Shao and Kim Dazzle Bach Festival Audience

Cellist Sophie Shao and violinist Soovin Kim were the stars of the 2014 Middlebury Bach Festival opening concert on Friday, Apr. 25. The performance, presented by the Middlebury Performing Arts Series, was held at the Concert Hall of the Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts. Very few seats remained open at the beginning of the concert.

Cellist Sophie Shao is a world-renowned performer born in Houston, Texas who started playing the cello when she was only six years old. She excelled at it and has won many prestigious competitions and prizes, including the Rostropovich and Tchaikovsky competitions, and most notably, the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Violinist Soovin Kim was born in Iowa City, Iowa and started playing at a young age. Like Shao, he has won a number of awards and competitions including the Paganini International Competition and Henryk Szeryng Career Award in addition to winning international acclaim. He is particularly known for his wide ranging repertoire, playing music from the Baroque era all the way to the 20th century period.

Friday’s program was very rich and heavy. It contained two suites for solo cello, Suite No. 1 in G Major and Suite No. 6 in D Major, one partita, No. 2 in D Minor, as well as Sonata No. 3 in C Major for solo violin. The suites for unaccompanied cello and the partitas and sonatas for unaccompanied violin are possibly the most difficult works for those respective solo instruments dating from the Baroque era. For violin they stand alongside Paganini’s 24 caprices, which he wrote to show off his superb playing skills, though the caprices lack the same level of musicality that Bach’s works possess.

The suites are part of a set of six suites that Bach is believed to have written between 1717 and 1723, while the sonata and partita are part of a set consisting of three sonatas and three partitas for solo violin, possibly published by 1720. Both sets of works are believed to have been entirely or partially composed while Bach was under the service of Prince Leopold as Kapellmeister in his Anhalt-Cöhen court.

Violinist Soovin Kim took the stage and wowed the audience with Sonata No. 3, and I found myself applauding before the end of the entire cycle. Kim’s playing was very expressive, personal and thoughtful. He played in a way I had never heard anyone play Bach, with a slight ad lib feeling. It was very mesmerizing to observe the swaying, dance-like movements he made while playing.

Just as Kim finished the ‘Allegro assai’ and was bowing, one member of the audience collapsed and medics had to be called. This serious accident did steal some of the glow following Kim’s performance, and also diminished concentration and focus just before Shao came onto the stage.

However, when Shao walked in gracefully in a long, elegant cream dress carrying an instrument somewhat disproportionate to her size, her presence illuminated the atmosphere. She played Suite No. 6 most splendidly and her ardent passion for the music was very evident from her facial expressions and body movements. She brought the first half to an end with an electrifying performance of the ‘Gigue,’ an energetic Baroque dance movement.

After the intermission, the second half of the concert began and I believe this was the highlight of the evening’s performance for most people. The second half included the famous ‘Prelude’ to Suite No. 1, a cello piece that any person who watches movies has heard at some point which is distinguished by the unusual stresses and yearning tone.

Shao began with Suite No. 1, and her fingers were a blur on the fingerboard from her fast movements and the rapidity and smoothness with which she changed position was remarkable. Her articulation, tone and intonation were all spot on.

Kim was the last one on the stage performing Partita No. 2, which ended with the ‘Chaconne’. This was an excellent performance and except for very minor, unintended E-string overtones (overtones are the perks of the world of bowed string instruments; sometimes they just happen), it was brilliant. The drama and emotions were very well captured and the anticipation of the very striking climax was very palpable.

A reception at the end of the performance, sponsored by the Office of the President, served as a delicious end to a magnificent evening of beautiful music performed by two outstanding virtuosos.