Violinist, pianist prove to be a good mix at NOVA recital

NOVA CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Sunday.

To classical-music audiences, Ralph Matson is most familiar as the Utah Symphony's concertmaster. Not as well known is the fact that he is an equally remarkable recitalist.

Thanks to such local series as NOVA, orchestra musicians can give free rein to another side of their artistry. And at Sunday's matinee concert, the last of the season, Matson performed a program of four little known violin sonatas.

Partnered with pianist Heather Conner, Matson's recital featured music by Mozart, Prokofiev, Debussy and Respighi. While these composers certainly are familiar, the music played is not. For one thing, of these composers, only Mozart is noted for his chamber output.

Matson and Conner played wonderfully together. Their collaboration was of the highest artistic order. They were equally matched in terms of virtuosity and musicality. Conner has proved herself over the years to be a consummate pianist in the solo repertoire and a talented chamber musician. At Sunday's concert, she once again exhibited immaculate ensemble playing and remarkable flair as an accompanist.

The recital opened with Mozart's Sonata in A major, K. 526. The three-movement work is substantial and expansive. Moving from the seriousness of the opening movement to the wistful strains of the second movement to the exuberance of the finale, both Matson and Conner captured the shifting moods and character.

The Mozart was paired with Prokofiev's imposing Sonata No. 1 in F minor in the first half of the recital.

Prokofiev is best known for his orchestral music and ballet scores. And with the exception of his nine piano sonatas — among the most stunning in 20th century piano literature — Prokofiev wrote little in the way of chamber music. Yet among the works he did write, the F minor Violin Sonata is a milestone in the repertoire.

Dedicated to and premiered by legendary violinist David Oistrakh — it is dark, brooding and moody, characterized by dense textures, intense passion and dramatic and bold statements. The effect created by this four-movement work is one of uncompromising power and searing emotional outpourings.

Matson and Conner captured the forcefulness and potency of the music with their finely crafted playing. Their reading was strikingly vivid and uncompromising in its dynamic strength and vitality.

While the two works that were played on the second half of the recital stem from the same year, 1917, both are on opposite sides of the scale in terms of temperament and character. And juxtaposing the two — Debussy's sole Violin Sonata and Respighi's only venture into the medium — was remarkably effective.

Debussy's impressionistic yet occasionally austere sonata looks forward to the future, while Respighi's work is a throwback to the effusive German romanticism of the late 19th century. Matson and Conner gave a luminous reading of the former, while their interpretation of the latter captured its spacious structure and grandiose musical language.

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