Expert violin and piano performance for Valentine’s Day at the TSU Fine Arts Theater

JTAC News 2014

JTAC News 2014

Landon Pool/Reporter

Members of the Tarleton and Stephenville community were treated to a special violin and piano recital in the Clyde H. Well Fine Arts Center Theater on Valentine’s Day. Guest violinist Peter Isaacson, an Associate Professor of Violin at Hardin-Simmons University and Director of the Hardin-Simmons University Orchestra, performed eclectic arrangements that were accompanied by Dr. Leslie Spotz on the piano.

The violin and piano go together just like wine and cheese, and therefore were an excellent choice for a Valentine’s Day program. Throughout each of the arrangements, which featured compositions by Gwyneth Walker, Igor Stravinsky, and César Franck, Isaacson commanded the violin with delicacy and precision, while Dr. Spotz followed his lead with the expertise that the Tarleton audience has had the privilege of witnessing for a long time.

I preferred the more romantic movements of the night, such as “Gavotta” in Stravinsky’s “Suite Italienne for Violin and Piano” and “Lyric” in Walker’s “Fantasy Etude for Violin and Piano” over the more boisterous and intense movements such as “Tarantella” and “Scherzino” that were within the same work already mentioned by Stravinsky.

In fact, I would have enjoyed the concert more if there had been a more romantic vibe instead of what I felt were primarily austere selections that filled the concert. This criticism is more one of personal preference than an objective one; there was something for anyone who appreciates the violin and piano.