Review | A Kinder, Gentler Modern Touch
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers Returned to Santa Barbara, Between Grammy Moments, with a Mostly Contemporary but Friendly Program
Although we’ve grown accustomed to hearing the gifted violinist Anne Akiko Meyers in Santa Barbara over the years, her recent performance at the Lobero Theatre was a distinctive one on at least two counts. This was her recital debut under the hosting aegis of the mighty presenter CAMA, and this was the first time a Santa Barbara appearance found the artist standing in the shadows beyond prestigious Grammy moments
She showed up here having very recently won a Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album, for her work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic recording of Arturo Márquez’s Meyers-commissioned Fandango. She was honored with a nomination for last year’s big top Grammy for the same album. (For the record, she was last in town performing Fandango with the Santa Barbara Symphony in 2022. Meyers maintains a strong link to Santa Barbara, where she has family).
For the Lobero recital occasion, Meyers opted for a program which, while leaning more on music of living composers — Philip Glass, Morten Lauridsen, and Márquez — whose pieces were abidingly tonal and easy on the ears, a little too easy. She even capped off the evening with a Hollywood confection for an encore. More on that later.
In a strange but illuminating way, the richest and most “challenging” work on the bill here was Beethoven’s “Spring Sonata,” written in 1801 during the master composer’s Haydn-esque period. The pair navigated the “Spring Sonata” score with passion and precision in the right degrees, and in the slower movement, Meyers achieved the quality of “singing” through her instrument. The piece offers generous amounts of instrumental dialogue, boldly realized in this inspired pairing.
The high level of musicianship onstage, between her commanding approach to violin and the sensitive collaboration of pianist Fabio Badini, was established at the outset, with the aptly stage-setting “La Folia” sonata of Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli, in a new arrangement by Andy Poxon.
From that opening high, we plunged below the Glass floor. Glass’s “New Chaconne,” written for Meyers, drops us into a familiar arpeggio festival so common in the composer’s oeuvre/operating system, it quickly begins to resemble a rudimentary student exercise, the plot thickening a bit via the interweaving piano part, but failing to ever find a there there. “New Chaconne” is harmless enough, and instantly forgettable, a glass nearly empty.
Contemporary fare fared far better when it came time for two songs by the famed choral composer Lauridsen. On “Sure on This Shining Night,” based on a text by James Agee and the Rilke-based “Dirait-on,” Meyers again amply unveiled her supple, vocal-like fluidity on violin.
Bringing her programming and recent musical life in a full circular direction, Meyers closed with a new arrangement of Márquez’ notable orchestra piece “Danzón No. 2” — the very work Meyers was so impressed with that she commissioned the currently Grammy-kissed “Fandango.” With its hearty tribute to Mexican roots, with rhythmic vigor in swirling, dancing plenitude matched with a flowing concentric melodic charm, “Danzón” sprang to a new life in this stripped-down version, thanks to Meyers’ obvious love for the piece — and the composer’s affirmative sensibilities.
As for her joyride to Hollywood, Meyers shamelessly dipped into the John Williams catalogue for a run through his Superman theme to close on an oddly bland note. For some reason, the Hollywood/DC music did not have the effect of a vocal recital closing with a vintage Broadway show tune. Suffice to say, however, there were many super aspects to the latest Meyers visit. She’s welcome in these parts any time.
