When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers walked into NPR headquarters, I half anticipated her to be flanked by bodyguards. In any case, she was carrying a really uncommon instrument. Her Guarneri del Gesù “Vieuxtemps” violin, in-built 1741, is value no less than $16 million. As an alternative, Meyers arrived solely with a pair of publicists and the perceptive pianist Max Levinson. She appeared nonchalant about the truth that her fiddle is value a fortune.
What issues, naturally, is how the instrument sounds and few could make a violin sing as sweetly as Meyers. The San Diego native was already acting on The Tonight Present with Johnny Carson at age 11. Three years later she enrolled in New York’s Juilliard College and at 18 lower the primary of her 40-some albums.
A loyal champion of latest composers, Meyers opens with music by Philip Glass, who’s presently writing a chunk for her. The violin and piano association of his “Metamorphosis I” oscillates between tranquil, long-held notes and flurries of arpeggios, whereas the piano toggles on mournful chords.
“The Swan,” the hit single from Camille Saint-Saëns‘ 1886 Carnival of the Animals, follows gracefully. Meyers’ diaphanous efficiency is a grasp class on the best way to obtain a wealthy tone with gentle bow stress. The luxurious, low finish of the Guarneri is spotlighted on Dirait-On, a mild choral work from 1993 by Morten Lauridsen, which closes this set of unhurried, contemplative music.
Meyers might drive a sizzling rod violin value tens of millions, but it surely takes a real artist to deal with the instrument and convey out its singular voice.
SET LIST
- Philip Glass: Metamorphosis I
- Camille Saint-Saëns: “The Swan”
- Morten Lauridsen: Dirait-On
MUSICIANS:
- Anne Akiko Meyers: violin
- Max Levinson: piano
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Tom Huizenga
- Director/Editor: Kara Body
- Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
- Artistic Director: Bob Boilen
- Collection Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Kara Body, Michael Zamora
- Audio Assistant: Josephine Nyounai
- Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
- Tiny Desk Staff: Suraya Mohamed, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Ashley Pointer, Hazel Cills, Sofia Seidel
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
- Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann
