January 24, 2013. Koerner Hall, Toronto.
When Tolstoy listened to Beethoven’s “Kreutzer Sonata,” he imagined a crime of passion. Tolstoy wrote a story about a performance of this violin sonata that drives a husband to kill his wife after hearing her play it with another man.Isabelle Faust accompanied by pianist Alexander Melnikov did not play Beethoven’s Op. 47 that way last night in Koerner Hall. Dressed in a diaphanous coat of shimmering green and magenta, her tone brought to mind a dragonfly hovering on transparent wings above the sparkling cascades of Melnikov’s piano. Their performance swelled with passion tempered by gentleness. READ THE FULL REVIEW ON BACHTRACK.COM