There was much to admire at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival Wednesday night at Lakeside School — from violiist Augustin Hadelich’s recital at the beginning of the evening to a luminous account of Dvorak’s “Dumky” Trio at the end.
Born in Italy to German parents, Hadelich is making his festival debut this summer. He is playing every concert this week and next in a wide range of composers: Schumann and Schubert, then Brahms, Prokofiev and Haydn. On Wednesday he appeared in recital, playing a brace of fantasies by Telemann, a solo sonata of Ysaye, in G, and a caprice by Paganini, “The Hunt.” His playing was exemplary. At his age — he is 25 this year — and with his credentials, one would expect his technical resources to be large. They are. But he is more than a master of notes. He has finesse, style and a grasp of period sensibilities. His Telemann was nothing like his Ysaye and Paganini. That could not be said for a lot of his elders. His tone is not large but penetrating, his musicianship carefully constructed but seemingly free on stage. The Telemann had much to recommend it. Hadelich made the most of what the composer gave him. Telemann can seem, on occasion, a little ordinary. That was not the case with Hadelich. He made every phrase count, with each note in its proper place.
Gathering Note 