Violinist Lun Li @ The Morgan Library

~ Author: Oberon

Wednesday April 24th, 2024 matinee – This was my third time hearing the Chinese violinist Lun Li. My first encounter was at Merkin Hall when he gave his NY debut as a Young Concert Artist. Soon after, he played the Prokofiev second violin concerto – most impressively – with the Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall.

This afternoon, Lun Li offered a distinctive program at The Morgan Library, and he played thrillingly from start to finish. I very much liked his idea of having the house lights completely darkened throughout the concert; the only drawback to this was: it was impossible to take anything more than the most rudimentary notes. In the long run, though, notes became superfluous because this was some of the greatest violin playing I have ever heard. After a while, I stopped trying to write anything down and just let the music transfix me.

Lun Li’s presentation was simple: clad all in black, he stood in a pool of light on the stage, casting a quadruple shadow. The darkness in hall seemed to make the audience more attentive and more focused on the music; there was a resolute stillness in the air, making the charismatic violinist’s extraordinary playing even more compelling.

The program was devised in three segments followed by a sort of built-in encore. Each segment consisted of a short ‘prelude’, followed by a longer work.

Music by Henry Eccles – his brief Prelude in A-minor – opened the concert, followed immediately by Nicola Matteis’ Alia Fantasia. The two pieces were written about fifteen years apart and are similar in feeling. Lun Li’s playing was elegant, and technically immaculate.

Continuing in a Baroque mode, music by Giovanni Bononcini, came next: his Prelude in D-minor led on to the celebrated Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D-minor, BWV 1004, by Johann Sebastian Bach. This long work offers endless opportunities for brilliant playing, and Lun Li gave as astounding, passionate performance, holding the audience under a spell with his virtuosity. The ensuing ovation was inevitable after such a glorious rendition.

Following Philip Glass’s Book of Longing, which has a Baroque flavor, but with a tinge of timelessness, Lun Li gave a monumental performance of Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin. The sonata was composed in 1944 on a commission from the American violinist Yehudi Menuhin; it was one of the composer’s last works. This solo sonata is in three – or maybe four – movements: Tempo di ciaccona, Fuga, Melodia, and Adagio – the last two being inseparable.

The sonata places extraordinary demands on the violinist as the music veers from searing, to luminous, to poignant. The sheer number of notes is uncanny, and they were all sewn together in an intense, unforgettable musical experience by our remarkable soloist. If the reaction to the Bach seemed massive, the ovation after the Bartók was simply off the charts.

Lun Li polished off his program with Tessa Lark’s Jig and Pop, a lively piece with a mile-a-minute swirls of notes. The violinist was called back for numerous bows.

The near-total darkness in hall today certainly worked in this particular instance, but if it becomes a trend – it’s been that way for years at The Joyce – people like me will be out of a job.

~ Oberon