Japanese violin prodigy Himari lives up to the hype in her Sarasota Orchestra debut

Local audiences were afforded a rare treat by the Sarasota Orchestra when 14-year-old Himari Yoshimura stepped on stage Friday, Jan. 17, at Neel Performing Arts Center in Bradenton, for her solo performance in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26 during the most recent Masterworks concert.

Relatively speaking, our community sees and hears a good number of prodigiously talented young musicians, some through The Perlman Music Program Suncoast, the Sarasota Music Festival and other initiatives. However, as many have already claimed, Himari is a once-in-a-generation artist of awesome capabilities. This time reality almost surpassed the hype.

Conductor Peter Oundjian gave the young Himari free rein throughout the first movement, where I was immediately transfixed by her tone and expressive choices. Her musicality was not that borrowed from teachers but seemed to emanate from a heart and soul deeply connected to a universal truth. These are the qualities that make us tear up in its beauty.

Photo by Hitoshi IWakiri

I’m surprised that I feel compelled to describe Himari in this way.  Did she meet the technical demands of this solo virtuosic vehicle? Of course, she did, with all the notes well in hand. But that’s to be expected. The rest, well, if you missed it, let’s hope you have another opportunity to experience her in such close proximity. (Himari comes to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Saturday, Jan. 17, and Sunday, Jan. 18.)

The Masterworks concert, "Pictures at an Exhibition," opened with another new experience, the Florida premiere of "Amplify" by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Abels.

Co-commissioned by the Sarasota Orchestra, "Amplify" quickly showed off Abels’ mastery of painting a scene and capturing a mood. Gradually shifting from an emerging cloud cover of string sound with winds, brass and percussion breaking through to passing dream fragments of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, the music was certainly intriguing. 

We even caught glimpses of the American Wild West, or so went my imagination. As with many new works, it deserves repeated listening to gain a fuller appreciation.

Himari was the emotional highlight of the night, but the Oundjian led the orchestra in a luminous walk through the galleries of superbly orchestrated and performed scenes of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. 

Each scene and movement is created with exact detail and confidently executed throughout the ensemble.  

By the time the final majestic bold strokes bring the work to conclusion, we’ve passed through scenes both bold and somber—ranging from masculine brass heralds to intricately weaving woodwinds, depicting moments drawn from real life and magical wonder. 

All of this is conveyed through the multitude of sounds that an orchestra can create, immersing us in every vivid detail along the journey.  Have we come to expect this level of performance from the Sarasota Orchestra? Yes, but it is gratifying nonetheless.