Brahms Festival features Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos

By Eileen Wingard in San Diego

Since college days, my favorite composer has been Johannes Brahms. My love of his music was reaffirmed at the final concert of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms Festival, Saturday, March 7, featuring Brahms’ Symphony #3 and his Violin Concerto, played by the Greek violin virtuoso, Leonidas Kavakos. The five-day festival included the German Requiem, the four symphonies and the violin concerto, all under the direction of the San Diego Symphony’s Music Director, Raphael Payare.

The first half of the program was devoted to Symphony #3 in F major. In the first movement, Allegro con brio, the strings entered with a bold theme following the brasses opening three notes, F A-flat F, indicative of Brahms’ moto, Frei aber Froh (free but happy). The second theme, beautifully intoned by the clarinet, was soon taken over by the violas. A horn call led to the recapitulation and, after a tempestuous recapitulation, the movement ended softly.

The second movement, Andante, began with a gentle theme in the clarinets and bassoon. The second theme also had that instrumentation. This movement, like the first, also ended softly.

The third movement, Poco Allegretto, had the cellos introducing the bittersweet opening, a simple, original melody with an unexpected rhythmic lilt. The second theme, in the woodwinds, was one of longing. The opening melody was taken up by the winds and later played, with heartfelt emotion by the horn. This heavenly music, sad, but sweet, exemplifies what I find so endearing in Brahms’ music.

The final movement, Allegro, began with rapid sixteenth notes and was later followed by a slower, march-like theme.  The development included material from previous movements and although there were climactic moments, this movement ended in a subdued woodwind chord.

Brahms was in Wiesbaden during the summer of 1883, when he composed this symphony, trying to win the hand of 26-year-old mezzo-soprano, Hermine Spiess, with whom he had fallen in love. Since he was not successful, the music may be a reflection of the bittersweetness of unrequited love.

After intermission, Leonidas Kavakos entered, a distinguished figure, tall, slim, with shoulder length black hair and spectacles, a cross between Paganini and music professor. In true Heifetz fashion, Kavakos did not move his body. All his focus and energy were concentrated in his hands as he displayed his superb mastery of the violin.

After the lengthy orchestral opening of the first movement, Allegro non troppo, Kavakos entered with the first theme, majestic chords followed by long lines embroidering the melody. That movement concluded with a stunning cadenza, displaying the remarkable technique of this gifted artist.

The second movement, Adagio, began with the woodwinds spinning out the tender theme, followed by the soloist repeating the same material, then with new melodies surging to the upper reaches of the E string, once again, reflecting the bittersweetness of life. The return of the opening material resolved in a soft, lingering close.

The last movement, Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace, had the violin immediately launching into a Hungarian dance, influenced by Brahms’ love of Hungarian Roma music which he first encountered when, at the age of 21, he accompanied the Hungarian violinist, Eduard Remenyi, on a tour of his native country. Also, the violin concerto was dedicated to Brahms’ dear friend, the Hungarian-born Jewish violinist, Josef Joachim. Here again, Kavakos brought out all the joyous fervor of the music.

The audience response elicited an encore. In total contrast to the robust finale of the violin concerto, Kavakos mesmerized the hushed audience with the slow movement from Bach’s second sonata for unaccompanied violin.

Leonidas Kavakos was born in 1967 in Athens, Greece to musical parents. His father was a violinist and his mother, a pianist. His first lessons at five were with his father. He later enrolled in the Hellenic Conservatory, studying with Stelios Kafantaris, a well-known Greek violinist and conductor. An Onassis scholarship enabled him to come to the University of Indiana where he took masterclasses with the legendary Josef Gingold, the Russian-Jewish violinist who taught such luminaries as Joshua Bell and Gil Shaham. Under Gingold’s guidance, Kavakos refined his bow arm and vibrato, blending his fiery temperament with Gingold’s emphasis on tonal purity and rhythmic vitality. As Kavakos later reflected, “My Greek heritage gave me the fire; America taught me control.”

This beautiful performance of Brahms’ Violin Concerto by Leonidas Kavakos, soloing with our San Diego Symphony, under the brilliant conducting of the orchestra’s Music Director, Raphael Payare, brought the Brahms Festival to an exalted conclusion.

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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.