On Tuesday night I spent an hour an a half in the company of Chloe Kim, her violin, and two bows to enjoy her selection of Solo Bach Partitas and a suite of Norwegian violin music.
We were joined by a packed theatre, hosted by Music on Main in the Fox Cabaret in Vancouver. The host gleefully explained that the Fox used to be a porn theatre, and there were some jokes told that lose their lustre upon explanation, so I won't repeat them.
I wasn't able to take pictures, so I'll attempt with words: the hall was longer than it was wide, filled with red and blue moody stage lighting. The air was dense, buzzing with the murmurs of the packed audience. Chloe had a black/dark brown velvet jacket (was the velvet just in my imagination?) and her stage presence was glowing and calm.
Chloe Kim is a brilliant violinist who works deeply in the baroque style. This is revealed by her two bows, I guessed, one modern, one baroque, and she switched between them according to the playing needed for each piece of music. In the foreground throughout the music is the memory of Jeanne Lamon, who passed away from cancer in 2021. It was clear that Lamon had a great impact on Chloe's life, both professionally as well as personally, as a mentor, colleague, and friend.
The highlight of the evening for me was Chloe's playing of Bjarne Brustad's Eventyrsuite for Violin solo (1920). Brustad was a Norwegian composer, who worked Norwegian folk themes into his music. In third movement Sull (Adante), in particular, I could hear the dissonant singing of the lowest resonating understring of the hardanger fiddle. In the hardanger it would come and go, as a continuous ringing, but on the violin, it's turned into a rhythmic element. Some parts of the suite needed a bit of a rhythm kick, but that's only due to my personal internalised tap-tap-tap rhythm from playing with the Scandinavian spelmanslag dance music group.
The largest piece performed was the Ciaccona of Bach's Partita in D minor. It's a crowning piece in the violin world, and Chloe's technique was flawless. The arppegiatted sections flowed like a stream of water, and the sound had a three-dimensional feel to it. The piece held deep personal meaning for Chloe as a tribute piece to Jeanne Lamon. I felt Chloe brought her own style to the piece. It was fast, but flowed through the different sections of the piece with distinct emotions. Any night where I get to hear the Ciaccone is a great night.
Chloe ended the show with a Bach encore, I'm not sure which one, but this was a personal tribute to Jeanne, and this was Chloe at her most expressive, most passionate, most joy. She smiled as she played the tune, and thus ended the night.
The crowd dispersed into the blue evening lit by the crescent moon.