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Yang Liu
The buzz at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage concert by violinist Yang Liu wasn't necessarily for the player -- it was for the instrument. The Lady Tennant, a violin by Antonio Stradivari, is the most expensive instrument ever sold at auction, going for $2,032,000 at Christie's in April. The anonymous buyer gave it to the Stradivari Society, which then lent it to Liu.
Liu had the instrument for only three weeks when he took the stage Wednesday evening, and it seemed the two had not yet found their perfect fit.
The balance between violin and piano was a little off, particularly during Beethoven's "Spring" Sonata. The violin lines were clearly articulated, but sometimes overpowered by the piano.
Liu had a tendency to be overly meticulous. Everything was clean, but there was little feeling of spontaneity. The Bach Chaconne in D Minor was lovely, but Prokofiev's Second Violin Sonata was the best example of the capabilities of both the player and the instrument. The fast second movement was more vibrant than the earlier repertoire, and the violin responded beautifully to the strident playing necessary for Prokofiev.
Stradivarius instruments are remarkable, but the player and the violin still must get to know each other. This was the first performance for Liu and his Lady Tennant, but it certainly won't be the last.
-- Claire Marie Blaustein
Joss Stone
When singing, Joss Stone sounds so much older than her teenage years. Her unfocused performance at Wolf Trap on Wednesday night, however, exposed her inexperience. A nervous giggle surfaced whenever she spoke between songs, and sometimes during songs too. Stone seemed so surprised by the crowd's singing along on "Right to Be Wrong" that she was barely able to deliver her own final line through her giggles.
During "Less Is More," one of the three backup singers sang the lead vocal melody for a verse while Stone inexplicably threw flowers into the audience and danced across the stage. Indeed, there was a lot of dancing all night, as Stone shook her hips like a belly dancer during every instrumental interlude, and often while she sang as well.
Despite this distracting stage presence, Stone's voice was consistently strong. She projected an emotional and confident version of Harlan Howard's "The Chokin' Kind" and delivered a re-gendered White Stripes cover, "Fell in Love With a Boy," with her distinctive sultry moan. As she introduced that song, she encouraged the audience to join in on the choruses and exclaimed, "It's really not that hard to sing!" If that were truly the case, then perhaps another, more seasoned performer should have taken Stone's place onstage.
