Leah Hollingsworth hears the performance of Bao Zhi Yang, Janáček, Derrick Skye, Pirayeh Pourafar and Prokofiev at New York’s Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, on 8 May 2025
Violinist Blake Pouliot gave a remarkable debut recital at Carnegie Hall with pianist Henry Kramer, presenting a programme titled ‘And Quiet Flows the Don: Hope Born out of Political Revolution’.
It began in darkness, with only the light from Kramer’s iPad; Pouliot began offstage, playing Chinese composer Bao Zhi Yang’s work Ambush on All Sides, originally for pipa. The eerie opening, with trills and harmonics, shifted dramatically into aggressive chords, timed perfectly with the stage illumination. Pouliot spoke – elegantly, effortlessly, casually – after the Yang work, explaining the programme was an ‘exploration of what makes us alike instead of what makes us different’ in the context of political revolution.
Pouliot played Janáček’s Violin Sonata with an intensity that truly captured its essence. His understanding of the following two works – both New York premieres – was equally evident. Both of them were influenced by Persian traditions and featured violin and electronics, but there the similarities ended.
Los Angeles composer Derrick Skye’s the spark she left behind featured arresting microtonal elements, while Pirayeh Pourafar’s ‘Damon’ from I Have Not Seen Butterflies Around Here (a co-commission by Carnegie Hall) included 28 different tempo changes within about five minutes of music (as Pouliot revealed), yet was performed with almost uncanny ease, the violin weaving in and out of various percussive recordings.
Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata no.1 followed, and throughout it the two musicians complemented each other remarkably, setting the seal on a demanding and unusual programme.
LEAH HOLLINGSWORTH
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