Imagining Worlds
Navona, 2024
8/10
The globally praised violinist Wanchi Huang brings her inimitable playing to these 6 scenic and diverse composers in a solo setting.
Adolphus Hailstork’s “Suite For Solo Violin” starts the listen with Huang’s very adaptable skills making for fascinating bowed and plucking techniques, and “For The Fallen” follows with amplified violin and electronics that make for a distinct atmosphere of mystery in the Judith Shatin piece.
At the halfway point, “In Memoriam” tugs on the heartstrings with the stirring string manipulation that emits much intimacy via Meira M. Warshauer’s vision, while Warshauer’s “Bracha” allows for an introspective demeanor of beauty and grace.
Jeffrey Mumford’s “An Expanding Distance Of Multiple Voices” arrives near the end, and in 5 chapters it radiates both firm and calm moments, and “The Red Violin Caprices”, by John Corigliano, exits with swift and adventurous playing from Huang’s finger acrobatics.
A body of work that embraces both dark and light moments, Huang illuminates the voices of modern American music with an paralleled attention to detail and execution.
Travels well with: Vincent Kennedy- Music Of People And Place; Michael Cohen- Aria