Cleveland Classical Review
Daniel Hathaway of Cleveland Classical gave some nice comments on the kids’ performances.
Zhonghua Wei, 14 (China), delivered an exciting reading of the opening movement of Mendelssohn’s Trio No. 2 in c Minor, Op. 66, maintaining constant eye contact with Lee and Baldwin. His tendency to push the tempo toward important cadences and to grandify the scale of Mendelssohn’s writing were small criticisms in the face of an engaging, liquescent performance.
Yanyan Bao, 16 (China), produced a thoughtful, studied reading of Mendelssohn No. 1, perhaps the musical equivalent of an illustrated lecture that points out details of its structure without dwelling on them. Her technique is assured, she just needs to tweak her skills of communication.
Zhonghua Wei, 14 (China), played an impressive, noble performance of the first movement of Beethoven’s Third Concerto: strong but playful, and featuring even runs and scalar passages. He was closely attentive to his orchestral colleagues and happily bobbed his head to their rhythms when not playing himself.
Yanyan Bao, 16 (China), ended the evening with the first movement of Chopin’s f- minor Concerto. Setting a good, sprightly tempo, she managed the work’s many nuances with expressive phrasing and skillfully coordinated her playing with Byess and the orchestra.
