Word: cadenza
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...performance was mesmerizing. Stretching string players and puffing wind players provided little visual contrast to Lin as he leaned and swayed with his violin, and the stage seemed a kinesthetic blur of motion as the insistent, piercing violin relentlessly piled the tension higher. Huge silences punctuated the cadenza; Lin masterfully made the gaping gaps of sound as arresting and palpable as his pure high melodies or mellifluous low phrases. He dared the orchestra to return after the end of his virtuosic turn with cleanly executed runs of eighth notes, and the first movement ended shortly thereafter...
...jarring opening, and quickly develops all its themes at once. The orchestra sometimes seemed to overpower the soloist, but the fault may have been with the piano itself, which had a muddy quality that was not conducive to fortissimo passages or soaring clarity of sound. Perahia performed his own cadenza, which displayed a wonderful range of emotions and beautiful nuances...
...Mendelssohn String Quartet contributed to the excellent rendering of the polyphony. The upper-register work of the 'cello in the first movement and the brief 'cello solo of the second movement were both particularly remarkable. This solo leads into an extended passage for the quartet alone, a cadenza of sorts, featuring some of the most demanding parts of the work. The arrival in the third movement was a particularly moving example of the successful combination of quartet and orchestra. At a slower tempo and accompanied by the low strings, the quartet, in flowing independent melodies, produced perhaps the most expressive...
...Kissel succeeded in making not only the instrument but the entire room sing with a resonance of unprecedented duration. After a contrasting section in the upper register, compositionally disappointing in Abe's almost banal use of functional harmony, the return to the opening led seamless into an improvisation, a cadenza of sorts, by Kissel herself. Here, at her virtuosic best, an intense web of rhythm and polyphony was created, Kissel all the while playing with the utmost sensitivity to the independence of voices and dynamic contrasts...
...band made an abrupt transition in tempo and mood as Redman began a long cadenza to preface the ballad, "What's New?" Here his very slow, almost imperceptible vibrato and airy, floating tone were vividly apparent. He played several motifs in different octaves, never once hinting that he might be performing at the extreme registers of his instrument. After the drums made a discreet entrance, and the delicate melody had been presented, McBride picked up a bow and displayed a facet of his amazing versatility as he coaxed a lush, sustained solo from his instrument...