BEILMAN DEMONSTRATES AN OUTSIZE TALENT

Concert Review, Buffalo Philharmonic, February 24, 2014 (Buffalo Spree)

Benjamin Beilman, a virtuoso at twenty-one, filled Kleinhans Saturday night with an infectious energy during his near-flawless performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. His baby face and curiously chosen black Nehru jacket belie a deep musical sophistication.

Although a frequently performed standard of the violin repertoire, Mendelossohn’s Violin Concerto can be tricky business in concert. The concerto begins (unusually) with the soloist playing—with the orchestra—a famous, descending minor theme which, according to the composer, haunted his dreams and "gave him no peace." The orchestra’s role is almost completely supportive and provides merely harmonic accompaniment. It is the soloist who must interpret and emote; the concerto’s dark themes can easily become trite, and it requires a mature artist to walk a thin line between passion and melodrama. Beilman did so masterfully, his cadenzas and octave runs flinging him with just enough momentum into the orchestral parts. His one obvio…