Former child prodigy returns to TICO as soloist

By Eileen Wingard

Eileen Wingard

SAN DIEGO — Violinist Anat Almani concluded the recent January 28 TICO concert with an impressive performance of the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto. Her solid technique brought a beautiful patina to the high passages in the first movement; the second movement was a study of muted sweetness; and the final movement lunged forward with unbridled energy.

As conductor David Amos reminded the audience, Almani had first soloed with the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto when she was a ten-year-old prodigy. Young Anna Malkin (later changed to Anat) was then a pupil of her father, Isaac Malkin. He developed a large class of students in San Diego before moving to New York City, where he and his daughter, Anat, currently teach at the Manhattan School of Music. Anat and her younger sister, Bracha, a violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, often play together as the Malkin Duo. The pair performed with TICO during a previous season.

Another soloist on the program was Ron Fox, who plays both oboe and English horn. A former member of the San Diego Symphony, Ron gave an outstanding performance on English horn in the Swan of Tuonela, Sibelius’ haunting tone poem evoking a black swan gliding along a dark lake. The cello and viola solo passages were also beautifully executed.

The first half of the program ended with Kabalevsky’s jaunty suite, The Comedians. The xylophone solo in the Gallop was commanding, the first violins produced vibrant lyric passages in the Little Lyrical Scene and in the Gavotte, and the four woodwind principals, flute, clarinet, oboe and bassoon were admirable throughout.

In a nod to the worldwide celebration of the 250th year of Beethoven’s birth, the program opened with his King Stephan Overture, a work commissioned for the opening of a theater in Pest, Hungary. One of its distinctive themes Beethoven used in his 9th Symphony.

TICO’s next program will be performed on March 29 at Patrick Henry High School at 4:00 p.m. and at Tifereth Israel Synagogue on March 31 at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit: tiferethisrael.com/community/tico

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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com