It was inevitable that Tuesday night's concert in the National Concert Hall's John Field Room would deliver the musical equivalent of a surfeit of artificial cream. Advertised as "Encores", it featured violinists Ronald Masin and Gwendolyn Masin (father and daughter) playing in 17 short pieces, mostly for solo violin and piano, and of the flamboyant kind.
The effect was ameliorated by judicious groupings of contrasted compositional and playing styles. The second half opened, for example, with Gwendolyn Masin, in the gloomy sonorities of "Vidui" from Bloch's Baal Shem. These were foiled by the dazzling compositional flair of "Danse espagnol" from Falla's La vida breve. Then came Tchaikovsky's delicate Valse sentimentale, and the group ended with violinistic wizardry, in Heifetz's arrangement of Dinicu's Hora staccato.
A programme like this needs to be delivered with consistent technical security. Most of it was, and pianist Deborah Kelleher was on the ball with the usually unrewarding piano parts, taking a back seat, or playing as an equal in the few pieces which called for that.
One minor gem surfaced, Milonga en re by the Argentine tango king, Piazzola. Yet this poised piece typified the Masins' inclination, throughout the concert, towards unyielding intensity. The Piazz ola is cocktails on the verandah, not sultry passion. Another neat piece was Paganini's Cantabile for violin and guitar, the latter nicely played by David Flynn.
The large number of young people in the audience reflected Ronald Masin's career as a teacher. In Gwendolyn Masin, the concert showed what can be achieved. She is a natural performer, with an authority which most 21-year-old violinists would envy. All this was consummated in the main programme's last item, Halvor sen's Passacaglia for violin (Gwendolyn) and viola (Ronald), which does for Handel's Suite No. 7 what Busoni did for Bach's violin Chaconne. It was excellently played.
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