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Baltimore Sun, Tuesday October 5, 2004 - These days, when classical music is in such a marketing-driven state, like everything else, people are invariably looking for the next hot young talent, preferably with some visual flash. It's so much about fizz and buzz. Which is one reason why it's worth being reminded periodically of good old-fashioned artistry, un-frilled and unapologetic - the kind superbly represented by violinist Aaron Rosand. This guy isn't a throwback to a golden age of music-making - he is a golden age of music-making. And, since he's 76, you can take that in more than one way.
The Indiana-born Rosand, who will open the Catonsville Presbyterian Concert Series on Sunday, gave his first public performance 71 years ago and made his debut with the Chicago Symphony 66 years ago. And his career just keeps going.
Some of his best recordings are of very recent vintage. A recital filmed in California last fall, featuring remarkably assured and sensitive playing, will be out on DVD - his first - next month, released by Video Artists International (VAI).
What you will see on Sunday, or on that DVD, is a musician who is all about the music. Behind his trim goatee and poker-faced demeanor (a characteristic less common in our hyper-visual age) is a mind sharply focused on each note, the quality of each tone, the totality of a composer's thought.
Throughout his long career, Rosand has maintained that focus, setting quite a standard for insight, as well as integrity. He has applied it not just to the large-scale pieces in the rich violin literature, but the little gems that used to be a standard part of any fiddler's program.
Selections for the Catonsville recital reflect this breadth. There will be two items by Mozart, Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, Chausson's Poeme, Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen, and transcriptions of four works by Russian composers. Accompanying Rosand will be pianist Robert Koening.
The forthcoming DVD, filmed at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., contains the same Sarasate showstopper and Russian music, all delivered with technical aplomb and, above all, exquisitely tasteful, old-world style. Such attributes are like to be keenly felt on Sunday.
--Tim Smith, Sunday Music Critic, The
Baltimore Sun
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