SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 – Yesterday evening my wife and I joined 20 others to hear one sensationalist artist, Steve Copes on violin, accompanied by another phenomenon, Hanna Hjunjung Kim, deliver a pinnacle performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. For 35 minutes, our lower jaws were in dangle mode. At the end, we were too transfixed to slap our hands together in the time-honored means of applause. The performance was for the soul what horseradish vodka is for the innards.
By way of background . . .
Last January Steve was to perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Boston-based chamber orchestra, Pro Arte, led by my oldest sister, Kristina. A week before, Fred and Gloria Sewell, connoisseurs and supporters of high-quality art forms, invited a bunch of us to hear Steve play in the comfort of their beautiful home overlooking Cedar Lake in Minneapolis. On a borrowed del Gesù, Steve delighted us with a rendition of the Beethoven that was technically perfect and musically as delectable as the finest filet mignon served with the rarest red wine. He went on to thrill his Boston audience.
This time around, Steve will be performing the Shostakovich shortly with the Mexico City Philharmonic, conducted by Scott Yoo. Again, our friends Fred and Gloria held a “warm-up” soirée to bedazzle our brains.
I was not familiar with the Shostakovich, but I am familiar with Russia, having traveled the length of that country spanning 11 time zones and having read thousands of pages of Russian history and literature. The concerto cuts a stronger image of the Stalinist era than a gallery of pictures ever could. Moreover, Steve’s execution and interpretation of the piece were so convincing, the music bore no trace of a foreigner’s accent. Hanna, who had only recently learned the impossible accompaniment and rehearsed only twice, was the St. Petersburg Philharmonic incarnate.
The concerto has four movements—Nocturne, Scherzo, Passacaglia, Burlesque—and was written in 1947/48. At that time the Zhdanov Doctrine required all artistic works to conform with standards imposed by the state. Violation of “the rules” meant persecution. Shostakovich, in his long-tortuous up-down relationship with Stalin was then under censure, and the piece couldn’t be performed until after Stalin’s death in 1953. It was first performed publicly in 1955 by Shostakovich’s friend and fellow countryman, world-renowned violinist, David Oistrakh, who had helped edit the piece.
Rendered at Steve’s caliber, the concerto evokes a constant stream of stark images and emotional/psychological references that rivet the senses of the listener. The piece demands virtuosity and a deep understanding of the age and place of its inspiration. Steve and Hanna piloted the piece safely through the most hellish of technical challenges. That alone would have astounded our ears, but the musical overlay is what nailed our hearts and minds to the struggles of Shostakovich and so many others.
After such an experience, I will never be as I was.
Following the performance, everyone came back down to earth for Steve’s (literal) horseradish vodka and treats with a Russian signature.
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© 2019 Eric Nilsson
