Wigmore Hall/BBC Radio 3Perfectly paired, violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout’s recital was a masterclass in how familiar repertoire can be lifted from the page and fashioned anew
It may be a heretical view – especially in Ludwig van’s 250th anniversary year – but allow me to confess: the thought of a violin recital programme pairing Beethoven with Schubert had not set my pulse racing. (No, not even under lockdown, starved of live
music as we all are.) Surely there are more varied, more imaginative ways to perform for an hour? But apparently not – at least in the case of Alina Ibragimova’s Wigmore Hall recital with pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout.
It’s difficult to imagine a more complementary match. Ibragimova rejoiced in muscular attack, her gloriously polished tone frontloaded with energy, while Bezuidenhout was more laid-back, his touch delicate, his unerring sense of musical line delivered absolutely fuss-free. Schubert’s Sonatina in A minor, D385 showcased their combined capacity to make new musical sense of conventional gestures – and to find contrast within apparent sameness. Thus the subtle transitions from hyper-Romantic juxtapositions of biting articulation and barely perceptible pianissimos via a twinkle-in-the-eye minuet to a finale in which Bezuidenhout’s left hand was so finely delineated (imagine the walking bass of a jazz standard) that at one point he bopped along on the piano stool.