Two Russians, one magnificent musical voice

Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 30, 2006 at midnight

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Maybe it's our remote location, a half-world away - but for some reason, Russian musicians rarely visit Denver. When one of them does, it's always a major occasion.

When two important artists from the former Soviet Union visit, well, it's best to sit up and take notice.

Which is just what a full house did on Wednesday, when the superb violinist Vadim Repin shared the Gates Concert Hall stage with the equally brilliant pianist, Nikolai Lugansky in a memorable Friends of Chamber Music duo-recital.

Repin has earned a reputation - along with his countryman and longtime friend Maxim Vengerov - as a fiery fiddling virtuoso. Lugansky, too, is known for his keyboard heroics, having captured the 1994 Tchai-kovsky competition.

But you'd never know it from the program offered on Wednesday. Sure, there were flashes of pyrotechnics in a pair of gypsy-flavored works by Bartok, but the meat of the program consisted of Schubert's lyrical C-major Fantasia and Franck's dreamy, introspective A-major Sonata.

In both works, Repin and Lugansky seemed to meld into one voice, blending perfectly and sharing an equal view of the music at hand. The concluding Franck, in particular, emerged as one beautifully constructed arc of emotional expression, glowing with a warmth not often encountered in readings of this recital staple.

Here, Repin's sumptuous tone, unbridled passion and impeccable technique were on full display. If anyone in the hall had previously been lukewarm to Franck's syrupy romanticism, they no doubt left as a convert.

Schubert's Fantasia may not be among the composer's best (none of his violin works rank at the top), but the two Russians gave it their all. This piece served to spotlight the brilliance of Lugansky's fluid pianism. He lured a wide range of colors from his instrument, marvelously supporting Repin's mostly understated lines. There was, in much of the score, a heavy debt to Beethoven - and the players did capitalize on those moments of power and pathos.

Each half of the program opened with some Bartok, although the inclusion of his Romanian Folk Dances was hardly planned. A slightly embarrassed Repin announced that the music for the scheduled Fratres by Paert had vanished - "perhaps somewhere in the Baltic Sea," he quipped. The substitution was disappointing, since the Paert would have offered both players plenty of opportunities for heroic music-making, but the Dances did manage to charm.

The same can be said of the opening Rhapsodie No. 1 of Bartok, a work that bubbled with energy and rhythmic excitement. Here, the flawless bowing and solid intonation of Repin served as a reminder that the Russian tradition of violin-playing has no equivalent in the West.

A Brahms Scherzo served as the lone encore.

Vadim Repin and Nikolai Lugansky

Grade: A

When and where: Wednesday in Gates Concert Hall

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