalness – often addressing the large audience with comments about the composers. Sometimes these prefaces can overwhelm the content, but these two found the right balance.
Arvo Pärt’s ever-glistening Fratres opened the evening, immediately showing off the tone of White’s instrument (c.1780) made by Ferdinando Gagliano, yet with appropriate fragility. She then broadened her sound considerably for a sweeping reading of the Brahms Third Violin Sonata.
As I wrote in the August 2024 issue, Amy Beach deserves a bigger spotlight, and her Romance (1893) is yet another gem which White showed should be in the fingers of every violinist. One hundred and twenty years later, Jhula Jhule (2013) by Reena Esmail is a similar jewel, inspired by two Indian folk songs sung by the composer’s grandparents. White and Mahidhara offered Esmail’s valentine with irresistible tenderness, followed by stirring arrangements from Porgy and Bess by the great Jascha Heifetz.
But the real coup was saved for the finale: William Grant Still’s 1943 Suite for violin and piano, inspired by three sculptures from the Harlem Renaissance. In three movements – a bluesy dance, a lullaby and an animated finale titled ‘Gamin’ – White and Mahidhara offered the audience a metaphorical champagne flute, overflowing with jazz.
Bruce Hodges
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