Julian Kainrath rides high on the wings of Ulisse “Some enchanted evening”
The mighty Chaconne was wafted into this magic land with mastery and the magisterial authority that is of the very few. An extraordinary architectural and rhythmic drive that allowed this great gothic cathedral to arise from the hands of this young man creating a unified whole of extraordinary potency. Even the contrasting episodes were combined so naturally with that aristocratic authority and humility that I well remember on listening to Menuhin when he gave a lecture recital at the Royal College of Music. An illustrated lesson in which he described the difficulty of phrasing and bowing in a way that would never break the musical line. It was this today that I heard from Julian with a musical line that from the opening to the final triumphant ending was never allowed to sag or loose the energy within the very notes themselves.
Like Ysäye whose Dies Irae was also heard floating in this rarified air as the birds glided by to see where such wondrous sounds were coming from […] The Ysaÿe Sonatas are a ‘tour de force’ for any violinist and Julian played this second sonata with impeccable technical perfection but also a sense of style that made sense of the capricious nature of the work . All the ‘tricks of the trade’ that a master violinist could contemplate were mastered with ease and the final variations were quite breathtaking in their dynamic drive.
An encore of the Sarabande from the same Partita n. 2 was a magical farewell …