Review: Menuhin Competition Closing Gala

Apr 22 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

A MINOR miracle occurred here when the junior winner of the truly incredible Menuhin Competition, just 13 years old, walked onto the platform of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff and performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with such aplomb and sensitivity that half the audience were in tears.

Chad Hoopes, who comes from the US, is an artist to treasure.

Possessed of a superb technique, he even directed the wonderful players of the Orchestra Of Welsh National Opera, who brought this impeccably organised and inspiring celebration of talent to a stunning finale.

But there was even more than the unforgettable Hoopes.

Australian violinist, 19-year-old Ray Chen, the winner of the senior prize came up with a performance of the Mendelssohn Concerto, which had about it awesome fluency and style.

Playing quite an instrument, he produced the richest of tones and in the last movement decided, with enormous courage, to do his own thing and raced on at a phenomenal tempo.

It was all exciting, exhilarating and unforgettable and to their credit the WNO forces stayed the pace.

This event was in many ways a serious embarrassment of riches, with 42 competitors from 34 nations.

To begin came a note-perfect account of the Barber of Seville Overture under the clear hand of Joji Hattori.

Thereafter came the icing on the cake in the form of Welsh Grammy Award-winning soprano Rebecca Evans in a Mozart concert aria in which she was accompanied with deep sensitivity by violinist Jennifer Pike.

Pike also contributed to Evans at the height of her powers in a piece from Mozart’s little-known Il Re Pastore.

This concert proved once again that Rebecca Evans is surely a national treasure.

South Korean violinist Yu-Ah Ok, winner of The Composers Prize, gave an incredibly Celtic account of The White Wheat by rising Welsh composer P ap Sion

Next to the Cardiff Singer of the World, the Menuhin ranks as one of the most prestigious music competitions on the planet.

This competition is an ultra-special event and it must return to Cardiff.

A J Sicluna