Secret Love Letters in Bloomington, MN

Lisa Batiashvili
seems to be emerging at the top of the heap of young violinists. Her recent releases have done well, and this one hit best-seller lists in late summer of 2022. The result is that she is now the focus of big-time marketing concepts like the
Secret Love Letters
notion attached to this program of French and Polish music. In truth, it's a bit thin, based on the idea that the four-year-old
Batiashvili
had secret love affairs with her violin and with another four-year-old. The music is romantic, like much of the music of its period, but the "secret" aspect of the inspirations of these pieces are pretty tenuous (
Chausson
's
Poeme
was originally based on a
Turgenev
short story that might have filled the bill, while
Franck
Violin Sonata in A major
was a wedding present to
Eugene Ysaye
that was quite public, not secret at all.) The thing is,
's playing has progressed to a point where she doesn't need marketing concepts. She has a consistently rich tone in these pieces, which hang together nicely on their own, and she musters a good deal of charisma in the technically challenging
and in the
Szymanowski
violin concerto
, receiving note-perfect support from the
Philadelphia Orchestra
under
Yannick Nezet-Seguin
. In
sonata
, she has a notable rapport with accompanist
Giorgi Gigashvili
in the swirls of rhythmic undercurrents that give the work its piquancy. Another strong outing from
all around. ~ James Manheim